Electronic Primary Sources Collections
- Women and Social Movements in the U.S. 1600-2000 - Scholars' editionCollection combining primary documents with historical and scholarly analysis and teaching tools, all documenting women’s activism in public life. Includes captions and transcripts.
Search for Archival Collections
The following databases can be used to search for archival materials from other libraries' collections.
- ArchiveGridArchiveGrid includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
- WorldCat (FirstSearch platform)Union catalog with holdings information from libraries across the world.
Organizational Records and Personal Papers
The following archival collections from organizations contain material related to the experience of Latinos, especially Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants to Chicago. The links below lead to finding aids (lists of contents) for each collection.
Please visit Special Collections for assistance using these materials or Ask A Librarian.
- Adena Miller Rich Papers, 1905-1961Adena Miller Rich (1888 -1967), was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and attended Oberlin College. She eobtained a graduate degree in Sociology from the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy. Rich began her career in social work as supervisor of visitors for the Immigration Protective League (IPL). In addition to working at the IPL, Rich volunteered for several settlement houses including Jane Addams' Hull House where she organized social and educational programs for immigrants.
- Adult Education Council of Greater ChicagoThe Adult Education Council of Greater Chicago was established in 1924 and incorporated in 1925 as the Chicago Forum Council. The purpose was "to promote understanding and good will by bringing people of different groups into friendly association with each other for discussion of problems related to the public welfare."
- Back of the Yards Neighborhood CouncilThe Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council (BYNC) was located on Chicago's Southwest side near the former Union Stockyards. Saul Alinsky and Joseph Meegan founded the BYNC in 1939 making it the oldest community organization in the United States. Its 185 delegate organizations including residents, social clubs, churches, schools, as well as business owners sought to improve the difficult living conditions endured by workers in Chicago's meatpacking industry.
- Barratt O'Hara Papers, 1948-1968Barratt O'Hara (1882-1969) enjoyed one of Illinois' longest legislative careers. He represented the Second Congressional District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1948 until 1968. Prior to his election to Congress, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, 1913-1917, and a partner in the law firm of William H. Sexton, 1939-1948.
- Catholic Charities CollectionCatholic Charities is a network of charitable organizations in the United States consisting of more than 1,600 community based organizations, often sponsored by the local Roman Catholic religious hierarchy. The Catholic Charities Collection consists of two extensive reports regarding activities in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1940 and the Diocese of Joliet in 1950.
- Chicago Conference on Religion and RaceThe Chicago Conference on Religion and Race was formed immediately following the National Conference on Race and Religion in January 1963. The National Conference was the first of its kind, and attracted over 700 clergy members who represented over 60 denominations from across the country. The collection highlights both the National Conference on Religion and Race as well as the Chicago Conference on Religion and Race.
- Chicago Council on Urban Affairs RecordsThe Chicago Council on Urban Affairs, formerly known as TRUST, Inc., was organized to focus attention and increased public understanding of a variety of community issues, such as housing, job training and creation, health care, crime and poverty, community renewal, environmentalism, and tax policy. The Council has successfully focused attention on these urban issues, resulting in new legislation and policies at the state and local levels.
- Chicago Photographic CollectionThe Chicago Photographic Collection is comprised of photographic archives of several well-known photographic firms operating in Chicago in the late nineteenth and throughout the twentieth centuries. This collection includes photographic prints and negatives documenting Chicago street scenes and architecture, Hull-House activities, and Chicago union activities and industry.
- Chicago Railroad FairThe Chicago Railroad Fair, held during the summers of 1948 and 1949, was designed to demonstrate to the public the role which the railroads had played in the development of the United States. The collection consists of correspondence, by-laws, financial records, minutes, sheet music, contracts, blueprints, newspaper clippings, sketches and drawings, published materials, and photographs.
- Chicago StockyardsThe Chicago Stockyards, also known as the Union Stockyards, played an integral role in the development of Chicago as the hub of the meat industry. This collection highlights selective aspects of the management and promotional activities of the stockyards.
- Chicago Urban League recordsFounded in 1910, the National Urban League is one of the oldest African American social service, research, and advocacy organizations in the United States. The specific focus of the Chicago League's programs has changed over time from the provision of social services to advocacy and leadership on citywide efforts to open jobs, housing, and public accommodations to black citizens.
- Chicago Woman's Aid SocietyThe Young Ladies Aid Society, organized in 1882, was incorporated by the State of Illinois in 1895 and renamed the Chicago Woman's Aid. The collection contains correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, minutes, and photographs dating from 1903 to 1988.
- Civic Federation of ChicagoThe Civic Federation of Chicago held its first meeting at the Palmer House on February 15, 1894. This committee of leading citizens was spurred to action by negative domestic and international opinion of Chicago during the World's Fair of 1893. Abstract: The collection contains bulletins, pamphlets, reports, and newspaper clippings dating from 1918 until 1960. The materials pertain to Chicago municipal government, salaries of government workers and to education.
- Dr. Louise Ano Nuevo Kerr Collection, 1996Abstract: Dr. Louise A. Kerr, Professor of History and Associate Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at University of Illinois at Chicago, studied Mexican and Mexican-American immigration to Chicago in the post World War II ear. Her papers are composed of oral histories conducted by her students in 1996.
- Ellen Gates Starr PapersEllen Gates Starr, co-founder of Hull-House with Jane Addams, was born in 1859 in Laona, Illinois. During the years 1887 and 1888, Ellen Gates Starr traveled in Europe, at least part of the time, with Jane Addams. In 1888, Jane Addams discussed with Ellen Starr her intention of establishing a social settlement much like Toynbee Hall in London. She worked with other Hull-House residents to improve the life and working conditions of her west side neighbors.
- Emmanuel Presbyterian ChurchThe Emmanuel Presybyterian Church located at 1850 S. Racine, Chicago, Illinois played an active role in efforts by the United Presbyterian Church and United Church of Christ to proselytize communities of Latino immigrants in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Some materials from ALAS (Alianza Latino-Americana para el Adelanto Social) and PLAC (Program Cabinet of the Presbytery of Chicago) also form part of these records.
- ERA IllinoisThe ERA Illinois was founded during the early 1970s in the wake of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The Records of ERA Illinois contain the administrative records of the organization, literature about women's rights and brochures, clippings and other literature promoting and opposing the Equal Rights Amendment.
- Historical Encyclopedia of Chicago Women ProjectThe records of the Historical Encyclopedia of Chicago Women Project consist of records generated in the compilation of Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary. The bulk of the collection consist of entry files: records generated by individual entry authors which contain research materials regarding the subject and drafts of the encyclopedia entry.
- Hull House Association RecordsRecords from Hull-House Association after it moved from the Near West Side (primarily 1963-1999).
- Hull-House CollectionHull-House, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, was the first social settlement in Chicago. The settlement was incorporated in March, 1895, with a stated purpose to "provide a center for higher civic and social life, to initiate and maintain educational and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago." From 1889 to 1963, Hull-House operated a wide-ranging program from its complex of buildings at 800 S. Halsted
- Hull-House Oral History CollectionThe Hull-House Oral History Collection documents a variety of experiences and memories of Hull-House programs and Jane Addams from community members. As the transcripts reveal, these interviews include frank discussions of the relationships between the neighborhood's diverse ethnic groups, including Italians, Jews, Greeks, Irish, Mexicans and African Americans.
- Illinois Commission on Human RelationsThe Illinois Commission on Human Relations was established in 1943 to promote understanding and respect among persons of diverse religions, ethnicities and national origins, to protect constitutional rights of all citizens, and to open up opportunities for all to engage in community life, including universal access to public services and accommodations.
- Illinois Federation of LaborThe Illinois Federation of Labor held its first convention in Chicago, Illinois in 1884. A member of the American Federation of Labor since 1886, the state organization pursued the same general economic goals of craft unionism such as higher wages and benefits, shorter working hours, and better working conditions.
- Illinois Youth CommissionThe Illinois Youth Commission was established in 1953 by the 68th Illinois General Assembly. The Collection includes statements, reports, reprints, and proceedings related to the role of the Commission and juvenile delinquency.
- Immigrants' Protective League RecordsOrganization affiliated with Hull-House that provided resources to new immigrants.
- Juvenile Protective Association RecordsOrganization affiliated with Hull-House that advocated for children.
- Near West Side Community Committee RecordsCommunity organization for Chicago's 20th ward.
- Puerto Rican Cultural CenterChicago's Puerto Rican and Latina/o community established the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) in 1973 as a non-profit community based organization. The collection contains printed documents produced and published by the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
- Rafael Cintron-Ortiz Cultural Center Records, 1970-2000The Rafael Cintron-Ortiz Cultural Center (RCOCC) was established in 1976 as a permanent site for social, cultural and educational activities of relevance to the large and growing Latino student population at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Its records contains material documenting the 20th Anniversary Oral History Project; various administrative records including budget material; conference and symposium material; events and programs including Brotherhood Day, Cinco de Mayo, film festival
- Socialism and Social WelfareThe Socialism and Social Welfare collection includes speeches, federal U.S. and State government documents, clippings, correspondence, memoranda, policy statements, publications, programs, flyers, pamphlets, and periodicals.
- Stephen Bubacz Papers, 1931-1968Stephen Bubacz (1909-1968) helped organize the first experimental neighborhood project within the city of Chicago, the Russell Square Community Committee. He was also a staff member of the Chicago Area Project and a supervisor of social agencies on the southeast side of Chicago. The collection consists of correspondence, proceedings, minutes, memoranda, maps, clippings, newsletters, pamphlets, photographs, reports, and case records.
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating CommitteeThe collection consists of the records of the Chicago SNCC Freedom Center, a local branch which was developed in order to establish programs attacking poverty and poor housing conditions, and to create community action projects and youth council programs.
- Students for a Democratic SocietyInspired by the civil rights movement and the general wave of counterculture sentiment among contemporary American youth, SDS called for participatory democracy, raged against conformism, the military-industrial complex, and the U.S. military effort in Vietnam. The group's Port Huron Statement published in 1962, written largely by Tom Hayden, criticized the poverty, racism, militarism, and materialism that he believed afflicted American society.
- Traveler's Aid SocietyThe purpose of the Traveler's Aid Society was to provide assistance to American pioneers and new immigrants who became stranded on their journeys.
- YMCA -- Duncan-Maxwell StreetThe Duncan Maxwell Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association served as a prominent community organization during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s in Chicago as its surrounding community faced challenges and problems of inner city decline, crime, poverty, and urban renewal.
- YMCA -- WabashCompleted in 1913, the YMCA at Wabash Avenue served as an important center for African-American culture, health education, vocational training and community development. The Y is particularly notable for its association with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a pioneering scholar in African-American history and public education.
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About Special Collections
The Richard J. Daley Special Collections Department houses collections of rare books, manuscripts, and photographs. The rare book collection includes books of permanent, historic, and research interest focusing primarily on the history of Chicago. The manuscript holdings consist of records of individuals and organizations important to the history of Chicago. Images of these individuals, organizations, and Chicago form the core of the photographs and digital images collection.
Special Collections is open to the public during the following hours:
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Phone: Richard J. Daley Library, Special Collections - 312.996.2742