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CHM collections intern Ella Trotter writes about the critical process of describing archival documents regarding enslaved people in the United States. The Chicago History Museum’s Abakanowicz Research Center holds a collection of more than fifty documents, manuscripts, and letters regarding enslaved people in North America. The largely handwritten collection offers a glimpse into the lives of More
In our latest blog post, CHM cataloging and metadata librarian Gretchen Neidhardt writes about our ongoing critical cataloging work. This spring, the Chicago History Museum’s Research and Access department was fortunate to host Dominican University practicum student Rebekkah LaRue, MLIS, to assist us in examining our LGBTQIA+-related language in ARCHIE, our online catalog. This work More
In this blog post, Ariel Robinson, Chicago History Museum Research Center page and recent library school graduate, writes about her experience designing a Disability Studies LibGuide for CHM. At CHM, Gretchen Neidhardt, cataloging and metadata librarian, and Elizabeth McKinley, technical services librarian, have worked on developing LibGuides (subject guides) for various ethnic and BIPOC groups More
In a world of podcasts and online streaming, CHM collections intern Angela Thomas demonstrates that audio cassette tapes are still in use. In this blog post, she summarizes her work identifying and labeling audio content as part of her internship through the DePaul University museum studies certificate program. Just as people do not always remember to More
CHM archives and manuscripts intern Matthew Norgard worked with archivist Julie Wroblewski this past summer to process the papers of the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights (CCDBR). In this blog post, he details what he learned about the CCDBR and activism in the city more broadly. Grassroots organizing is once again in More
Get to know Chicago cultural maven Lois Weisberg with the contents of her collection in our Research Center. Small only in stature, Lois Weisberg was a big presence in Chicago’s civic and cultural life for seven decades. Everything about her seemed larger than life, including a circle of friends that ran the gamut from comedian More
Between now and November 11, 2018, we will commemorate the centennial of the United States’ participation in World War I. It was one of the greatest conflicts in human history, claiming more than 17 million lives and leaving more than 20 million wounded. The Great War, as it was called, shattered the illusions of an More
Archives intern Brienne Callahan talks about a newly processed photograph collection that highlights Chicago’s LGBTQ nightlife and rights activism in the 1980s and 1990s. After years of gay rights activism in Chicago, Lee A. Newell II worked as a nightlife photographer for two LGBTQ publications—Chicago’s Windy City Times and the Michigan-based Metra Magazine—between the late More
CHM director of Research and Access Ellen Keith recounts the milestones and achievements of Explore Chicago Collections in its first year. She recently spoke about it at the Bucknell University Digital Scholarship Conference. Did you know that the Chicago History Museum is one of the founding members of the Chicago Collections Consortium? This organization of More