Chicago City-Wide Collection

The Chicago City-Wide Collection comes from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases, and private donations. Where appropriate, the provenance of individual items has been noted on folders. The T.E. Givens Collection (Box 9, Folder 24 through Box 10, Folder 31) was transferred to Special Collections from the Sulzer Regional Library in February 1989.

The Chicago City-Wide Collection consists of an initial accession and several supplemental accessions:

Initial Collection The initial collection spans Boxes 1-49; Oversize Folders 1-95; and Photographs and Graphic Materials with the prefixes “1” through “6”.

The materials came from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases, and private donations. Where appropriate, the provenance of individual items has been noted on folders. The T.E. Givens Collection (Box 9, Folder 24 through Box 10, Folder 31) was transferred to Special Collections from the Sulzer Regional Library in February 1989.

Photographs with the prefix “1” come from a variety of sources but are primarily from the West Side Historical Society.

Photographs with the prefix “2” are portraits taken from an incomplete copy of Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago, Written by the Best Talent of the Northwest. Photographically Illustrated by John Carbutt, Chicago: Wilson and St. Clair, 1868.

Photographs with the prefix “4” are 11x14 inch negatives of engravings found in the 1866 Chicago Illustrated published by Jevne and Almini. A bound volume and parts edition of this title is also available (call number NA735.C4J4).

Photographs with the prefix “5” are stereographs, the bulk of which depict the Chicago Fire of 1871.

Graphic materials with the prefix “6” are postcards.

Supplement 1

Supplement 1 is comprised of Boxes 42, 50-54, Oversize Folders 96-111 and Photographs and Graphic Materials with the prefixes “7” through “9”. The items come from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases and private donations.

The materials in this supplement were added to the following Series: Biographical Data, Business Establishments, Religious Institutions, Clubs and Organizations, Historical Events and Sketches, Miscellaneous, Municipal Agencies, Parks, Schools, Streets, Transportation and Viewbooks. Supplement 1 includes the 19th-century imprints and manuscripts that James Francus purchased from the Dicke Estate and gifted to the Library.

Photographs with the prefix “7” and “8” were originally gathered as part of the Lincoln Park Photo Documentation Project in the late 1970s.

Photographs with the prefix “9” are of miscellaneous subject designations. The Saskatoon Public Library donated Photograph 9.3. James Francus donated Photographs 9.4-9.9 that were acquired from the Dicke Estate.

Supplement 2

Supplement 2 is comprised of Boxes 55-66, Oversize Folder 112 and Photographs with the prefixes “10” through “14”. The items come from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases and private donations.

The largest document addition was to Series 2: Business Establishments. Other notable additions include the Board of Education lawsuits donated to Chicago Public Library by John Nuveen & Co. (Box 60, Folders 9-38), the World War II scrapbooks (Boxes 64-66) and a series of 134 maps of Chicago parks, produced by a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the 1930s (Oversize Folder 112). The WPA Maps were given to the Mayor’s office during the term of Harold Washington and transferred from the papers of Harold Washington in 1991.

Photographs with the prefix “10” are stereographs of the ruins of Chicago after the 1871 Fire.

Photographs with the prefix “11” are color postcards. Photographs 11.3-11.17 are from historical paintings by Lawrence C. Earle, in the Banking Room of the Central Trust Co. building at 152 Monroe Street. These cards were the gift of Ralph G. Newman in 1996.

Photographs with the prefix “12” are portraits removed from a disbound, partial copy of Biographical Sketches of Leading Men published in the late 1870s. The text is located in Box 55, Folder 11a.

Photographs with the prefix “13” were transferred from the Body Politic Theater Collection. It is presumed that these views were taken in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in the late 1970s.

Photographs with the prefix “14” are from a variety of sources.

Supplement 3

Supplement 3 is comprised of Boxes 67-86, Oversize Folders 113-116 and Photographs with the prefixes “15” through “20”. The items come from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases and private donations.

Materials in this supplement came from four principle sources. The first and largest was a transfer of materials from the Chicago’s Municipal Reference Library in 1991. The transfer contained business, private mass transit and municipal pamphlets from the 1910s-1930s.

The second source of materials was taken from a dismantled scrapbook created as a student project in 1962 by Joan Abell of the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. The theme of this scrapbook was “contemporary Chicago,” and it included an array of pamphlets, brochures, photographs, postcards and advertisements from businesses in the Loop and some outlying neighborhoods. Many of the items in the Chicago City-Wide Collection dated “circa 1962” are from this scrapbook. Postcards 18.1-18.28 are also from this scrapbook.

The third group of documents was deaccessioned from the Baker Library of Harvard University in 1985. These comprise a collection of publications on the formation of the Chicago Transit Authority and the attempt to construct subway railroads in Chicago (Boxes 80-81).

Finally, the fourth group of materials was purchased from dealers between 1990 and 1991. Of note in the series Schools is an oversize volume of drawings from the Chicago Public Schools earning Highest Recognition at the Paris Exposition of 1900. This volume is located in Box 86 and is described as Subseries C in the Schools series through a full inventory of artists and subjects.

The Photographs in Supplement 3 are primarily plates derived from disbound publications.

Photographs with the prefix “15” are from Rand, McNally & Co.’s Pictorial Chicago and Illustrated World’s Columbian Exposition Containing Views of Principal Buildings, Residences, Streets, Parks, Monuments, etc. (Chicago: Rand, McNally and Co., 1893). The book was transferred from the Portage-Cragin Branch of the Chicago Public Library.

Photographs with the prefix “16” are from a disbound volume, Chicago: Souvenir Album of Chicago and the Columbian Exposition (S. L. Stein, 1893). Photographs 16.66-16.75 are lithographs derived from watercolor sketches of the World’s Columbian Exposition grounds by C. Graham.

Photographs with the prefix “17” are plates which originally appeared in Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago, Photographically Illustrated by J. Carbutt (Chicago: Wilson and St. Clair, 1868) [See also call no. F548.25.B56 1868]

Photographs with the prefix “18” are postcards from the Joan Abell Scrapbook.

Photographs with the prefix “19” are from miscellaneous sources.

Photographs with the prefix “20” are a set of 50 stereographs entitled “A Trip Through Sears, Roebuck & Co.”

Supplement 4

Supplement 4 is comprised of Boxes 87-101 and Oversize Folders 117-129. The items come from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases, and private donations.

Supplement 5

Supplement 5 is comprised of Boxes 102-116 and 143; Oversize Folders 130-148; and 637 photographs. Photograph and Graphic Materials with the prefix “21”. The items come from a wide range of sources: transfers from other Chicago Public Library branches, libraries across the nation, purchases and private donations.

The supplement is made up of numerous small donations that were added topically to Series 1-19.

Photographs 21.21-21.65 were transferred from the City Hall office of David Daskal in 2006.