Chicago City-Wide Collection
Scope and Contents
The Chicago City-Wide Collection consists of a wide assortment of manuscript, printed and photographic materials on multiple topics. It includes biographical, business, cultural, educational, municipal, recreation, religious, social and transportation source materials. The collection is designed to gather together materials that relate to the city as a whole and to include materials from Chicago communities that fall outside of the Library’s existing neighborhood collection strengths. In addition, the collection covers the Loop and Downtown areas and contains a wide range of guide and souvenir viewbooks geared toward tourism; sketches and images from historical events, especially the Chicago Fire of 1871; a series of Chicago maps dating back to 1835; and several significant maps of Chicago parks, including several 19th century mapsfor West and South Park Commissions and 134 of 171 maps created as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the 1930s.
The organization of the collection is by topic. All material has been sorted into one of 20 series descriptions. Each of these subject designations was meant to encompass a variety of examples. As such, there will be some items that may be less clearly related to the topic area than others and items that could reasonably be filed under more than one subject area. For example, a 1923 map of the Chicago underworld is filed under “Clubs and Organizations” (Oversize Folder 7) since the gangs that comprised the underworld in question were a type of organization. Sports teams, however, have been filed as businesses. Each series contains a more specific Scope and Contents Note to guide that subject’s materials and organization. Researchers working at the intersection of themes are encouraged to search this guide broadly.
Dates
- 1807 - 2021
- Majority of material found within (Bulk dates: 1871-1970)
Language of Materials
Materials are primarily in English, with a few items in Czech, German, and Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection.
Biographical / Historical
Chicago is the traditional homelands of Hoocąk (Winnebago/Ho’Chunk), Jiwere (Otoe), Nutachi (Missouria), and Baxoje (Iowas); Kiash Matchitiwuk (Menominee); Meshkwahkîha (Meskwaki); Asâkîwaki (Sauk); Myaamiaki (Miami), Waayaahtanwaki (Wea), and Peeyankihšiaki (Piankashaw); Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo); Inoka (Illini Confederacy); Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe), Odawak (Odawa), and Bodéwadmik (Potawatomi). Seated atop a continental divide, the Chicago region is located at the intersection of several great waterways, leading the area to become the site of travel and healing for many Tribes.
Chicago’s first permanent non-indigenous resident was a trader named Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a free Black man from Haiti whose father was a French sailor and whose mother as an African slave. He came here in the 1770s via the Mississippi River from New Orleans with his Native American wife, and their home stood at the mouth of the Chicago River. In 1803, the U.S. government built Fort Dearborn at what is now the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive (look for the bronze markers in the pavement). It was destroyed in 1812 following the Battle of Fort Dearborn, rebuilt in 1816, and permanently demolished in 1857.
The modern city was incorporated in 1837 by Northern businessmen and grew rapidly from real estate speculation and the realization that it had a commanding position in the emerging inland transportation network, based on lake traffic and railroads, controlling access from the Great Lakes into the Mississippi River basin.
Despite the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that destroyed the Central Business District, the city grew exponentially becoming the nation's rail center and the dominant Midwestern center for manufacturing, commerce, finance, higher education, religion, broadcasting, sports, jazz, and high culture. The city was also a magnet for European immigrants—at first Germans, Irish and Scandinavians, then from the 1890s to 1914, Jews, Czechs, Poles and Italians.
Large numbers of African Americans migrated from the South starting in the World War I era as part of the Great Migration. Mexicans started arriving after 1910, and Puerto Ricans after 1945. The Cook County suburbs grew rapidly after 1945. Deindustrialization after 1970 closed the Union Stock Yards and most of the steel mills and factories, but the city retained its role as a financial and transportation hub. Increasingly it emphasized its service roles in medicine, higher education, and tourism.
Extent
46.25 Linear Feet (in 147 boxes including 160 oversize folders, 1816 photographs, 3 artifacts)
Abstract
The Chicago City-Wide Collection consists of a wide assortment of manuscript, printed and photographic materials on multiple topics. It includes biographical, business, cultural, educational, municipal, recreation, religious, social and transportation source materials. The collection is designed to gather together materials that relate to the city as a whole and to include materials from Chicago communities that fall outside of the Library’s existing neighborhood collection strengths. In addition, the collection covers the Loop and Downtown areas and contains a wide range of guide and souvenir viewbooks geared toward tourism; sketches and images from historical events, especially the Chicago Fire of 1871; a series of Chicago maps dating back to 1835; and several significant maps of Chicago parks, including several 19th century maps for West and South Park Commissions and 134 of 171 maps created as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the 1930s.
Arrangement
The Chicago City-Wide Collection is organized into 20 Series based on topic:
Series 1: Biographical Data, 1807-2018, undated
Series 2: Business Establishments, 1837-2021, undated
Series 3: Cemeteries, 1871-1959, 1971, undated
Series 4: Religious Institutions, 1841-2015, undated
Series 5: Clubs and Organizations, 1854-2020, undated
Series 6: Historical Events and Sketches, 1821-2012, undated
Series 7: Health and Hospitals, 1869-1999
Series 8: Land Deeds, 1874-1945, undated
Series 9: Libraries, 1893-1958
Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1871-2019, undated
Series 11: Municipal Agencies, 1840-2019, undated
Series 12: Museums and Cultural Venues, 1863-2020, undated
Series 13: Parks, 1862-2019, undated
Series 14: Residences, 1866-2019, undated
Series 15: Schools, 1866-2019, undated
Series 16: Street Scenes, circa 1835-2011, undated
Series 17: Transportation, 1839-2017, undated
Series 18: Viewbooks, 1871-circa 1977
Series 19: War Time Activities, 1866-1990, undated
Series 20: World’s Fairs and Expositions, 1893
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
- Associations, institutions, etc. -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- Sources. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Business enterprises -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Chicago (Ill.) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Chicago (Ill.) Department of Urban Renewal
- Cities and towns -- Pictorial works Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Communities -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Great Fire, Chicago, Ill., 1871 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Local transit -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Municipal government publications -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Parks -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Portraits -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Religious institutions -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Schools -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Societies and clubs -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Transportation -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Works Progress Administration (Ill.)
- Title
- Guide to the Chicago City-Wide Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Initial Accession: Processed, 1990-1992 by Galen Wilson; 2017 by Morag Walsh; 2019 by Johanna Russ; 2021 by Michelle McCoy. Updated and reformatted for ArchivesSpace by Michelle McCoy, 2021.
- Date
- 2021
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Unit at Harold Washington Library Center Repository
Harold Washington Library Center, 9th Floor
Chicago Public Library
400 S. State Street
Chicago IL 60605 United States
(312) 747-4875
specoll@chipublib.org