Belmont Cragin Community Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection contains clippings, programs, yearbooks, photographs, and biographical and historical sketches. It covers local schools, businesses, a park, and a home. The collection includes biographical material, scrapbook pages, and photographs on Wladislaw and Albertyna Dyniewicz, newspaper and book publishers who were prominent figures in Chicago’s early Polish community.
Dates
- 1883 - 1946
- Majority of material found within 1913 - 1946
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection.
Biographical / Historical
Belmont Cragin is one of Chicago's 77 community areas, located on the northwest side of the city, 8 miles from the loop. Native American people were the original residents of the area. European settlers arrived in the area in the 1830s and began to establish factories and plants in the area in the 1880s, which led to an increase in population. Originally part of Jefferson Township, the area was annexed by the city of Chicago in 1889. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, factories continued to move to the area, although by the late twentieth century many were no longer in business. Immigrants have long called Belmont Cragin home, including those from Ireland, Poland, and Italy. By the 2000s, Belmont Cragin’s demographic shifted to Latinx communities.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (in 1 box, includes 13 photographs)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This small collection contains clippings, programs, yearbooks, photographs, and biographical and historical sketches of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series 1: Documents, 1883-1946
Series 2: Photographs, circa 1880s-1943, undated
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Belmont Cragin Community Collection was a subdivision of the West Side Historical Society collections, accessioned in a group into the holdings of the Neighborhood History Research Collections. It was later transferred to the Northside Neighborhood History Collection.
- Belmont Cragin (Chicago, Ill.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Dyniewicz, Władysław, 1843-1928
- Steinmetz High School (Chicago, Ill.)
Source
- West Side Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.) (Donor, Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Belmont Cragin Community Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Allyson Smally
- 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 Northside Neighborhood History Collection Repository
Sulzer Regional Library
Chicago Public Library
4455 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago IL 60625 United States
(312) 742-4455
northsidehistory@chipublib.org