Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records: Collection Description

Finding aids are inventory lists of what is in the collection. Their purpose is to help researchers narrow down which boxes and folders they would like to see.

Series 1: Administration, 1904-1996, bulk 1930-1970

Series 2: Legal department, 1916-1991

Series 3: Departments of Maintenance and Conservation, 1904-2010

Series 4: Governance, 1915-1999

Series 5: Planning, Development, and Construction, 1911-2001

Series 6: Construction blueprints, circa 1920 - circa 1975

Series 7: News clippings, circa 1950 - circa 2002

Series 0 [zero]: Photographs, circa 1900 - circa 2005

Series 1: Administration, 1904-1996, bulk 1930-1970

Administrative records of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Most come from the general headquarters and from the office of the general superintendent. Some files are closed to researchers until 75 years after the date of creation.

Subseries 1: General headquarters correspondence, 1929-1967

Correspondence to and from the FPDCC general headquarters. The FPDCC labeled most of the folders in this subseries as "miscellaneous" and organized them alphabetically by subject and correspondent.

Subseries 2: Correspondence with county officials and Forest Preserve commissioners, 1927-1967

Correspondence between the FPDCC general headquarters and county officials, primarily the members of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board of Commissioners.

Subseries 3: Correspondence with the public, 1928-1944

Correspondence between the FPDCC general headquarters and members of the general public.

Subseries 4: Charles Sauers personal correspondence, 1933-1964

Charles G. Sauers was the general superintendent from 1929 to 1964. This subseries contains the correspondence that he marked as "personal."

Subseries 5: Concessions, Recreation, and Special Events, 1913-1996, bulk 1929-1941

Bids, memoranda, correspondence, and other administrative items that deal with the FPDCCs management of its concession stands, recreation facilities, and special events.

Subseries 6: Employment records, 1929-1985, bulk 1930-1960

This subseries deals with FPDCC employment policies. Most of the materials address hiring practices, employee evaluations, and disciplinary decisions. The provenance of these files is uncertain, but most of them appear to come from the office of the general superintendent or from the FPDCC’s personnel office.Some files in this subseries are restricted until seventy-five (75) years after the date of creation.

Subseries 7: Financial records, 1927-1993, bulk, 1927-1966

Financial matters of the FPDCC, such as appropriations bills, tax levies, budgets, comptroller reports, and day-to-day expenditures.

Subseries 8: Reference library, 1904-1965, bulk, 1930-1962

The materials in this subseries come from what the FPDCC appears to have used as a reference library. The files are arranged in the order in the which the FPDCC kept them.

Subseries 9: University of Illinois at Chicago Campus Controversy, 1955-1960

Memoranda,correspondence,and other materials concerning a controversy over whether to locate a new University of Illinois campus on Forest Preserve land. During the 1950s, the university sought to develop a permanent campus for its "Chicago Undergraduate Division," then quartered at Navy Pier in Chicago. Selection committees investigated numerous sites for the proposed campus. Among these sites was an area known as Miller Meadow, located within the holdings of the FPDCC. The district was strongly opposed to ceding any land to the University of Illinois for the campus, and it allied itself with citizens and other parties who opposed the proposed cession.

Subseries 10: Public Information Office, circa 2001-2011

Files and media produced by or on behalf of the FPDCC' Public Information Office. The materials include documents, DVD's and CD_Rom's, audio cassettes, and VHS videocassettes.

Series 2: Legal department, 1916-1991

Records that deal with the legal matters of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Subseries 1: Legal Department Files and Correspondence, 1916-1970

Files of the FPDCC’s legal department. These files include letters, memoranda, and records about special assessments, court cases , and land acquisition efforts. When possible, folders have been organized according to file number and chronologically when no file number was available.

Subseries 2: Accident and Incident Reports, 1930-1991 (bulk 1930-1965)

Reports of accidents and other “incidents” on FPDCC property. Files are closed until 75 years after the date of creation.

Subseries 3: Land Acquisition, 1921-1965

Property acquisition records. Most of these records are appraisals or other correspondence or memoranda that relate to the land acquisition process.

Subseries 4: Condemnation Proceedings, 1916-1946

Typewritten, verbatim accounts of the district’s condemnation proceedings, organized chronologically.

Series 3: Departments of Maintenance and Conservation, 1904-2010

Subseries 1: Maintenance and Conservation Department General Records, 1914 - circa 1998

Papers collected and stored by the FPDCC's Department of Maintenance and Department of Conservation. The files marked by Roman numerals are in their original order. The original order for the remainder of the files was impossible to determine. Those folders have been arranged thematically and alphabetically.

Subseries 2: Roberts Mann papers, 1931-1969

Roberts Mann, Superintendent of Maintenance and later Superintendent of Conservation for the FPDCC, produced numerous writings during his tenure. This subseries contains those papers Mann himself elected to keep together., but it in no way represents the totality of Mann’s written output. His voluminous writings and correspondence permeate the entire collection. Mann’s writings cover nearly every imaginable aspect of FPDCC and park operations--he commented on everything from budgeting and policy to the proper design for toilet seats. Among the files are papers presented to various organizational gatherings and articles published in magazines, newspapers, or professional journals. This subseries is arranged here alphabetically. An important note: the file titled “Archives: Publications in Bob Mann’s Home Library” includes a letter-key index. Those letters were then hand-written on the top of the corresponding document. It appears that these were the documents that Mann considered his most important. Document titles are consistent between Mann’s index and this listing.

Subseries 3: Nature Bulletins, 1945-1965

From 1945 until 1964 the Conservation Department of the FPDCC sent these one-page bulletins to schools and other interested parties, more or less weekly during the school year. Most were written by Roberts Mann, David Thompson, or Roland Eisenbeis. They are arranged here chronologically (as issued). Some of them contain manuscripts and other materials and sources the authors used for reference. From time-to-time, a nature bulletin generated correspondence from readers. When available, that correspondence is included. Topics are wide-ranging and include general natural and political history, flora, fauna, the development of the FPDCC, and occasional policy statements. From 1964 until 1980 many of the bulletins were re-dated and reprinted, some with minor revisions. Where available, both “editions” are included. Nature Bulletin #645 was not included in the original accession.

Subseries 4: Nature Centers, 2002-2010

The FPDCC operates six "nature centers" as part of the district's educational mission to work with teachers in and near Cook County. Their mission is to introduce their students to the flora and fauna of the forest preserves. Files concerning the nature centers may also be found elsewhere in the FPDCC records.

Subseries 5: "Historical" files, circa 1909-1992

Files that the maintenance and conservation departments labeled "historical" or that they believed them to be of historical interest. Most of these files pertain to the FPDCC's founding and early years.

Subseries 6: Other Media, 1973 - circa 1999

Materials in electronic or audiovisual formats and some accompanying documents.

Series 4: Governance, 1915-1999

Records that pertain to the relationship between the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) and citizens groups, park organizations, and governmental agencies, including the Board of the Forest Preserve Commissioners of Cook County.

Subseries 1: General Governance files, 1927-1966

Records of the FPDCC's interactions with local, state, and federal government agencies and with citizens groups.

Subseries 2: Parks and Park organizations, 1929-1966

FPDCC's records concerning, and its officers' correspondence with, other park organizations.

Subseries 3: National Park Service records, 1934-1964

Documents and correspondence relating to the National Park Service. During the 1930s, the NPS administered or assisted in the administration of various New Deal agencies and their work on FPDCC projects. Charles Sauers, General Superintendent of the FPDCC, served as chairman of the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments. This subseries also includes documents that relate to Sauers's activities with that organization.

Subseries 4: Annual Messages of the Forest Preserve District and Cook County Board President, 1921-1987, bulk 1926-1987 (with gaps)

Annual messages of the president of the Board of Cook County Commissioners, who also serves as president of the Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners of Cook County. These messages outlined the accomplishments of the county board, the board of forest preserve commissioners, or both.

Subseries 5: Unbound Proceedings, 1920-1964 [stored at an offsite facility]

"Unbound," loose-leaf proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.These proceedings are organized chronologically. Many of the later years have indexes. Some of the folders in this sub-series contain records of bid tenders for contract work with the district. These proceedings are stored at an off-site facility, and researchers who wish to consult them are advised to request them at least ten (10) business days before they plan to visit the reading room.

Subseries 6: Agendas for Forest Preserve Board Meetings, 1993-1996

Printed agendas for meetings of the Board of Commissioners of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County

Subseries 7: Bound Proceedings, 1915-1999 (with gaps)

Official, annual reports of proceedings of the FPDCC.

Series 5: Planning, Development, and Construction, 1911-2001

Records that pertain to the trategic planning and construction projects for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. They include the records of the FPDCC Advisory Committee, the office of the landscape architect, and the office of the engineer.

Subseries 1: General Construction and Development records, 1918-1994

Records that pertain to construction projects and the development of FPDCC land. A large number of the files in this sub-series date from before World War II (1939-1945), and most of those deal with the emergency relief efforts of the Illinois and Federal governments during the Great Depression, and in particular with the development of the Skokie Lagoons. The Skokie Lagoons project began in the late 1920s, and with the influx of money and personnel from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, especially the Civilian Conservation Corps, it quickly became one of the largest relief projects in the 1930s. This subseries also includes a smaller number of files on projects from the late into the mid-1990s. The provenance of most of these items is uncertain and the original order was impossible to determine. The files have been organized alphabetically and thematically.

Subseries 2: Records from the Office of the Landscape Architect, 1948-2001

Subseries 3: Advisory Committee Records from the Office of the Landscape Architect, 1923-1984

These records come from the office of the landscape architect and deal specifically with the FPDCC Advisory Committee. They include include minutes, plans, reports, memoranda and correspondence of the Advisory Committee and the office of the landscape architect.Other advisory committee records are found in Series 5, subseries 4.

Subseries 4: Advisory Committee records, 1929-1965

Records of the FPDCC Advisory Committee. They include minutes, plans, reports, memoranda and correspondence of the Advisory Committee. Other advisory committee records are found in Series 5, subseries 3.

Subseries 5: Department of Engineering records, 1940-1997

Files from or relating to the FPDCC's Department of Engineering.

Subseries 6: Blueprints and Bids, 1914-1967

Blueprints, plans, bid specifications, and instructions to bidders for some of the FPDCC’s many construction projects. Most of these projects concern the building of facilities, such as bathhouses and buildings located on FPDCC property, and structures, such as well platforms or lighting fixtures. A smaller number deal with much larger projects, such as the construction of the Northwestern Golf Course or sketch plans for the project to develop what later became known as the “Skokie Lagoons.” Some of the projects included in this subseries were done in counties other than Cook County. The provenance appears to have been the FPDCC’s engineering department. Blueprints can also be found in Series 6.

Series 6: Construction blueprints, circa 1920 - circa 1975

Blueprints generated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC), by other entities on the district's behalf, or by the National Park Service or other organizations. Blueprints are also found in Series 5, subseries 6.

Subseries 1: Master Plans and Control Plans, ca. 1930-1975, bulk 1941

FPDCC Master Plans and Control Plans.

Subseries 2: Flood Control Project, Skokie Lagoons, 1920s-1930s

The Skokie Lagoons project was a massive endeavor to develop the marsh areas around the Skokie River of northern Cook County, on FPDCC land. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, cooperated with the district to employ thousands of young men to work on this project, which involved creating seven lagoons to re-beautify the landscape and alleviate seasonal flooding.Other blueprints about the Skokie Lagoons project can be found in Series 5, subseries 6, Series 6, subseries 1, and Series 6, subseries 3.

Subseries 3: Projects, 1930- ca. 190, bulk 1960-1985

Blueprints of projects undertaken on FPDCC property. They have been organized according to the named location of the project, when available, or by kind of project. The range of blueprints for most of the projects is incomplete, and most of the projects are missing one or more blueprints.

Subseries 4: National Park Service and State of Illinois Projects, ca. 1930 – ca. 1940

Blueprints from projects done under the auspices of the National Park Service, in cooperation with the State of Illinois. Most of these projects are for the development of state parks in Illinois counties other than Cook County.

Subseries 5: Unidentified Blueprints, dates vary or are undetermined

Blueprints that were unidentified either because they had been separated from the original project they belonged to or because they had not been numbered or otherwise named. The blueprints of this sub-series are of two types. The first has some notation concerning the approximate area the blueprint was designed to cover; these are the "Unidentified Blueprints with Known Locations." The second type lacks such a notation; these are the "Unidentified Blueprints without Known Locations."

Series 7: News clippings, circa 1950 - circa 2002

The FPDCC used a news clipping service that reviewed most local newspapers and collected articles mentioning the Cook County Forest Preserves. It pasted most of these clippings onto large scrapbooks. Two strategies were used to preserve these items. Some newspaper clippings were photocopied onto acid-free paper, while others were digitized.

Series 0 [zero]: Photographs, circa 1900 - circa 2005

See more information about FPDCC photographs.

Prints, negatives, glass negatives, glass slides, and 35mm slides, illustrations, and artwork. These were created by early advocates of the FPDCC, by its officials or employees, or on its behalf. Boxes, folders, and items identified in this series are labeled to reflect the series [0] and the sub-series to which they belong. For example, Box 0-10-3 represents Box 3, of sub-series 10, of series 0.

Subseries 1: Glass Lantern Slides, circa. 1900-1948

More than 700 glass lantern slides. About 200 images, items #0-1-1-1 through 0-1-4-44 are the "Perkins slides." Dwight H. Perkins and other early advocates used these slides in the public lectures they gave to win support for the creation of a forest preserve district.

Subseries 2: Glass Negatives, 1903-1929

Glass negatives taken of areas that were part of, or would become part of, the Forest Preserve District of Cook county.

Subseries 3: Skokie Lagoons Project #1, circa. 1930 - circa. 1940

The Skokie Lagoons project was a massive endeavor to develop the marsh areas around the Skokie River of northern Cook County, on FPDCC land. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, cooperated with the Forest Preserve District to employ thousands of young men to work on this project, which involved creating seven lagoons to re-beautify the landscape and alleviate seasonal flooding.This subseries contains more than 2,000 negatives that the FPDCC organized by “group” numbers. The groups are numbered chronologically from 1 to 291, with group number 1 being the earliest (1933) and group number 291 being the latest, about 1937. Each group contains an average of about 8 negatives, which the FPDCC numbered as “items.” Twenty-two (22) negatives have no group or item number. A few negatives have duplicate group and item numbers, and some negatives are missing from the collection. About 1,400 of the 2,000 negatives were developed into print photographs. Some of these prints were placed into one of two scrapbooks the district kept to document the progress of the CCC companies that worked on the project. Some prints were placed into folders that the FPDCC organized by topic and, sometimes, by group and item number. Other photographs from the Skokie Lagoons project can be found in Series 0 [zero], subseries 4.

Subseries 4: Skokie Lagoons Project #2, circa. 1933-1942

The Skokie Lagoons project was a massive endeavor to develop the marsh areas around the Skokie River of northern Cook County, on FPDCC land. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, cooperated with the Forest Preserve District to employ thousands of young men to work on this project, which involved creating seven lagoons to re-beautify the landscape and alleviate seasonal flooding. This subseries contains negatives and photographs of various aspects of the Skokie Lagoons project. Other photographs from the Skokie Lagoons project can be found in Series 0 [zero], subseries 3.

Subseries 5: Encoded Negatives and Prints, first grouping, 1920s-1970s

Negatives and print photographs that the FPDCC marked with a series of codes. These codes included an alphabetical notation that describes the general class of what was photographed, followed by a numerical notation that described the photograph in more detail.The FPDCC had as many as three (3) indexes that served as guides to what these codes meant. The indexes can be found in folder 0-5-1-4 and in folder 0-5-1-5

Subseries 6: Encoded Negatives and Prints, second grouping, circa. 1913-1940s

Negatives and print photographs that the FPDCC marked with a series of codes. These codes included an alphabetical notation that describes the general class of what was photographed, followed by a numerical notation that described the photograph in more detail.The FPDCC had as many as three (3) indexes that served as guides to what these codes meant. These indexes can be found in folder 0-5-1-4 and in folder 0-5-1-5.

Subseries 7: Illinois and Michigan Canal Scrapbook, 1933-1935

The Illinois and Michigan Canal links the Chicago River with the Illinois River. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps, an organization that was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program, did construction work to improve the canal. This subseries consists of photographs from a small scrapbook taken to document the CCC work.

Subseries 8: Miscellaneous Photographs, Slides, and Negatives, circa. 1920 - circa. 2005

Miscellaneous photographs and negatives received from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Subseries 9: Oversized Items, 1900-1990s

More than 200 large photographs, illustrations, maps, and artwork. These images were produced by the FPDCC, on behalf of the district, or by early proponents of the forest preserves.

Subseries 10: Slides [non glass], 1990s-2004, and mostly undated

Slides taken by or on behalf of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. It also includes a small number of print photographs, negatives, and written material. Among the written material is a set of index cards. These index cards are organized by subject, such as a form of wildlife, and the cards assign a letter or number to each type of subject. On some of the slides in this subseries, it appears that this code system was used to identify what was being photographed. The slides in this subseries have been organized, when possible, according to topic.. Finally, a large number of slides had no discernable order. These have been placed into folders called "Miscellaneous." Some of these "miscellaneous" slides do have identifying information on the slide cover.

Like most archival collections, the materials in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records are listed in a finding aid (inventory listing). Because the collection is so big, the finding aid is divided into several series. When you look over the finding aid, you'll see that most of the series are broken down into smaller units, called subseries.

The finding aid usually describes materials at what is called the "folder level." That means the inventory describes the titles of the folders and that researchers use those titles as a guide to what they are likely to find in that folder.

In rarer cases, as with some photographs, some blueprints, and artifacts, an inventory list might use what is called "item-level" description, where each item (and not folder title) is listed in the finding aid.

Each series and subseries contains material coming from a particular source or pertaining to a particular topic. When possible, we kept the materials together based on the office that generated them. For example, most of the files in Series I, subseries 1 (Administrative Records, miscellaneous correspondence), comes from the office of the general superintendent while most of the files in Series V, subseries 4 (Advisory Committee Records) come from the FPD advisory committee.

Series III: the Records of the Departments of Maintenance and Conservation contains materials from both the Department of Maintenance and the Department of Conservation. Many of those records come from Roberts Mann, who served successively as superintendent of both departments. We did not want to risk incorrectly distinguishing between files from the two departments. Therefore we placed the files into one "Maintenance and Conservation" series.

When we didn't know for sure which office generated a set of files, we put them together based on a shared theme while maintaining the "original order" in which the FPDCC had organized them. For example, the files in Series IV (Governance Records) pertain to how the FPDCC was governed. But it was not always clear whether the files originated from an FPDCC administrative office or from the county board. So we grouped them as "governance" files.