Latest Posts

This summer, Lily Mayfield assisted CHM technical services librarian Elizabeth McKinley in the Abakanowicz Research Center. Mayfield writes about her experience discovering the full names of women featured in the Museum’s carte de visite collection.

How can one study the past without knowing the names of those who came before? That is the question posed by Lily Mayfield, a practicum student from Dominican University’s Master of Library and Information Science program, who spent the summer assisting CHM technical services librarian Elizabeth McKinley in discovering the full names of women featured in the Museum’s carte de visite collection. Many of the women pictured in the cartes de visite are identified by just their husbands’ names (e.g., Blair, William, Mrs.), which can create roadblocks for researchers.

Women assuming their husbands’ names has been a widespread practice for centuries, but when women’s premarriage names are not recorded, their identities and histories are effectively erased. Moreover, there is no standard for the way wives’ names are recorded. “Blair, William, Mrs.,” “Baker, Ed, Mrs. (Mary Furbeck),” Gibson, Mrs. J. M.,” and “Brown, Mary A., Mrs.” are just some examples we encountered.

Carte de visite of Mrs. William Blair (see bib# 31434). Thanks to Mayfield’s research, the catalog record for this photograph is now updated with a heading that reflects Mrs. Blair’s full name, “Blair, Sarah Maria Seymour, 1832–1923.”

How does one recover a name that has been lost to history? In the case of the carte de visite collection, we found several premarriage names handwritten on the front or back of photographs. However, this was not the norm, and, in most instances, further research was required. We referenced photographs of headstones (via Findagrave.com), census records (via HeritageQuest), wedding announcements, and obituaries (via ProQuest‘s historical Chicago Tribune). Google and Wikipedia searches led to useful information as well.

After confirming the full names, we updated the authority records in CHM’s integrated library system, Horizon (accessible to the public via ARCHIE). The most significant update involved changing the original heading (e.g., Church, Thomas, Mrs.) to the variant form, and making the recovered full name (e.g., Church, Rebecca Sherman, 1820–1902) the main heading.

The updated authority record for “Church, Rebecca Sherman, 1820–1902″

In addition to the authority records, sometimes we made changes to the bibliographic records. Any handwritten notes on the front or back of the photos were transcribed and added to the record. If we discovered important biographical or historical information during the research process, we added it in a public note. We also checked the title and physical description to ensure the record matched the physical item.

Carte de visite of Mrs. Thomas Church (see bib# 31924). Thanks to Mayfield’s research, the catalog record for this photograph is now updated with a transcription of the handwritten note, a heading that reflects Mrs. Church’s full name (“Church, Rebecca Sherman, 1820–1902”), and additional biographical information.

Updated bibliographic record in ARCHIE.

The issues stemming from the lack of women’s premarriage names were made even more complicated if a man married multiple times and had sons who were named after him. One such situation occurred when attempting to disambiguate Mrs. Marshall Field. More than one catalog record cited a “Mrs. Marshall Field,” but without a first name, maiden name, or birth and death dates, it was impossible to know whether the records referred to the first or second wife of Marshall Field. After comparing the photographs in the collection with digitized photographs and portraits found online, we were able to correctly identify the women. With the names now clearly recorded (“Nannie Douglas Scott Field, 1840–1896″ and “Delia Macomber Spencer Field, 1853–1937″), future researchers will be able to avoid the same confusion.

[L] Mrs. Nannie Douglas Scott Field, the first wife of Marshall Field I. [R] Mrs. Delia Macomber Spencer Field, the second wife of Marshall Field I. In examining the photographs, we also discovered these cabinet cards had been incorrectly recorded as cartes de visite. We updated the catalog records to reflect this.

This project addressed only a small portion of one photograph collection. CHM’s Research and Access department intends to continue this work and provide full names, where possible, for women featured in all CHM collections. It is an ongoing process that will take time, and we intend to keep researchers informed of our progress. We welcome any questions or comments at research@chicagohistory.org.

Additional Resources

• Learn more about the Abakanowicz Research Center
• Read more about CHM’s critical cataloging efforts

August 18 is National Mail Order Catalog Day. This year, the Chicago History Museum is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the company responsible for that designation: Montgomery Ward.

Portrait of Aaron Montgomery Ward. CHM, ICHi-062410

The well-known company was founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872, with a mission to make its products more available to the public, especially consumers in rural and farming communities. Ward issued its first mail order catalog on August 18, 1872. It was printed on a single sheet of paper, offering 163 distinct items. What made Ward’s catalog the first of its type was its accessibility. It was the first extensive mail order catalog for the masses. Comparatively, other mail order services up to this point were either industry/trade specific or for an elite customer base.

Front cover of the Montgomery Ward & Company catalog and buyers guide No. 55, Spring and Summer 1894, Chicago. CHM, ICHi-092917

Ward’s catalog would quickly prove to be a success, with the catalog growing to 32 pages by 1874 and to 152, with 3,000 items, in 1876. Its offerings were popular with Americans at every economic level and were backed by the company slogan, “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back,” an industry first. By the beginning of the 20th century, Ward’s catalog had more than 3 million subscribers to its mailing list. Customers were able to order everything on the catalog from clothing and farming equipment to entire homes.

Advertisement broadside of Montgomery Ward & Co. located at Michigan Avenue and Madison and Washington Streets, 1899, Chicago. CHM, ICHi-001622

To satisfy the ever-growing needs of the business operation, Ward built an enormous campus on the north branch of the Chicago River at 618 W. Chicago Avenue comprising an eight-story building, a storefront, and executive offices. Construction on the “mail order house” complex began in 1907, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million (approximately $75 million today). Upon its completion, it was declared one of the largest man-made structures in the world, with its miles of chutes, conveyor paths, and hallways. The building even had a dedicated building courier system, which relied on roller-skating routes across the building for delivering interdepartmental packages and communications. The building still stands today and is a city landmark that has been redeveloped into a mixed-use complex with residences, eateries, and corporate offices for several companies.

Exterior view of the Montgomery Ward complex, located at 618 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, c. 1960. CHM, ICHi-173785

Beyond their success in the mail order industry, as many Chicagoans surely remember, Ward expanded into the retail sector in 1926 with the opening of its flagship store in Chicago, located on S. Michigan Avenue. By the start of the 1930s, Ward operated more than 500 stores in the United States, and it was the largest retailer in the country. Most Americans are familiar with perhaps the most notable creation to come from Montgomery Ward in the 1939 holiday season, with company copywriter Robert May’s creation of a certain red-nosed reindeer named Rudolph.

Cover of an original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer written for Montgomery Ward & Co. by Robert L. May and illustrated by Denver Gillen, 1939. CHM, ICHi-068483

In the latter half of the 20th century, Ward went through several ownership changes that had a drastic impact on company operations. It issued its final mail-order catalog in 1985, and just over a decade later in 1997 it would file for bankruptcy, closing all its remaining brick-and-mortar stores shortly thereafter. Today, the company remains active primarily in e-commerce, with its rights having been acquired by a holding company.

Further Reading:

• Encyclopedia of Chicago’s entry on Ward (Montgomery) & Co.
• Montgomery Ward catalog images

In recognition of International Workers’ Day, we’re spotlighting the Teamsters Union and its history in Chicago.

Historically, the term “teamsters” referred to commercial road transportation workers. Before 1945, most teamsters worked locally, driving “teams” of horses throughout Chicago. By the late twentieth century, national road networks enabled an interstate trucking industry, which employed many long-haul drivers and expanded the meaning of the term.

Local processors had to rely on various forms of transportation to bring milk from farms and to distribute it to its consumers. Kee & Chapell Depot/Dundee Dairy horse-pulled cart, Chicago, c. 1895, The business was located at 1776 N. Clark Street. CHM, ICHi-072655

In the late 1860s, Chicago hack owners and drivers organized to stabilize hack fares. Around the turn of the century, teamsters began to organize labor unions. With help from the American Federation of Labor, the Team Drivers International Union (TDIU) was formed in 1898 with its headquarters based in Detroit. A few years later, a Chicago group broke from the TDIU and formed the Teamsters National Union. The Chicago-based union did not allow large employers to become members and advocated more aggressively than the TDIU for higher wages and shorter hours. Ultimately, the two unions merged in 1903 to form the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, and they elected Cornelius P. Shea as their first president.

Informal portrait of Cornelius P. Shea, Teamsters president, sitting between Emmett T. Flood (left) and John F. Eyrrell (right) in a room with police officers in Chicago, c. 1922. DN-0074556, Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

By 1905 the IBT had established a joint council in Chicago, with forty-five affiliates and 30,825 members. These locals were militant, assisting other unions in their struggles for recognition. In 1905, teamsters aided striking employees of Montgomery Ward & Co. When other businesses and the Employers’ Association of Chicago rallied to Ward’s defense, the dispute spread quickly. Riots broke out almost daily, and the 103-day conflict led to twenty-one deaths. After the employers’ victory, some locals deserted the IBT, forming a rival Chicago Teamsters’ Union (CTU).

Injunction notice on a Montgomery Ward truck at time of the Teamsters strike, Chicago, 1905. CHM, ICHi-071886; Charles R. Clark, photographer

Testimony after the strike revealed that some union leaders had taken bribes to end the strike, which weakened public support for unions. In the 1920s and ’30s, union leadership continued to face accusations of corruption, coercion, and gangsterism from businessmen, while radical labor organizers like William Z. Foster charged them with selfishly thwarting mass unionism. Such accusations continued into the following decades—and weren’t all without merit. In 1929, the Teamsters and other unions in Chicago approached gangster Roger Touhy for protection from Al Capone and his Chicago Outfit, which were seeking to control the area’s unions.

Roger Touhy around the time of his criminal trial, Chicago, 1934. DN-A-5250, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

The Teamsters survived these allegations and remained influential in Chicago labor circles. After reincorporating the CTU locals in 1937, the IBT expanded by organizing transportation, clerical, retail, and manufacturing workers. William A. Lee of the bakery drivers local served as Chicago Federation of Labor president from 1946 to 1984.

WCFL was the nation’s first and longest-surviving labor radio station, created in 1926 by the Chicago Federation of Labor, Chicago. CHM, ICHi-073048; Burke & Dean, photographer

However, the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) expelled the IBT in 1957 in large part due to corruption charges against Dave Beck, Teamsters president from 1952 to 1957, and Jimmy Hoffa, who served as president from 1957 to 1971. Although Hoffa helped unify the Teamsters in 1964 under the National Master Freight Agreement—a milestone national agreement for teamsters’ rates, which covered more than 450,000 truck drivers—and helped expand the union’s growth, he faced major criminal investigations. He was convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, conspiracy, and mail and wire fraud in two separate trials in 1964, one in Nashville and one in Chicago.

Union boss Jimmy Hoffa meets with lawyers during his trial at the old Federal Courthouse, Chicago. ST-17500700-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM; Gene Pesek photographer

When Hoffa entered prison in 1967, Frank Fitzsimmons was named acting president. He continued on as president after Hoffa resigned in 1971. Under Fitzsimmons, Teamsters authority was decentralized back into regional and local leaders. Today, the Teamsters remain one of the largest labor unions in the world with 1.2 million members, with members ranging from brewers and bakery workers to airline pilots and sanitation workers.

Additional Resources

• Listen to Studs Terkel’s 1991 interview with labor activist and historian Dan La Botz, author of Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union
• For more on the history of labor unions, visit our exhibition Facing Freedom in America or its companion website
• See the “Teamsters” entry in the Encyclopedia of Chicago

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded the University of Chicago Library, in partnership with the Chicago History Museum and Newberry Library, a grant to digitize historical maps of Chicago through 1940. The grant of $348,930 will fund the proposal “Mapping Chicagoland” and support the enrichment of the digital images with geographic information for use in spatial overlays and analyses, as well as the work to make them open to the public on the UChicago Library website. The maps will also be available through the BTAA (Big Ten Academic Alliance) Geoportal  and Chicago Collections Consortium platforms. 

The collaboration will draw on materials from all three institutions and leverage expertise and resources at the UChicago Library to scan, add spatial data, create metadata, and make openly available 4,101 digitized maps in Fall 2024. The maps range from the earliest cartographic representations of Chicago prior to its incorporation through its rapid expansion in the early 20th century. Maps from that period are rich sources of information for scholarly and community study that illuminate the history and contribute to our understanding of contemporary Chicago. 

Leading the project is Cecilia Smith, Director of Digital Scholarship at UChicago Library, in collaboration with James Akerman, Director of the Newberry Library’s Smith Center for the History of Cartography, and Ellen Keith, Director of Research and Access and Chief Librarian at the Chicago History Museum.  

“The importance of these maps to our understanding of Chicago’s development is foundational,” said Smith. “Bringing our collections together in one openly accessible, digital place will have international impact for scholars and students. I am thrilled by the Endowment’s support of our collaboration, and I look forward to working with our partners to engage the Library’s deep digital expertise.” Ellen Keith said, “We were excited when Cecilia Smith proposed this collaboration and grateful to NEH for funding this project. The Chicago History Museum’s map collection complements those of the University of Chicago and the Newberry Library.” Together, these institutions will create a valuable resource for scholars and map enthusiasts alike. Each institution’s collection of Chicago maps has unique strengths that complement one another in scale, time period and subject. 

The Chicago History Museum map collection includes maps of the area as early as 1812 and maps from Rufus Blanchard, one of the city’s first map publishers. Maps are categorized by topic, such as annexations and accretions, communities, parks, wards, industries, transportation, topography, cemeteries, world’s fairs, and population. “We are excited to see how this project as a whole will expand the use of these primary sources and preserve a rich body of information on Chicago’s dynamic and complex urban development,” said the Chicago History Museum’s President Donald Lassere.  

The University of Chicago’s maps range from 1853 to 1940 and include maps produced by its Social Science Research Committee and map publishing companies, such as Rand McNally, transportation and utility companies and civic institutions.   The maps cover social, urban, and economic features such as land use, parks, and urban planning.  Adrienne Brown, Associate Professor in the Department of English at UChicago, emphasizes the value of digitizing the collection for researchers: “Having thought a lot about how topography of Chicago has been illustrated, analyzed, and made anew through processes of mapping in my own research on the history of architecture, real estate, race, and aesthetics, I can unequivocally say that having digital access to these materials will not only improve my future scholarship but will expand and deepen the work of countless scholars to come.”  

The Newberry selected its extensive collection of large-scale real estate, fire insurance, and land valuation atlases of parts of Chicago published from 1872 to 1924 for inclusion in this project. Among these are two atlases detailing the grounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the Union Stock Yard. The atlases show footprints of individual structures and lots, providing large scale details for studying Chicago’s cultural geography. “Collaborative digitization projects like ‘Mapping Chicagoland’ offer an ideal way of enhancing and multiplying access to our collection,” said Daniel Greene, President and Librarian of the Newberry Library. “This project is an especially appropriate partnership because it taps into our great collecting strengths in historical cartography and Chicago history.”   

These early maps and atlases of Chicago are among the most popular collections within the three Institutions, but only a small fraction of these maps is currently available digitally. Providing open access to digitized and georeferenced map images will allow scholars worldwide to pursue broad research goals and incorporate primary and secondary cartographic sources in their teaching of Chicago’s pivotal transition into the 20th century. 

“The University of Chicago Library is deeply involved in two organizations focused on documenting the history and culture of Chicago: The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) and the Chicago Collections Consortium (CCC). Having such a rich geographical data source about the city will provide new dimensions to the kind of research that students and scholars can do with these consortia collections,” said Elisabeth Long, Interim Library Director. “For example, the BMRC Summer Fellows program has hosted many scholars whose research looks at spatial aspects of Black history in Chicago–redlining, food deserts, health services and activism to name a few—which would benefit from having geo–referenced historical maps of the city. I am pleased that we can leverage the Library’s digital expertise to develop this important collaborative resource.” The Chicago History Museum is a member of both The Black Metropolis Research Consortium and the Chicago Collections Consortium. 

The NEH grant is part of the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources (HCRR) program, which advances scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities by helping organizations steward important collections. Of the 206 eligible HCRR applicants received by the Endowment this round, 36 proposals were selected. In the funding announcement, the NEH chair Shelly C. Lowe said that the “projects will expand the horizons of our knowledge of culture and history, lift up humanities organizations working to preserve and tell the stories of local and global communities, and bring high-quality public programs and educational resources directly to the American public.” 

In the run-up to the opening of our newest exhibition, Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection, we’re spotlighting one of its co-curators, Jessica Pushor, as she gives some insight into her job and how the garments were selected.

Jessica in costume storage during Members’ Open House, June 2014. All photographs by CHM staff

“If you can wear it, I take care of it.”

The pithy statement sums up the work of Jessica Pushor, the costume collection manager at the Chicago History Museum. With more than 50,000 pieces in her care—including garments, accessories, jewelry, sportswear, and more—her day-to-day work can include cataloging and inventorying the collection, creating mounts for objects going on display, leading tours, or working with scholars and researchers.

Jessica points out garment details to CHM members, June 2014.

The Museum’s world-renowned costume and textiles collection dates from the eighteenth century to the present and is noted for its size, quality, and range of holdings. Costume materials include work by distinguished designers, such as Charles Frederick Worth, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Charles James, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, Gianni Versace, and Christian Lacroix, and many dressmakers, milliners, retailers, and manufacturers who made Chicago their home. The collection includes clothing worn by former presidents and first ladies, sports stars, celebrities, and other notable individuals, as well as by everyday Chicagoans. Together, these materials—both exceptional and commonplace—reflect the history of Chicago as an evolving urban center and document fashion history through the lens of the city and its people.

Jessica buttons up a Willi Smith jacket during photography for Treasured Ten, November 2021.

When the opportunity arose for the Museum to experiment with a small-format costume exhibition, Jessica wanted to make the most of it. This new opportunity was a chance to showcase previously unseen treasures from CHM’s massive costume collection and be more inclusive in the Chicago stories we tell. Along with co-curator Charles E. Bethea, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs at CHM, she selected ten garments—two each by five designers. Opening April 9, 2022, Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection looks at the lives and work of local luminaries Barbara Bates and Scotty Piper and international icons Stephen Burrows, Willi Smith, and Patrick Kelly.

Jessica adjusts the cowl of a Stephen Burrows garment, November 2021.

Want to hear more from Jessica? She and Charles will be presenting at the members’ preview of Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection on Friday, April 8!

Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection is sponsored by the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum.

Additional Resources

• Read Jessica’s blog posts
• Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessica_pushor
• Listen to Jessica talk about CHM’s costume collection on the podcast Dressed: The History of Fashion: Part 1, Part 2

The Chicago History Museum’s newest exhibition Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection will be open to the public starting Saturday, April 9, 2022, and run through Monday, January 16, 2023. The exhibition features an eclectic arrangement of garments from the Chicago History Museum’s clothing collection of more than 50,000 pieces. These ten never-been-exhibited ensembles were selected to tell the remarkable stories of five designers Stephen Burrows, Scotty Piper, Patrick Kelly, Willi Smith, and Barbara Bates.  

“I am excited for people to view these ten never before displayed garments created by five innovative designers who each have a fascinating story to tell,” said Jessica Pushor, collections manager of costume and textiles at the Chicago History Museum.  

Dating from the 1970s to the 1980s, these garments are expressions of their creators’ experiences and identities. In their experiences dressing celebrity clientele as well as everyday people, each designer produced engaging, conscientious, and stylish designs while contributing their own perspectives to fashion. 

“Having spent many years inventorying and cataloging the collection, I am always amazed by the objects I come across.” said Pushor. “This exhibit is a new opportunity to publicly showcase previously unseen treasures from our massive costume collection, and to be more inclusive in the Chicago stories we tell.“ 

Exhibition Overview  

Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection will be presented in a single gallery with 10 dressed mannequins wearing two ensembles by each designer. The gallery will also feature a playlist of songs that inspired each designer and several thematic arrangements of images and colorful panels unfolding around the walls and interior of the gallery.  

Museum members can enjoy early access to the exhibition on Friday, April 8, during a preview night with co-curators Jessica Pushor and Charles E. Bethea, and special guest Barbara Bates. The Chicago History Museum is partnering with University of Illinois at Chicago and The Crafty Corner for a teen program “Chicago Threads.” This will be an 8-week summer design program, which will culminate in a fashion show in late summer 2022.  

This exhibition is sponsored by The Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum.  

For more information on Treasured Ten: Selections from the Costume Collection please visit: www.chicagohistory.org/treasuredten.

Portrait of Ella G. Berry. Published on in The Story of the Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs 1900–1922 by Elizabeth Lindsey Davis, 1922. CHM, ICHi-177302A

Ella Berry was born Ella Tucker in 1876 in Stanford, Kentucky. Little is known about her father, Dave Tucker, but in 1870, her mother, Matilda Portman, was working as a live-in domestic for a white family. By the 1880s, Matilda had enough to purchase a small piece of property and temporarily stopped working in white households. She had six children—Ella, her sister Maggie, and four sons, who contributed to the family income as laborers. By 1884, Matilda began to relocate the family to Louisville, which is where Ella attended school.

Ella completed high school in Louisville and became involved in Black social organizations in the city. Around 1896, she married William Berry, but by 1900, Ella sought a divorce. When she migrated north after her mother’s death in 1902—first to Cincinnati, then to Chicago in 1907—she presented herself as married or widowed, likely to avoid the stigma of divorce. Ella held several government jobs in Chicago—including as an investigator for the Chicago Commission on Race Relations after the 1919 race riot and a home visitor in the Department of Public Welfare.

Map of homes bombed in racial conflicts over housing, July 1, 1917–March 1, 1921, published by the Chicago Commission on Race Relations. CHM, ICHi-177153

Ella was active in electoral politics. While living in Kentucky, Ella witnessed southern Democrats’ creation of Jim Crow laws and efforts to prevent Black people from voting. This shaped her view of the importance of African Americans’ collective voting power and her support for Republican candidates in the 1910s and ‘20s, as the Republican Party in the past had used federal power to protect civil rights for African Americans in the South.

After Illinois women were granted partial suffrage in 1913 to vote for local offices and in presidential elections, Ella canvased for Republican candidates. In 1914, she joined Chicago’s Second Ward Political Equality League to rally support for a Black independent Republican city council candidate. In the 1916 presidential election, Ella organized Black women to support Republican Charles E. Hughes, who was challenging incumbent Woodrow Wilson, whose administration increased discriminatory and segregated hiring practices in the federal government.

Ella was also active in local women’s clubs and national fraternal organizations. She joined the Cornell Charity Club in 1913 and had a parliamentarian role in the Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. She was also active in the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World.

Chicago mayor Edward J. Kelly, Chicago, 1928. DN-0085926, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

By the mid-1930s, Ella was part of the voting realignment of African Americans to the Democratic party, and she canvassed for Democratic mayor Edward Kelly’s reelection bid in 1935. When she died in Chicago in 1939, she was eulogized by multiple community leaders, which showed her impact in civic and political life in Chicago.

Further Reading

• Online experience: Democracy Limited: Chicago Women and the Vote
• Lisa G. Materson, For the Freedom of Her Race: Black Women and Electoral Politics in Illinois, 1877–1932 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009).
• Wanda Hendricks, Gender, Race, and Politics in the Midwest: Black Club Women in Illinois (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998).

On January 26–27, 1967, Chicago experienced its worst snowstorm on record. The snow began at 5:02 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, and by 10:10 a.m. the next day, a record 23.0 inches of snowfall from a storm blanketed the city. High winds caused considerable blowing, with drifts of 4 to 6 feet widespread throughout the area.

Aerial view of cars stuck on Greenview Avenue in Rogers Park, Chicago, January 26, 1967; ST-17500889, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Just two days before the storm, the high temperature was a record 65°F, and the low was 44°F. But on January 25, a cold front moved through the upper Midwest, replacing the balmy temperatures. Dew points in the 50s–60s over the Southern Plains and Gulf Coast states provided ample moisture, while high pressure centered over Lake Superior and southern Ontario kept cold dry air moving over the Great Lakes. That high pressure along with low pressure over the Ohio Valley caused winds to howl off Lake Michigan.

Cars covered with snow on Rosemont Ave. looking east from California Ave., January 1967; CHM, ICHi-035577, Howard B. Anderson, photographer

By noon, about 8 inches of snow was already on the ground, and O’Hare airport was shut down. Some schools and businesses released students and employees early, but the commute home was still treacherous. By Friday morning, Chicago was at a standstill—20,000 cars and 1,100 CTA buses were stranded. Helicopters delivered medical supplies to hospitals as well as food and blankets to stranded motorists. At least a dozen babies were born at home, though some expectant mothers were taken to hospitals by sled, bulldozer, and snowplow.

One man pushes a snowblower while two men pull with a rope to clean the sidewalk after the blizzard, January 1967; CHM, MDN-0000013

By January 28, Chicago had begun to dig itself out. Although CTA buses were operating most lines, abandoned vehicles hampered cleanup, and snow had to be hauled by dump truck to the Chicago River. Railcars of snow were even delivered to Fort Myers Beach, Florida, after 13-year-old Terri Hodson wrote a letter to the president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, having never seen snow before.

Packing snow in a refrigerated rail car to send to Florida, February 20, 1967; ST-15002021-0012, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

O’Hare finally reopened around midnight on Monday, January 30, but most schools didn’t reopen until Tuesday. In the end, 60 people in the Chicago area died, and there was an estimated $150 million in business losses (equivalent to $1.19 billion today). The snowstorm was likely the biggest disruption to the commerce and transportation of Chicago of any event since the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.

Digging out at Union Station, January 30, 1967; ST-11006892-0020, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM, Don Bierman, photographer

Commuters walk amid snow piles at Grand Avenue and State Street, February 2, 1967. ST-17100061-0002, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

A sign attached to a yardstick in the snow, February 5, 1967. ST-17101329-0003, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Additional Resources

• In May 1967, Studs Terkel discussed the January snow-in with interviewees, who talked about how human interaction differs during a blizzard than on a clear day.
• Don Bierman for the Chicago Sun-Times documented the crowd in Union Station in the days following the blizzard.
• See more photographs of the aftermath of the blizzard at CHM Images.

Last week, noted Chicago historian, teacher, mentor, author, and civil rights leader Timuel Black died at the age of 102. Here, Warren Chapman, the second vice chair of the Chicago Historical Society’s board of trustees, and John Russick, CHM senior vice president, reflect on Black’s life as well as his work and impact on the Chicago History Museum.

“I never set out to make history, I just wanted to make things better for the people in the community.”

Warren Chapman recalls Timuel Black making that statement during an impromptu conversation in 2018. Whether intentional or not, Tim’s life became interwoven with history during the past 102 years.

Timuel Black, Chicago, July 13, 1978. ST-70000678, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 7, 1918—right after World War I, in the middle of the influenza pandemic, and on a date that would later become synonymous with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His family moved to Chicago in the summer of 1919, which would be remembered as the “Red Summer” for the number of racial riots that occurred across the United States, including in Chicago. This period was part of a larger movement called “The Great Migration.” During this time in the early to mid-twentieth century, African American families and individuals moved to northern cities like Chicago in order to escape the oppressive, restrictive environment that existed in the Jim Crow South. Later in life, Tim was able to capture the valuable experiences and skills these people brought with them, including their hopes and dreams for themselves, their children, and those who followed in future generations.

Through his writings and storytelling, Tim was able to bring to life the faces, voices, and melodies of the people he met, grew up, and worked with over the years. As Chapman recalls: “I remember Tim commenting on several occasions that he wanted to ‘share those voices with the world and in particular with our children and future generations, so they will be able to hear what I learned and know what once was known not only to me but the entire community as well.’”

Timuel Black (right) and Zenobia Johnson-Black (second from right) with two representatives from Edwards Dual Language & Fine and Performing Arts IB School accepting the Timuel Black Teacher of Excellence Award at the Chicago Metro History Day’s (formerly Chicago Metro History Fair) SPARK Awards ceremony at the Chicago History Museum, May 21, 2019. Photograph by CHM staff

A recipient of the Museum’s prestigious John Hope Franklin Making History Award for Distinction in Historical Scholarship (2006) and the namesake of the Timuel Black Teacher of Excellence Award, Tim helped guide the Museum, beginning in the 1980s, as it sought to build its collection to share the stories of a wider range of communities and people. One personal contribution was a donation of select papers to the Museum that pertain to the civil rights movement in education.

In the fall of 1998, staff of the Chicago History Museum arrived at the Black home to photograph Tim in his library for an exhibition about older Chicagoans still working and contributing to the city. The project was inspired by the work of David Isay and featured four other remarkable Chicagoans, including Carlos Cortez, Harue Ozaki, Florence Scala, and Art Shay. The portrait of Tim was staged and shot by Shay, who served as both a subject of the exhibition and the photographer. Tim turned 80 just a few weeks later. He was a perfect fit for the project, an older Chicagoan who made history many times over and was still at it.

Timuel Black talks about the history of Bronzeville during the unveiling of two bronze obelisks at 35th and State Streets by the Bronzeville Merchants Association, Chicago, September 24, 2009. John H. White/Chicago Sun-Times © 2009 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Moreover, this effort was in large part inspired by his work to include marginalized voices in the historical narrative. His books, Bridges of Memory: Chicago’s First Wave of Black Migration (2005) and Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black (2019), provided new and profound perspectives on the Black experience in Chicago, and the Museum wanted to work with him to open a new era of historical documentation. Tim helped the Museum as both a community collaborator and a scholar in our first collection of projects designed to share the histories of Chicago neighborhoods called Neighborhoods, Keepers of Culture (2004). Tim worked to make sure the Museum connected with the people who he felt best understood the history from a local perspective. He also convinced many of them to share their knowledge and their collections of photographs, documents, and artifacts with us. Needless to say, the Museum could not have done this important work in expanding the viewpoints contained in our collection without him.

In 2018, the Museum acquired the Chicago Sun-Times photography archive and began developing a book to feature the collection. Tim, a veteran himself, graciously agreed to let the Museum include an excerpt from his book, Sacred Ground, to accompany images of returning Black soldiers after serving in combat during World War II. The profound story of a veteran, returning to a country seemingly committed to denying him equal status, simmers with relevance in our times. Such is Tim’s greatest gift to us. His work and the memories he shared are valuable not just in our time, but will grow in significance as the Museum continues with the challenging work of writing a better and more inclusive story of our city and our country.

Tim passed away on October 13, 2021, at age 102. He remained an advocate for including the experiences of all people in our historical narratives, specifically the Black experience, throughout his life. As Charles E. Bethea, the Museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs, said when he heard the news, future historians will mention Tim’s name in the same breath with visionaries such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Carter G. Woodson.

Further Reading

• “Timuel Black, historian, civil rights activist, dies at 102,” Chicago Sun-Times, October 13, 2021
• “Chicago civil rights legend Timuel Black dies at age 102,” Chicago Tribune, October 13, 2021
• “Timuel Black, Strategist and Organizer for Black Chicago, Dies at 102,” New York Times, October 17, 2021

The Chicago History Museum joins the chorus of voices expressing our great sense of loss with the passing of historian, teacher, mentor, author, and civil rights leader Timuel Black.  Like so many who have worked to understand the full and complex history of Chicago and its diverse communities, the Museum benefited greatly from our close relationship and regular contact with Tim. A recipient of the Museum’s prestigious John Hope Franklin Making History Award for Distinction in Historical Scholarship and the namesake of the Chicago Metro History Fair’s Timuel Black Teacher of Excellence Award, Tim helped guide the Museum as we sought to build our collection in order to share the stories of a wider range of communities and people. His books, Bridges of Memory and Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black, provided new and profound perspectives on the Black experience in Chicago.

Tim’s positive attitude and generosity was legendary, and our staff, past and present, benefited from his knowledge, insights, creativity, and seemingly boundless energy. He made a donation of his papers to the Museum in 1975, which are typically available to researchers in the Abakanowicz Research Center.*

The Museum plans to develop a feature on Tim and his legacy to be published in a future issue of Chicago History magazine.

*The Russell L. Lewis Jr Research Collections Facility is currently being renovated. This facility houses the Museum’s 23,000 linear feet of archives and manuscripts. Archives, manuscripts, and maps with the exception of some small collections, are unavailable to researchers through early 2022