Abstract This collection is made up almost entirely of letters, with a small number of newspaper clippings, photographs and hand-copied poems, prayers and literary excerpts. The letters are written primarily by Albert Hafner to his fiancé Elizabeth (Bessie) Chandler, who was living in Florida. They document his near-decade living in Chicago, 1891-1899. The letters describe, among other things, the 1893 World's Fair, farm life in Evanston, cold winters, boarding houses, bicycling and business...

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The collection consists of correspondence, primarily related to the business of real estate in early Chicago.

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The Chatham-Grand Crossing Community Collection contains a selection of items that fall into the following topical areas: biography, business, clubs and organizations, historical sketches, municipal agencies, religious institutions, schools, transportation and wartime activities. The materials include articles, correspondence, flyers, news clippings and reminisces. The bulk of the items are from the 1920s-1950s.

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Abstract The issues from 40 different newspapers chosen for this Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) derive from neighborhood and independent African American and Latinx papers in the Chicago area. The newspapers on these reels complement the runs of newspapers held by Chicago Public Library. The originals are held at Chicago History Museum.

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...

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This collection includes buttons, flyers, newsletters, pamphlets, papers and statements related to social justice movements and actions in Chicago. The digital photographs depict nine protest rallies and marches that took place between 2016 and 2020 including the Women’s March.

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The collection consists of Chicago ephemera, illustrations, newspapers, theater programs and stereoscopic view cards, also called stereographs, collected by Cecilia and Allen R. Cooper. The topics of interest include the Chicago Fire of 1871, pre-Fire theater and Col. Wood’s Museum, in particular.

Abstract The Chicago Collection of Kenan and Carol Heise includes a wide range of materials: advertisements, articles, catalogs, directories, event programs, flyers, guides, government publications, literary journals and chapbooks, maps, memorials and historical sketches, newsletters, pamphlets, photographs, reports, serials, souvenir publications and speeches. Most of these materials provide a snapshot of activities undertaken by Chicagoans or local organizations at various times and reflect Heise’s...

Abstract The records in this collection were created and collected by the Department of Urban Renewal, its predecessors and other Chicago city departments with duties related to planning and development. The majority of the collection is comprised of photographs, contact sheets, negatives and slides of Chicago neighborhoods considered and targeted for improvement, including images that show buildings and neighborhoods that were subsequently razed. There are also papers related to the administration...

Abstract The Chicago Loop Alliance, formerly known as the State Street Council and the Greater State Street Council (GSSC), was founded in 1929 to promote the business interests of downtown State Street. This collection documents the activities of the organization through correspondence, marketing materials, meeting minutes, newsletters, photographs, press releases, studies, reports, and audiovisual resources. Among the projects was the closure of vehicular traffic on State Street and its...

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The Chicago Medieval Players Company was founded by Ann Faulkner in 1985. The company focused on drama from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. The collection includes production and artistic files for 13 plays as well as administrative materials.

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The Chicago Millennium Collection documents the events planned by the City of Chicago to mark the beginning of the third millennium. The Collection consists of the files generated primarily by the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). The three main projects undertaken by DCA are the Dance ‘til the Dawn of the New Millennium, the International Millennium Dinner, and the Year 2000 Themes.

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Chicago Public Library put on a series of 25 lectures and panel discussions devoted to the history and development of theater in Chicago. The programs were held jointly by the Lake View Branch of Chicago Public Library and the CPL/Cultural Center, and made possible in part through grants from the Illinois Humanities Council and Illinois Arts Council.

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The Chicago Outdoor Art League (COAL), founded in 1900, sponsored gardening programs; donated trees to local organizations, hospitals and schools; and offered art and music scholarships. The League worked frequently with schools in Chicago. It was affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs.

Abstract Chicago's earliest parks were created between the 1830s and 1860s. In 1869, three major organizations were formed for the creation, maintenance and governance of Chicago's parks: the Lincoln Park Commission, the West Chicago Park Commission and the South Park Commission. By 1934, 22 independent park commissions existed, and in that year, they consolidated into the Chicago Park District. Representing over 500 parks from the late nineteenth century to the present, these photographs document...

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Beginning around 1937, the Chicago Park District established Toy Centers in its fieldhouses as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program to provide playthings for families that could not afford toys of their own during the Great Depression. This collection includes 78 wooden toys created for the Chicago Park District’s Toy Centers.

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This collection comprises videos produced by Talman Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago and seen on a Chicago-area cable network. The series presents Chicago’s diversity through interviews with individuals, organizations and groups.

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Spanning the 1890s to the 1970s, the Chicago Postcard Collection offers a wide range of views of the city and an insight into its culture and tourism over the 20th century. Views include aerials, skylines, buildings, businesses, hospitals, municipal structures, museums, parks, religious institutions, schools, sports, streets, transportation and World’s Fairs.

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The collection consists of the official newsletter of the Chicago Press Club, minutes of the board of governors’ meetings (1949-1987), guest books of club visitors and portraits of club presidents by Chicago artist/illustrator Felix Palm.

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Founded in 1939, the Chicago Press Veterans Association provided working newspaper men and women a forum for sharing their common experiences. In the early 2000s the organization changed its name to the Chicago Journalists Association. The collection consists of ten panorama photographs taken at annual banquets from 1939-1965.

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Chicago Printers Guild Records document the interactions, events and artwork of a non-profit collection of Chicago-area printmakers. The collection contains board minutes, listserv correspondence, event materials, social media posts, photographs and artwork.

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Organizational documents and a selection of hand-printed protest materials from the 2017 Print -- Organize -- Protest (P.O.P.) event hosted by the Lincoln Square print studio and gallery, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative (CPC) in 2017.

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Documents the activities held to celebrate the Library’s 125th year of operation.

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These recordings show some of the public programs Chicago Public Library has offered between 1995 and 2011. There is a wide variety of authors in this collection, from bestselling authors to local, emerging talent. In addition to fiction writers, the collection features poets, journalists, actors, chefs, scientists and scholars, and programs include author talks, panel discussions, dramatic readings and poetry recitals.

Abstract This collection comprises the specifications Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge created for contractors to bid on for the construction of the Main Library for the Chicago Public Library, now known as the Chicago Cultural Center. The specifications show the exact standards contractors were held to when building the new central library, as well as the materials to be used. Many bids have original checks for deposits attached to them and some have additional information about the bidding company...

Abstract The Early CPL Papers series of the Chicago Public Library Archives document the foundation of Chicago Public Library immediately after the 1871 fire. The series includes detailed information regarding the legislative process which gave authority to the city to raise taxes to maintain a public library; extremely detailed information regarding the first collections; shipping information and costs of exporting donations from Great Britain to the United States; lists of who donated what; and...

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This photographic collection documents the construction of the Harold Washington Library Center, the central library for the Chicago Public Library. Both interior and exterior shots were taken, and all aspects of the building’s construction are shown, including the erection of steel, the masonry work, the interior heating and air conditioning systems, and the installation of marble finishes and casework.

Abstract The Harold Washington Library Center Design Build Records document the process by which the design for Chicago Public Library’s new Central Library was chosen. On July 29, 1987, Mayor Washington and the City Council authorized a design/build competition and approved a bond issue to finance the project. Under the competition rules, architects and builders teamed up to design the new Central Library within the set price of $144 million. Norman Ross, Chairman of the Citizen Jury, announced the...

Abstract The Hall Branch is named for George Cleveland Hall, African American physician, Chicago Public Library board member and a founding member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, who campaigned tirelessly for a full-service library in Bronzeville neighborhood. Hall Branch, headed by Vivian G. Harsh from 1932 to 1958, was a leading cultural institution during the Black Chicago Renaissance. The archives include administrative records, programs, correspondence, photographs,...

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The Chicago Sewers Collection contains historical sketches, maps, photographs, plans and reports. The bulk of the materials contains photographs that depict the construction and repair of Chicago’s sewers with views above and below ground. The sewer systems span neighborhood sites across the city and include several Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. A selection of photographs from this collection are available in the Library’s Chicago’s Sewers Digital Collection.