Abstract

The A.Z. Orstrom Song Plugger Cards Collection contains approximately 86 song plugger cards. Song plugger cards contained an advertisement for a dance or picnic on the front and lyrics from popular songs on the back. The cards are generally 2-3 inches tall and 4-5 inches wide, come in a variety of colors, and sometimes contain small illustrations.

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John O'Shea was known as the "Father of River Park." This scrapbook documents O’Shea’s life, the development of the North Center area from farms and prairies to urban neighborhood, the development of the River Park District and its parks and the Irish Catholic community on Chicago’s northwest side in the 1930s and 1940s, especially the Queen of Angels Parish and its clergymen.

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Chandler Owen was a writer, editor and labor activist who co-founded the radical socialist journal The Messenger with A. Philip Randolph. He later worked as managing editor of the Chicago Bee newspaper. This small group of papers includes original typescripts of several of Owen’s speeches and essays.

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Lorraine Passovoy’s papers include research materials and writings on the life of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable.

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Collection documents the work of Nicholas Patricca, a Chicago playwright and an artistic director at Chicago New Plays, a collective service organization dedicated to the development of playwrights working in Chicago. Materials include original scripts and production materials for 18 plays written by Patricca.

Abstract Stanley Paul was the band leader of Chicago’s Pump Room in the Ambassador East Hotel from 1964 through 1974, leading the orchestra with style, class and verve. At the time the Pump Room was the watering hole of the best-known celebrities in the world and the grandeur of those years is evident in the collection, with photographs and personal notes from people such as Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Irv and Essee Kupcinet, Ethel Merman, Gloria Swanson and Oprah Winfrey. The collection documents his...

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Roy Sigfrid Pearson worked as an architectural designer for De Leuw, Cather & Company in Chicago, beginning in 1946. He worked on a number of buildings related to transportation and infrastructure. These drawings reflect his work on six different buildings in Chicago.

Abstract Chicago native, Aurie A. Pennick is an African American attorney and philanthropist whose work spans across Chicago’s municipal and nonprofit organizations. Pennick’s papers include her involvement with Mayor Harold Washington’s Office of Women’s Affairs, her decade of executive stewardship at the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities and her ongoing engagement with housing and policing issues in Chicago. The collection contains a variety of articles, newsletters, programs,...

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People for Community Recovery (PCR) is a community organization located in the Chicago Housing Authority’s Altgeld Gardens project on Chicago’s far Southeast Side. Founded in 1979 by Altgeld Gardens resident Hazel Johnson, PCR demanded cleanup of toxic waste surrounding the community and pressed for repair work. The organization also coined the term “environmental racism.” The archives include correspondence, organization files, programs and newspaper clippings.

Abstract The collection contains 21 maps and 5 illustrated views of the Chicago area that punctuate a timeline from the 17th century to the turn of the 20th century. Significant works include maps of the Great Lakes region by European cartographers that recorded the Native American name of “Checagou” or “Chicagou” for the site now known as Chicago, an 1834 real estate plat map and views of notable Chicago buildings and transportation routes were rendered in steel and wood engravings for an 1872...

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Michael Philippi worked on stages nationwide and in Chicago. Collection includes two partial set models for productions staged at Goodman Theatre.

Abstract This collection of photographs features 23 of the Chicago Park District's earliest parks, showing park construction, fieldhouses, aerial views and people enjoying the parks. Celebrated photographers appear in the collection including J.W. Taylor, Kaufmann & Fabry and George Lawrence. Of particular note are the panoramic views of park construction by J.W. Taylor taken in 1904 that capture the South Park Commission implementing its revolutionary plan to build small parks close to...

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In the 1950s, Nannie Pinkney was a clerk at George Cleveland Hall Branch Library. Her papers include an oral history audiotape on the Hall Branch and the last years of Vivian Harsh’s life, as well as photographs.

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Established in 1974 by Byrne and Joyce Piven, who were also founding members of the Playwrights’ Theatre, the group that spawned Second City. The workshop is located in Evanston, Ill. and boasts such recognizable alums as Joan and John Cusack, Aidan Quinn and Jeremy Piven. The collection includes information on Piven Theatre Workshop productions as well as promotional materials on classes and workshops.

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The compiler of this scrapbook series remains anonymous. The volumes include programs, newspaper clippings and the compiler’s comments and notes. Productions represented include operas, concerts, plays and dance.

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Mike Pocius is a Chicago photographer and longtime resident of the Bridgeport neighborhood. His photographs capture a range of primarily Chicago community events, street scenes and artistic compositions from 1971 to 2011 and include scenes in Bridgeport, Little Village, Loop, Pilsen and other neighborhoods.

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Robert Pockmire was a painter, illustrator and designer. During the late 1970s he worked at the Victory Gardens Theatre in various roles, most notably as a graphic designer. The collection includes posters, programs, clippings and subscription mailings designed by Pockmire.

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An early and exceptional football star, Fritz Pollard played for Lane Tech High School and Brown University, and in the National Football League. The papers include newspaper clippings and photographs collected by Eleanor Towns.

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Portage Park is one of Chicago’s 77 community areas, located on the Northwest side of the city nine miles from the Loop. The Portage Park Community Collection contains programs, fliers, brochures, publications, and other material related to local businesses, schools, and community organizations; clippings; a small amount of biographical information and historical sketches; and a scrapbook and scrapbook pages. It also contains a number of photographs, most of which date from the 1910s.

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The collection contains annual reports, brochures, bulletins, news clippings and photographs on the Pullman Company, the Pullman Free School of Manual Training, Pullman Town, and the 1894 strike.

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Jane Ramsey served in Mayor Harold Washington’s cabinet as Director of Community Relations (1986-1988) and served as Executive Director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Her papers represent her work in Washington’s administration and his campaigns for Mayor, with an emphasis on Jewish voters.

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This collection consists of abstracts of titles, transfer documents such as trust deeds and quit claims, and building specification records for lots on Chicago’s north side in the Ravenswood, Ravenswood Manor, and Lake View communities.

Abstract The Ravenswood Congregational Church was founded in the fall of 1869 by the Reverend William A. Lloyd. It was the first Protestant church in the new community of Ravenswood. It closed its doors in 1969. The records contain the church's administrative records, such as reports, certificates, correspondence, membership registers, and documentation regarding the closing of the church in 1969; publications such as directories, bulletins, Sunday and activity programs, and invitations; committee...

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The Ravenswood L Coalition formed in 1994 in response to a proposed construction and renovation project of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Brown Line. Their goal was to advocate for the interests of riders of the Brown Line’s Ravenswood branch and discourage station closures and service disruptions. This small collection contains meeting notes and agendas, correspondence, clippings, survey results, fliers, and brochures.

Abstract The Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection documents daily life on the North Side of Chicago from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. It mostly covers the areas of Chicago that were previously part of Lake View Township, such as Lake View, North Center, Lincoln Square (Ravenswood), Uptown, and Edgewater. It also contains small amounts of material related to other Northside communities. The collection includes photographs, news clippings, programs, certificates, letters,...

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The collection consists of yearbooks which contain the club’s articles of incorporation, lists of officers and members, by-laws, news clippings, and program announcements and calendars and 5 photographs.

Abstract The 1960 Republican National Convention, held in Chicago, determined that Richard M. Nixon would be the party’s presidential candidate. As the incumbent vice president, Nixon was always a leading contender, but he worked with New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to adopt platform planks that would appeal to the left wing of the Republican Party. Opposing Nixon was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater who represented the right wing of the Republican Party. Some of this internal party division can...

Abstract Faith Rich (1909-1990) was a white community activist, educator and volunteer with numerous organizations including the Chicago Westside Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI), the 15th Place Block Club, the Literacy Council of Chicago and local PTAs. She focused her organizing efforts on issues of civil rights, desegregation of schools and neighborhoods, equality in...

Abstract Twelve 16” x 24” portraits by photographer Amanda Rivkin depict present-day survivors of systematic torture by the Chicago Police Department, which occurred from approximately 1972 to 1991 under the direction of former Commander Jon Burge. Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2010. In 2015, the Chicago City Council passed a reparations ordinance that provided monetary compensation and other benefits to victims of Burge-era torture. Following the passage of the...

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James H. Roche Papers document the Chicagoan’s World War II experience, his work for the U.S. Navy and the subsequent investigation of his national loyalty based on a handful of visits to the Chicago Chapter of the American League of Peace and Democracy between January and May 1939.