This guide provides suggestions of many places to go for illustrations. However, our published materials contain many other collections that might have the illustration you need. Items such as maps, menus, theater programs all can be explored for images. Talk to the reference staff about what you are looking for!
A broadside is a sheet of paper printed on only one side. The collection includes flyers handed out on the street; posters advertising museum exhibitions; posters carried in demonstrations; real estate ads from the turn of the century; and more.
A card file in the Abakanowicz Research Center can help you identify broadsides that may be of interest to you. Retrieval of these items takes time; we ask that you request them 3-4 business days in advance.
These are also cataloged at the folder level in ARCHIE, and lists of available topical headings by series are linked to below:
These early photographs are usually of individuals and are cataloged individually by name in ARCHIE. You can view them here at the Abakanowicz Research Center. If you would like a copy, you can order a print through the Rights and Reproductions Department. (For reasons of preservation, we do not photocopy them.)
Most of our photographic collections are in black and white, but we do have some color images. In order to preserve these images, they are kept in cold storage and must be warmed up slowly. This is why color photographs must be requested at least 48 hours in advance. A note in the catalog record will alert you to this restriction.
We hold film footage from WGN local news broadcasts from the mid-1940s through 1981. Email research@chicagohistory.org if you are interested in finding out more about using this collection.
These fragile images require an appointment with a staff member who can go through them with you at a light table. Check the information under "phys. desc." in the catalog record. It will specify "glass negatives" or "lantern slides."
Please note the following if you're looking at a digitized glass negative:
The handwriting is backwards on the digital image because it is written on the emulsion side, or back, of the glass negative. Since you are looking at a transparent glass negative and seeing both the front and back of the negative at the same time, when digitized properly, the image contents will look correct and the handwriting will be reversed.
We have a collection that includes 19th and 20th century greeting cards, for Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas, and more.
Our postcard collection is readily retrieved. The main postcard collection consists of Chicago images dating from 1893 to the 1990s, in a variety of postcard formats, organized by subject. In addition to the main postcard collection, there is a small separate collection taken by photographer Charles Childs. These black-and-white images date from approximately the 1910s and are organized by subject
A stereograph shows two images side-by-side on a card. When viewed through a special viewer, the two images appear to merge and become 3-D. Even when viewed as two flat images, the cards in this collection provide a rich source of early images of the city, especially the aftermath of the Chicago fire. You will also find many pictures of Civil War battlefields here.
These colorful cards, popular around the turn of the century, are a cross between a business card and an advertisement. Our collection is organized by type of business and includes cards on topics from real estate agents to candy makers to undertakers. There are no catalog records for these images in ARCHIE, but we have a list of the categories in the Abakanowicz Research Center.