Women in Politics: Non-UIC Archives

This database can only be accessed by UIC students and staff or from within the UIC library.

Explore Chicago Collections allows you to search for information in the physical and digital archives of a growing number of libraries and museums.

Rich collection of artifacts and documents related to the history of Chicago. Among the many collection strengths are electoral politics, citizen action movements, community organizing, and urban planning. Included are the records of the Chicago Police Department Red Squad, which conducted surveillance of suspected "subversive" groups from the 1950s to 1974, the Chicago Teachers Unions Records, the Chicago Women's Liberation Union Records, and the papers of U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun. The Museum also houses the Studs Terkel Center for Oral History.

Archival collections are held in several branches of the Chicago Public Library. A list of collections can be browsed alphabetically or by subject and includes the collections in the Harold Washington Library, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collections at the Woodson Regional Library, and the Sulzer Regional Library. Among the collections are the papers of Illinois State Senator Alice Palmer, head of the Harold Washington Foundation Mary Ella Smith, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Joan Wallace, the Eichelberg, Brenda/National Alliance of Black Feminists Papers, the records of a number of neighborhood women's clubs, and other collections documenting women's activism.

Frances Willard was a president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and a radical social progressive who stood out against gender inequality and fought to give a voice to society’s disenfranchised. Her papers and the papers of the WCTU are held in the archives.

The Gerber/Hart archives focuses on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer life in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwest. It contains over 150 collections documenting activist individuals and the activities of community organizations, businesses, and political campaigns.

Documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United states Federal government offices in the Midwest. Among their collections are the records of federal court cases related to civil rights and workplace mediation.

Sixty-eight labor-related oral history interviews of individuals in the Chicago area. A list of the interviewees, subject covered in the interviews, and transcripts of these interviews are online. Many women labor leaders and workers are included in the interviews.

Archives of collections related to women and women's organizations. Among their collections are the papers of women in politics at the local, regional, and national levels and the papers of woman activists and activist organizations. Among the collections are the papers of feminist activist Sheli Lulkin, Illinois Senator carol Ronen, and Alderman Marion Kennedy Volini.