Abstract Josie Brown Childs, political and civil rights activist, aide to Mayor Harold Washington and cultural events promoter, donated her papers documenting her multifaceted career. The scope of the papers consists of family history in Mississippi, Childs’ early political work, her campaign for an aldermanic seat, her work for Mayor Washington, and her efforts to promote African American cultural and historical awareness. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, flyers, programs and...

Abstract

Conrad and Martha Wendtland founded the Christian Fellowship Church in their home in 1926. The activities of the church are documented in minutes from committee meetings, financial and membership ledgers, and photographs.

Abstract

Chicago’s City Lit Theater has been devoted to stage adaptations of literary works. The collection includes scripts, promotional material, photographs, production and administrative records.

Abstract Stephen Bedell Clark was the author of the Lake View Saga. He worked for many years at Lake View Trust and Savings Bank and was active in many community organizations in Lake View. The Stephen Bedell Clark Papers contain typewritten chapters of Clark's book, Lake View Saga; the text of a speech on Lake View Township; research notes from Clark's work on Lake View Saga; and photographs, most of which are...

Abstract

South Shore Country Club, originally a private club that barred African Americans, was scheduled for demolition in 1977. A grassroots coalition of community organizations organized to save, preserve and restore the historic site for all citizens. This collection contains blueprints and drawings of the renovation of South Shore Country Club, administrative records, statistical reports, newspaper clippings, photographs and memorabilia.

Abstract

CORE, a national civil rights organization, began in Chicago in 1942, with protests to force desegregation of restaurants and other public accommodations. These archives cover the period of the early and mid-1960s, when Chicago CORE’s membership was at its height. Records include meeting minutes, correspondence, flyers, programs, news clippings and photographs.

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The majority of the collection consists of letters from lodge brothers serving in World War I, with updates on their lives and activities. It also contains a small amount of historical information about Lodge #892 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

Abstract

Mrs. Harlan Ward Cooley (Helen "Nellie" Wooster Cooley) served as head of the Chicago Women's Club's Century of Progress Committee, which sponsored a series of lectures during the Century of Progress Exposition entitled, "Women in Civilization." This collection includes correspondence between Mrs. Cooley and speakers, as well as copies of speeches delivered at the Exposition.

Abstract

The collection consists of published works in pamphlet or journal form, and a small amount of correspondence and news clippings.

Abstract

The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, is an organization whose membership can trace its lineage to soldiers who served on the Union side in America’s Civil War, 1861-1865. The DUVCW was founded in 1885 in Massillon, Ohio. This collection is comprised almost entirely of minute books from the Department of Illinois and various local tents throughout the state.

Abstract The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago determined that Hubert Humphrey would be the Democratic candidate for president. Throughout the Convention, anti-war protestors demonstrated around Chicago and experienced police violence and arrests. The majority of this collection details the events and messages of the Convention itself through the officially produced material that was distributed to delegates and press. The protests surrounding the convention and the ensuing police...

Abstract Rev. Martin L. Deppe created and collected the materials in this collection during his time working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) Operation Breadbasket program, Clergy and Laity Concerned (CALC), the Alliance to End Repression (AER) and the United Farm Workers (UFW). The collection is comprised of meeting materials, memos, flyers, photographs, posters, publications, reports, speeches, buttons and artifacts that reflect the activities of Chicago’s Civil Rights,...

Abstract

The Drawing and Print Collection brings together a selection of 2-dimensional artworks that are part of Chicago Public Library’s permanent art collection. The collection contains works on paper that use drawing media such as charcoal, ink, pastel, pencil or watercolor or one of the printmaking processes such as collography, drypoint, etching, lithography, screen printing or woodcut.

Abstract

A prominent Chicago dentist, Claude Driskell served as president of the Lincoln Dental Society and is the author of a history of Chicago’s African American dentists. He was also the historian for the renowned “Original Forty Club” and authored the club’s 75th anniversary book. Driskell’s papers include manuscripts, photographs, serials and memorabilia.

Abstract John Drury (1898-1972) began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Los Angeles Record in 1920. Three years later, he returned to his native Chicago and became a feature writer and columnist for various Chicago newspapers such as the Chicago Daily News and the Lincoln-Belmont Booster where he wrote his series of historical sketches until 1953. This collection contains photocopied newsclippings from three...

Abstract

In the mid-twentieth century, journalist and writer Richard Durham created Destination Freedom, a series of radio shows dramatizing the Black experience in America. He went on to edit the Muhammad Speaks newspaper, create a television show in 1971 and assisted in the writing of Muhammad Ali’s autobiography, The Greatest. The collection contains transcripts and recordings of the radio plays, manuscripts, interviews, photographs and other audiovisual material.

Abstract

The East Garfield Park Collection contains manuscripts, printed material and photographs on businesses, clubs and organizations, religious institutions, residents, schools and street scenes in the community area, as well as Garfield Park itself.

Abstract

Edison Park, located on the far northwest side of the city, is one of Chicago's seventy-seven community areas. This collection mostly consists of news clippings documenting people and organizations in the Edison Park Community. There is also a small amount of additional material such as programs, booklets, and correspondence. The majority of the material dates from 1962-1976.

Abstract Leland B. Elder Jr. worked as part of the Chicago Public Library’s Public Information Office (PIO) for over thirty years (1984-2016). His responsibilities included editing and writing for the various incarnations of the library’s newsletters, marketing, press releases and promoting library programs and services. His papers detail the growth and development of the PIO and the Marketing Department of the Chicago Public Library showing the evolution of the ethnic heritage committees and the...

Abstract

The Ellsworth-Arnold Photograph Albums were created by official Fair photographer C.D. Arnold for James W. Ellsworth, a member of the Exposition's Board of Directors. The images document the progression of Jackson Park from a mossy landfill into one of the most beautiful and fleeting architectural gems of the 19th century.

Abstract

James W. Ellsworth was one of the leading directors of the World’s Fair of 1893. His papers consist of outgoing correspondence (85 letters), incoming correspondence (926 letters), departmental records and ephemera. The collection documents his activities with the Fair from its planning stages through the disposition of the exhibits and buildings after the close of the exposition.

Abstract

The collection contains a range of articles, brochures, historical sketches, newsletters, photographs, programs and reports that focus on Englewood’s neighborhood events, persons and organizations, particularly during the late 19th century to the early 1960s. Of particular note are the neighborhood photographs and the series devoted to schools in Englewood.

Scope and Contents

The Englewood High School Records contains historical sketches, laboratory notebooks, photographs, programs, publications and yearbooks that chronicle school history and student activities.

Abstract

Documents the organization which worked with the Kelly Branch Library to gather and preserve historical material of the Englewood district of Chicago.

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The Englewood Newspaper Collection is a small collection of newspapers published in or about the community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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The Englewood Woman’s Club Collection was organized in 1896. The collection consists primarily of yearbooks dating from 1898 to 1931.

Abstract

eta was founded in 1969 by Abena Joan Brown and Okoro Harold Johnson. The theater produces dramas and musicals by local and national playwrights and features “Playwrights Specak,” a readers’ theater for new playwrights.

Abstract

The Collections on Rev. Clay Evans brings together materials related to Rev. Clay Evans and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church during the 50-year span of his leadership from 1950-2000. These materials reflect member involvement in choirs, clubs, committees and community service opportunities fostered by Rev. Evans and their participation in annual banquets, revivals and travel. The collection includes church documents, photographs, artifacts and musical recordings.

Abstract The Rev. Clay Evans Archive spans his 50 years of pastoral leadership at Chicago’s Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church that he founded in 1950, and beyond his retirement in 2000. His ministry reached into the larger community with the What a Fellowship Hour broadcasts, Gospel choir performances and an engagement with the Civil Rights Movement along with numerous religious and community organizations such as the African American Religious Connection (AARC),...

Abstract

T. (Thomas) Arthur Evans (1878-1945) was the Chief Engineer for the creation of Chicago’s double-level Wacker Drive that opened in 1926. The collection includes a small selection of his professional documents such as his resume, engineering licenses, correspondence, ephemera, news clippings along with 43 photographs, most of which are related to the construction of Chicago’s Wacker Drive.