Abstract The North Center/Lincoln Square Neighborhood Association Collection was founded in 2000 by longtime residents of the neighborhood in reaction to real estate developers who were tearing down buildings and replacing them with luxury condos and houses, driving out longtime residents. This collection contains newsletters, news clippings, flyers, and membership forms which outline the group's activities to fight for affordable housing and fight against chain stores moving into their...

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The collection contains a range of articles, brochures, historical sketches, newsletters, photographs, programs and reports that focus on neighborhood events, persons and organizations, particularly during the mid-20th century when Russian Jews were the dominant foreign-born group.

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North Mayfair is a residential neighborhood near La Bagh Woods within the community area of Albany Park on the north side of Chicago. This collection contains news clippings, letters, and other material that document the history of local families, businesses, parks, organizations and other topics. It also contains historical sketches and reminiscences from former residents.

Abstract North Park Village is located on the grounds of what was once Chicago’s Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, covering nearly 160 acres on the northwest side of the city. It includes a nature center, senior housing, a gymnasium, and other community resources. The collection contains meeting minutes, correspondence, planning documents, event fliers, news clippings, historical material, brochures, photographs, and other records that document the site’s transformation from a sanitarium to a...

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The North Town Woman’s Club was formed on December 17, 1930. It aimed to pursue civic, educational, and philanthropic purposes. This collection consists mostly of their meeting minutes and reports, with a small amount of additional material such as notes and correspondence.

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Northlight Theatre was founded as the Evanston Theatre Company in 1975 and dedicated to producing thought-provoking plays, while also providing community service programs for Chicago and the northern suburbs. The collection consists primarily of promotional material such as programs, press releases, reviews and clippings, although there is a small number of prompt scripts from productions in the 1980s.

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The Northside Postcard Collection consists of about 200 color and black-and-white postcards of scenes from Chicago’s North Side dated between circa 1906 and circa 1963. Areas of focus include scenes of popular destinations for tourism and recreation on the North Side, such as the lakefront, hotels, monuments, and attractions at Lincoln Park.

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Records of citizens’ associations formed to bring about community improvements. Covers an area of the Northwest Side from North Avenue (1600 N) north to the city limits and from Western Avenue (2400 W) west to the city limits.

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Norwood Park, one of Chicago’s seventy-seven community areas, is located on the far northwest side of the city. This collection contains clippings, historical sketches, and a small amount of additional material such as publications, letters, and ephemera. It includes information on local businesses, residents, religious organizations, schools, residences, and other areas of the community.

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The Office of Civilian Defense Records documents the civilian support efforts of the District 4 office, headquartered in the Gold Dome Building of Garfield Park, during World War II. The collection includes administrative and organizational materials, news reports and publicity items for civilian training, volunteer efforts and War Loan drives.

Abstract This collection consists of 21 artist books and fine bindings that were displayed at two juried bookbinding exhibits—One Book, Many Interpretations in 2006 and One Book, Many Interpretations: Second Edition in 2011—coinciding with the fifth and tenth anniversaries of Chicago Public Library’s One Book, One Chicago program. The books, each drawing inspiration from a previous One Book, One...

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The O’Quinn Family Papers document their participation in Chicago’s Lawndale community that includes Boy Scouts of America, O’Quinn Royal Gladiators Drum and Bugle Corps and West Side Negro Women's League.

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Founded in 1969 by Stuart Gordon and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, the Organic Theater staged a number of influential productions, including Warp, a science fiction epic adventure, and Bleacher Bums, which featured Dennis Franz and Joe Mantegna. The collection consists of artistic, administrative, outreach and production files.

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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 People’s Gas Light & Coke Company photo albums were created to document three natural gas pipeline projects in Chicago neighborhoods. The 1925 Northwest Side Project runs through the Old Irving Park and Mayfair communities and goes on to span the bridge at North Branch Chicago River near Forest Glen Avenue. The 95th Street Project runs through the Beverly, Longwood Manor and Rosalind communities. The 1944 project includes pipelines that extend to and from the Crawford Distribution...

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.