Subject and Course Guides: LALS/HIST 290: A Guide to Special Collections Research: Find Primary Sources at UIC and Beyond

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The Chicago Collections Consortium aspires to increase public and scholarly interest in and study of the Chicago region's diverse history and culture. On this website, you can search and browse hundreds of collections from 20 different Chicago-area libraries, including UIC!

Selected Organization Records and Personal Papers

Dr. Louise Ano Nuevo Kerr Collection, 1996
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. This collection consists of oral histories conducted by Louise Kerr's students in 1996. These oral histories continue the research Kerr began more than twenty years prior, expanding our knowledge of Mexican migration during the 1970s and providing a fuller account of the origins and growth of the Mexican community in Chicago.
Emmanuel Presbyterian Church
The 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.
Hull-House Collection
Settlement houses provided a way for affluent, native-born Americans to learn from and help immigrants and less prosperous citizens in their own neighborhoods. Women were prominent in settlement staffing and many settlement houses became involved in local and national political issues.
Immigrants' Protective League Records, 1919-1967
The Immigrants Protective League was founded in 1908 as a resource for all new immigrants arriving in Chicago. The Immigrants Protective League records contain agendas, reports, memoranda, case histories, affidavits, legislative bills, dissertations, press releases, resolutions, photographs, maps, addresses, statements, clippings, articles, reports, published materials, divided into five series.
Industrial Areas Foundation Records, 1952-2004
In August of 1940, with financial assistance from Marshall Field III, Saul Alinsky founded the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which he intended to serve as an umbrella organization for the community groups he was developing across the United States.

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This collection reflects the activities of the Industrial Areas Foundation. The IAF has been headquartered in both New York and Chicago, but the materials were produced by affiliates across the country. The records date from 1952 to 2004 and include correspondence, campaign materials, organizers' field reports, newspaper clippings, organizational publications, annual reports, and training materials. The materials prior to 1968 reflect the IAF under Saul Alinsky, while the materials produced since 1973 reflect the modern IAF under Ed Chambers. The materials generated between 1968 and 1973 reflect the transitional period when the training institute originated and IAF activities became more institutionalized.
Mexican Community Committee of South Chicago
The Mexican Community Committee of South Chicago sought to help Latino youth and especially those who had trouble with law enforcement. It also sponsored an adult-education program, "Project Venceremos." This collection contains a minutes, correspondence, event programs, and information on programs for youth that were run by the Mexican Community Center of South Chicago during its first decade. It also includes two pamphlets, one from 1920 and one from 1940, that deal with Mexico or U.S.-Mexico relations.
Rafael Cintrón Ortiz | UIC Latino Cultural Center
The Rafael Cintron-Ortiz Cultural Center (RCOCC) 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 festivals, Dia de los Muertos and Escucha Mi Grito, various dance, theater and music recitals and concerts; flyers for events; Latin American Studies material; Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services material; information on the 1995-96 Mural Project; various Latino organizations such as the Confederation of Latin American Students (CLAS), Health Oriented Latino Association (HOLA), The Julian Samora Institute, and Mexican Students de Aztlan (Me.S.A.); political activities; publications; and speakers that have visited the Center or University.
Rudy Lozano papers, 1950-2003
Rodolfo “Rudy” Lozano, (1951 to 1983) was an activist and a community organizer in the predominantly Mexican-American Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. On June 8, 1983, Lozano was shot to death in his home. Lozano’s career including projects with many organizations including: National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; Centro de la Causa; Midwest Coalition for the Defense of Immigrants; Hispanic American Labor Council; Coalition for Labor Union Women; Latin American Council for Labor Union Advancement; Por Un Barrio Mejor; Citizen’s Information Service; Operation PUSH; Chicago Urban League; Chicago Peace Council. Lozano was a Midwest organizer for the International Ladies Garments Workers Union (I.L.G.W.U.).

Newspapers

Latin American Newspapers
Growing collection of Latin American and Caribbean historical newspapers in a partnership between Center for Research Libraries and Newsbank to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
Newspaper Source Plus
Current major newspapers and selected regional newspapers plus newscast transcripts. See the Newspapers Research Guide [ link https://researchguides.uic.edu/newspapers/top ] for library database coverage of the top 20 U.S. newspapers.
Our EBSCOhost databases will be moving to a new user interface starting Monday, May 19th, 2025 with the exception of CINAHL which will transition on August 1st.
For additional information about searching and managing results, please visit the EBSCOhost Transition Center.
Please send additional queries or comments to: ask@uic.libanswers.com
This collection includes cover-to-cover full text for USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor and The Times (London) as well as selected full text from more than 180 regional newspapers including: Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, San Jose Mercury News, etc. Full text transcripts are also included from Face the Nation, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, 60 Minutes, O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, National Public Radio, etc.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Provides full-text PDF articles from several major U.S. newspapers including: Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Sentinel, New York Amsterdam News, New York Times, Pittsburgh Courier, and Washington Post.

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LALS/HIST 290: A Guide to Special Collections Research: Find Primary Sources at UIC and Beyond

Find local archival collections

Selected Organization Records and Personal Papers

Newspapers

Richard J. Daley Library

Library of the Health Sciences, Chicago

Library of the Health Sciences, Peoria

Crawford Library of the Health Sciences, Rockford

UIC Law Library