With more than 1.5 million images and more than 4 million feet of moving images, the Chicago History Museum’s prints and photographs collection reflects the creativity of the city’s visual arts community—including artists, photographers, and printmakers—from the early nineteenth century to the present.

Explore their work through our free online puzzles! Revisit bygone Chicago through artwork and black and white photography. See a depiction of the city’s beginnings as a frontier settlement in 1833 and marvel at how much it developed by 1893 when it hosted the world’s fair. Try one now.

Peruse a selection of digitized prints and photographs at CHM Images, our online portal. Featured galleries include images from our newly acquired Chicago Sun-Times Photography Collection, Raeburn Flerlage’s work documenting the Chicago blues and folk music scene during the 1950s–1970s, and Declan Haun’s photography capturing the American Civil Rights Era. Explore our images.