Religious Studies

Catholic 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. This is a very small collection.

The St. Nicholas, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Records include official albums and programs for the Eucharistic Congress of Eastern Rites, 1941, Golden and Silver Jubilees celebrating the establishment of the St. Nicholas Church in Chicago, and a photograph showing the Church's chapter of "Providence," a fraternal insurance organization.

The Immaculate Conception Blessed Virgin Mary Parish was founded in 1881 to serve a community of Catholic Polish immigrants in South Chicago, Illinois. This collection contains a series of typewritten notes in Polish and a published history of the Immaculate Conception BVM Parish.

The Italian-American Collection was compiled as part of the "Italians in Chicago" project by the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and largely conducted during 1979 and 1980. Donations included photographs, sound recordings, video recordings, books, booklets and pamphlets, citizenship papers, church documents, as well as various other family memorabilia.

The Society of Priests for a Free Ministry (SPFM) was a national association of former Roman Catholic priests with the stated purpose "to renew the Roman Catholic Church through an experimental ministry that focuses on becoming more conscious of the needs of ex-priests and clergy and those of local communities and mankind." The organization lobbied the Church to seek permission for married priests to continue to serve their congregations, found jobs for ex-priests, and worked with other progressive Catholic organizations to promote its goals.

The Chicago Conference on Religion and Race was formed immediately following the National Conference on Race and Religion in January 1963. The National Conference took place in Chicago over a four day period, and sought to provide a forum for religious leaders to speak frankly about and mobilize their communities over radial segregation and inequality. Breakout sessions covered a variety of issues related to the religious community and racial experience, and concluded with an address by Dr. Martin Luther King. The Chicago Conference picked up the torch and implemented a variety of the recommendations that came out of the conference, specifically on the topics of housing and employment.

Twenty-six ministers and rabbis founded the Clergy Consultation Service or CCS in New York City in 1967 to help provide women with access to safe abortions. The CCS gathered information about abortion providers, counseled women seeking abortion, and referred patients to physicians who practiced in the United States and other countries.

The Slovak League of America Collection consists of the 1968 edition of the National Slovak Society of the U.S.A.'s almanac and a souvenir book 20th Convention of held in Chicago for the Slovak Catholic Sokol in 1967.

The Polish Falcons of America is a fraternal benefit society dedicated to physical fitness, personal development, and the preservation of Polish culture. Felix L. Pietrowicz established the first American Nest in Chicago, Illinois on June 12, 1887. The Polish Falcons of America Collection includes published material produced by the Polish Falcons, a newspaper clipping, and one souvenir book published for the Slovak Catholic Sokol.

The 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.

In 1889, Ellen Gates Starr co-founded the Hull-House settlement house in Chicago, Illinois with Jane Addams. The collection contains correspondence, clippings, drawings, and bookbinding patterns.

Victor A. Olander, statesman, orator, philosopher, and trade unionists rose from the rank of common sailor to become an eminent and energetic labor leader. The collection consists of correspondence, notes, minutes, lists, clippings, reports, newsletters, speeches, bulletins, and statements pertaining to his trade union activities.

The Midwest Committee for Military Counseling was formed by anti-war activist during the Vietnam War, and earned a reputation in Illinois and neighboring states for the comprehensive counseling services they offered to new draftees and for their representation of draft resisters in federal court. Much of the collection consists of memoranda, administrative records and correspondence with allied organizations. The papers also contain court proceedings and statistics, newspaper clippings, anti-war booklets, anti-war newsletters, counselor notebooks, and personal letters from servicemen, women, and parents.

The records of Illinois Citizens for the Medical Control of Abortion, later the Abortion Rights Association of Illinois document their efforts to change Illinois abortion law in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Wencel F. Hetman (1895 to ca. 1966) was a civic leader, politician, entrepreneur, and real estate developer. He was the founder of both the Catholic War Veterans and Polish War Veterans. Hetman was also the Secretary of the American Slav Congress, President of Legion Building and Loan Association, and the President of Hetman and Company. The majority of this collection deals with Wencel F. Hetman's political work in the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

The National Abortion Rights Action League of Illinois Records reflect the mission, association, fundraising, correspondence, information gathering and political activism of this organization. The records consist of newsletters, budgets, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, articles, oppositional materials, and media coverage of the abortion controversy.

The Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance (IPCA) collection reflects the founding, history, activism, membership, and mission of the Alliance from 1979-1991. The material in the collection consists of IPCA pamphlets, flyers, conference packets, correspondence, and meeting minutes. The files chronicle IPCA rallies, celebrations, conferences, and committee and Board meeetings. The collection also contains ephemera generated by the anti-abortion organizations Operation Rescue and The Pro-Life Alliance.

The Saint Mary's records chiefly date from 1968 to 1976 when the school was the Center for Learning. However, there are records dating back to the school's inception in 1899 such as graduating class photographs, yearbooks, gradebooks, library accession books, Mother's Club minutes of meetings, and financial accounts.

The Near West Side Community Committee was founded as the West Side Community Committee in 1938. It was a community organization aimed at improving the 20th ward. The committee organized activities for young people, social welfare programs for neighbors, as well as neighborhood clean-up campaigns.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is one of the oldest African American social service, research, and advocacy organizations in the United States. A group of sociologists, social workers, and philanthropists founded the Chicago League in 1916 to address the rapidly increasing needs of the African American community during a time of voluminous migration.

Rev. Martin Hayes Bickham (October 7, 1880 - May, 1976) was a minister, sociologist, civil rights activist, and civil liberties advocate. The Martin Bickham Papers contain agendas, financial statements, bulletins, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, press releases, by-laws, clippings, correspondence, journals, letters, manuscripts, maps, pamphlets, artifacts, photographs, plans, posters, proceedings, research notes, resolutions, speeches, and reports spanning the mid-1920s through about 1971.