Chicago Public Library

Dates: circa 1880-1993. Size: 5.5 linear feet in 9 boxes and 89 photographs. Chicago Public Library, Sulzer Regional Library, Northside Neighborhood History Collection. Esther A. Barlow was a children’s librarian at Chicago Public Library from 1927 until her retirement in 1976, including over twenty years as Head of Children’s Services at Hild Regional Library. The collection contains personal and professional papers, books and publications, and photographs. Photographs from this collection are available in the Library’s Esther A. Barlow Digital Collection. [Finding Aid]

Dates: 1981-1982. Size: 1 linear foot in two boxes, includes 37 audio cassettes and 4 reel-to-reel audio recordings. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, Chicago Theater Collection. Chicago Public Library put on a series of 25 lectures and panel discussions devoted to the history and development of theater in Chicago. The programs were held jointly by the Lake View Branch of Chicago Public Library and the CPL/Cultural Center, and made possible in part through grants from the Illinois Humanities Council and Illinois Arts Council. [Finding aid]

Size: 1,500 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Selected items are available in the Library's Chicago Public Library Archives Digital Collection. [Partially processed]

Dates: 1885-2014, Bulk 1920s-2000s. Size: 41 linear feet in 68 boxes plus one oversize folder. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections.  Photographs in this collection document the activities, structures and staff of the Chicago Public Library’s neighborhood branch system from 1885 through 2014. Formats include glass plate slides, transparencies, slides, prints, negatives, contact sheets and snapshots. Selected items from this collection are available in the Library's digital collection, Chicago Public Library Archives. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1997-1998. Size: 6 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Documents the activities held to celebrate the Library’s 125th year of operation. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1995-2011. Size: 189 VHS videocassettes, 41 DVDs, 0.5 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. These recordings show some of the public programs Chicago Public Library has offered between 1995 and 2011. There is a wide variety of authors in this collection, from bestselling authors to local, emerging talent. In addition to fiction writers the collection features poets, journalists, actors, chefs, scientists and scholars and programs include author talks, panel discussions, dramatic readings and poetry recitals. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1872-present. Size: 33 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Annual Reports and Official Proceedings from the Library’s Board of Directors and many of its Committees. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1895-present. Size: 67 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Annual reports produced by the Library’s neighborhood branches. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1975-2006. Size: 74 linear feet. Accession #1975/02. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. The institutional archives of Woodson Regional Library, which opened in 1975, include administrative files, programs, photographs, memorabilia and annual reports. [Partially processed]

Dates: 1892-1898. Size: 12 linear feet in 25 boxes. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. This collection comprises the specifications Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge created for contractors to bid on for the construction of the Main Library for the Chicago Public Library, now known as the Chicago Cultural Center. The specifications show the exact standards contractors were held to when building the new central library, as well as the materials to be used. Many bids have original checks for deposits attached to them and some have additional information about the bidding company included, such as trade catalogs, photographs of proposed machinery, and additional blue prints. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1871-1908. Size: 18 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. The Early CPL Papers series of the Chicago Public Library Archives document the foundation of Chicago Public Library immediately after the 1871 fire. The series includes detailed information regarding the legislative process which gave authority to the city to raise taxes to maintain a public library; extremely detailed information regarding the first collections; shipping information and costs of exporting donations from Great Britain to the United States; lists of who donated what; and general everyday library business. The series also has information about employment matters in the Library and the construction of the new Central Library. The collection includes the Papers of the Board of Directors, the Papers of the Secretary of the Board and the Papers of the Librarian for this time period. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1932-1975. Size: 33 linear feet. Accession #1932/01. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. The Hall Branch is named for George Cleveland Hall, African American physician, Chicago Public Library board member and a founding member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, who campaigned tirelessly for a full-service library in Bronzeville. Hall Branch, headed by Vivian G. Harsh from 1932 to 1958, was a leading cultural institution in Bronzeville during the Chicago Renaissance. The archives include administrative records, programs, correspondence, photographs, clipping files, pamphlets and research materials from its 1932 opening day until the transfer of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature to Woodson Regional Library in 1975. Selected items are available online in the George Cleveland Hall Branch Digital Collection and the Chicago Renaissance Digital Collection. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1988-1991. Size: 1,411 photographs. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. This photographic collection documents the construction of the Harold Washington Library Center, the central library for the Chicago Public Library. Both interior and exterior shots were taken, and all aspects of the building’s construction are shown, including the erection of steel, the masonry work, the interior heating and air conditioning systems, and the installation of marble finishes and casework. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1986-1991. Size: 22.5 linear feet in 19 boxes, including 471 slides, 2 VHS video recordings plus 1 oversize folder. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. The Harold Washington Library Center Design Build Records document the process by which the design for Chicago Public Library's new Central Library was chosen. On July 29, 1987, Mayor Washington and the City Council authorized a design/build competition and approved a bond issue to finance the project. Under the competition rules, architects and builders teamed up to design the new Central Library within the set price of $144 million. Norman Ross, Chairman of the Citizen Jury, announced the winner on June 20, 1988. By a vote of 9-2, the winning entry was the proposal submitted by the SEBUS Group. Records include information about the jurying process, submittals by the five finalists, including slide presentations and public comment cards. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1986-2013. Size: 16 linear feet. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Music Information Center. Video and audio recordings of selected programs presented by the Visual and Performing Arts Department and performed at Harold Washington Library Center. [Unprocessed]

Dates: 1975-2006. Size: 99 linear feet. Accession #1975/01. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. The archives of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature document the collection’s history after it moved to Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in 1975. The collection includes manuscripts, programs, administration records, reports, photographs, audiovisual materials and memorabilia. [Partially processed]

Dates: 1945-2016. Size: 9 linear feet Accession #: 2016/02.Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature.  Leland B. Elder, Jr. worked as part of the Chicago Public Library’s Public Information Office (PIO) for over 30 years (1984-2016).  His responsibilities included editing and writing for the various incarnations of the library’s newsletters, marketing, press releases and promoting library programs and services. His papers, which include press releases, event flyers and programs, detail the growth and development of the PIO and the Marketing Department of the Chicago Public Library as well as the evolution of the ethnic heritage committees and the annual library programs. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1990-1999. Size: 4 linear feet. Accession #1999/05. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. Evalyn Hamilton, the first coordinator of the Vivian G. Harsh Society, was also active in Go On Girl! book clubs in Chicago. Her personal papers include cultural and literary flyers, programs, serials and memorabilia. [Partially processed]

Dates: 1980-1992. Size: 11 linear feet. Accession #1992/01. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. Edward Manney was the assistant curator of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature from 1984 to 1992. His personal collection consists of manuscripts, books, posters, memorabilia, theater programs, newspaper clippings, videos, color slides, campaign materials from Harold Washington’s 1983 mayoral election and exhibit catalogs. [Partially processed]

Dates: 1986. Size: .5 linear feet in one box, includes 12 audio cassette tapes. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, Chicago Theater Collection. In November 1986, the Chicago Public Library hosted a series of 15 lectures and panel discussions in which Chicago playwrights discussed their work, presented performance excerpts and answered audience questions. This program was organized by the Chicago Office of Fine Arts and co-sponsored by the Chicago Public Library. It was made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. [Finding aid]

Date: 2006-2011. Size: 5.5 linear feet in 4 boxes and 17 bound volumes. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, Neighborhood History Research Collection. This collection consists of 21 artist books and fine bindings that were displayed at two juried bookbinding exhibits—One Book, Many Interpretations in 2006 and One Book, Many Interpretations: Second Edition in 2011—coinciding with the fifth and tenth anniversaries of Chicago Public Library’s One Book, One Chicago program. The books, each drawing inspiration from a previous One Book, One Chicago selection, represent a wide range of styles, from traditional fine bindings to conceptual artist books. [Finding aid]

Dates: circa 1959-1994. Size: 1 linear foot. Accession #1994/07. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. In the 1950s, Nannie Pinkney was a clerk at George Cleveland Hall Branch Library. Her papers include an oral history audiotape on the Hall Branch and the last years of Vivian Harsh’s life, as well as photographs. [Finding aid]

Dates: 1906-1994. Size: 56 linear feet. Accession #1980/01. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. Charlemae Rollins served as children’s librarian at the Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library from 1932 to 1963 and was a nationally recognized pioneer in the development of multicultural children’s literature. Her papers include correspondence, scrapbooks, clipping files, memorabilia, photographs and published and unpublished essays, as well as Rollins’ personal library. An item from this collection is available in the Library's Chicago Renaissance Digital Collection. [Finding aid]

Dates: circa late 1800s-2002. Size: 2 linear feet in 2 boxes and 5 oversize folders, including 123 photographs. Chicago Public Library, Sulzer Regional Library, Northside Neighborhood History Collection. Helen Zatterberg (1902-2002) worked for Chicago Public Library from 1921 until her retirement in 1967. She founded the Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association in 1935 and spent many years at Hild Regional Library before becoming Regional Librarian of the North Side in 1957. This collection contains personal papers; professional papers, mostly awards and honors; and photographs. [Finding Aid]