West Side Historical Society Records
Scope and Contents
The West Side Historical Society Records include the organization’s annual meeting proceedings, by-laws, constitution, collection development policy, correspondence, meeting minutes, programming, publicity, research indexes and transcripts from a weekly radio quiz show featuring questions about Chicago’s West Side. The group’s activities included historic research, presentations, radio quizzes, school competitions and tours. The materials span the 1930s through the mid-1950s.
Dates
- 1930 - 1955
Creator
- West Side Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection.
Biographical / Historical
The West Side Historical Society (WSHS) was founded sometime around 1929 or 1930 as recorded by Miss Pearl L. Field, librarian at the Chicago Public Library, Legler Branch and Honorary Life President of WSHS. The mission of WSHS was to discover the West Side’s pioneer families, neighborhood settlement boundaries and the other histories of the community area.
The WSHS was associated with Chicago Public Library, Legler Branch for almost twenty-five years. From this location, the group held meetings, mounted exhibits and the stored historic materials that were jointed cared managed with library staff.
The West Side Historical Society disbanded sometime in the late 1950s.
Extent
7.75 Linear Feet (in 23 boxes including 21 photographs, 1 audiotape)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The West Side Historical Society worked with staff at Legler Regional Library to collect information about Chicago's West Side. The collection includes the organization’s annual meeting proceedings, by-laws, constitution, collection development policy, correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, programming, publicity, research indexes and transcripts from a weekly radio quiz show featuring questions about Chicago’s West Side.
Arrangement
The West Side Historical Society Records are arranged into series: Series 1: Administrative Files, 1930-1954 and Series 2: Photographs, 1931-1952, undated.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from Chicago Public Library, Legler Branch in the 1980s as part of a grant from the Dr. Scholl Foundation.
Supplement 1 contains additional materials from the West Side Historical Society. The administrative files were retained in Box 8, Folders 18-39. Historical neighborhood materials collected by WSHS were added to the Neighborhood History Research Collection that corresponded with its community area.
Supplement 2 contains 13 boxes of index card files that were maintained by the West Side Historical Society.
Additional contents were added in 2018.
- Associations, institutions, etc. -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- Sources. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Austin (Chicago, Ill.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Societies and clubs -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Source
- Chicago Public Library. Legler Regional (Organization)
Creator
- West Side Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.) (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the West Side Historical Society Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Original author unknown, 1989 February. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Michelle McCoy, 2021
- Date
- 1989
- 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