the great family fire
Roswell B. Mason was mayor of Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and a distant ancestor of Caroline's on her mother's side. In this long-form historical essay, Caroline describes Mason's life, political career and role in helping to rebuild the city after it was decimated by fire. Click the photo above to read the story, which was published in Chicago Magazine in October 2017.
a ghost story
In this long-form personal essay, Caroline recounts her experience of growing up in a haunted house. A condensed version of this story was published on VICE in October 2016. Click the photo above to read the full version.
rise above
Rise Above is a half-hour documentary written, filmed, directed and produced by Caroline Thompson and Martine Granby as a part of their Master's thesis at Northwestern University. The film follows Antione Day, who spent 10 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, as he mentors a young man named Shaquille Thompson. Day acts as a stand-in father for Thompson as the younger man tries to distance himself from the gang violence in the South Side Chicago neighborhood where he grew up.
the pendulum migration
In March 2014, Caroline and two colleagues from Medill were awarded a grant to report in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For a week, the trio scoured the island, investigating why so many educated, young professionals in Puerto Rico are seeking work in the United States.
After returning to Chicago, Caroline wrote a long-form print piece on the issue, built and designed a website to house the story, and assisted in producing video content for the site.
Click the photo above to check out the story.