Abraham Lincoln - Full-Text Books and Documents

This collection, from the Illinois State Library, contains books and documents about the life, political career, and assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Catalogues

This collection consists of Art Institute exhibition catalogues dating from 1882 to 1930. The catalogues document the earliest exhibitions of many important artists who studied and worked in Illinois, such as Walt Disney, William A. Harper, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Georgia O'Keeffe, William Edward Scott, and Grant Wood.

Arthur, Once Upon a Time...

The community of Arthur, Illinois has a rich history, some of which has been recorded in the photographs in this collection. The first settlement of Arthur began about 1850. At that time, much of the area was swampland. Amish settlers arrived in 1865 and the Arthur area is now home to the largest Amish settlement in Illinois. In 1870 the railroad was built to go across "The Big Slough", from Paris to Decatur, Illinois and in 1872 the building of Arthur began in earnest. By 1873 there were thirty dwellings in this new town, in addition to a large store, drug store, church, meeting hall, blacksmith shop and three grain offices - all doing business in Arthur.

The photographs in this collection depict everyday sights from the early 1900's to the middle of the century. One interesting series of photographs depicts the paving of Vine Street with brick, at a cost of $30,000 - a considerable sum in 1907. Many of the photographs in this collection are made available through the generosity of Mr. Noel C. Dicks. Mr. Dicks, a local pharmacist and owner of Dick's Pharmacy from 1960 to 1995, began collecting photographs of pharmacists and physicians who had practiced in Arthur. This collection sparked his interest in the history of the town. Due to the contributions of many local people his collection now consists of thousands of photographs, glass negatives, and other items of local interest.

Bloomington-Normal Black History Project

The Bloomington-Normal Black History Project was founded in 1982 and its collections span the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection contains photographs, portraits, booklets, articles, and photocopies related to club organizations and churches of the local Black community. In 1989, the Black History Project was affiliated with the McLean County Historical Society, which now serves as a repository for the project's collections.

For more information about this project visit this link at the McLean County Museum of History site.

Calumet Heritage Project -- Acme Coke Plant

The Acme Steel Company collection is curated and owned by the Calumet Heritage Partnership (http://www.calumetheritage.org), a group that serves the greater Calumet region at the southern end of Lake Michigan in Illinois and Indiana. CHP includes environmental, cultural and historical organizations, individuals, libraries, educational institutions, municipalities, and government agencies committed to celebrating, preserving and protecting the unique heritage of the Calumet region. Due to the loss of opportunity to create the Steel Heritage Museum at the Acme Coke plant, and its ongoing demolition, the Partnership group and friends have, over the past two years, rescued a large collection of blueprints, photographs, and other materials. The importance of this collection has made it the focus of the Calumet Heritage Partnership for this digitizing grant. The Acme Steel section of the archives includes the digitization of Acme corporate-made photographs of employees and production equipment, aerial views, catalogs, booklets, and maps and other artifacts.

The Charles Overstreet Collection

Charles Overstreet is a long-time citizen of Flora with a passion for photography. During most of his eighty years, Mr. Overstreet has used his camera to record images of history. During World War II, as a member of the U. S. Army, 252nd Field Artillery Battalion, he captured over 700 images of life as a soldier and unique snapshots of events of the war.

Note: Please be aware that there are images (some graphic) of the atrocities committed at Gardelegen, Germany in April 1945 in this collection.

For more images of Flora, see this link at the Flora Public Library site.

Cherry Valley Local History Collection

The history of Cherry Valley in many ways typifies that of a small, mid-nineteenth century Illinois town. Its establishment in 1835, its mill on the Kishwaukee River, the coming of the railroad in 1852, its schools, businesses, civic organizations, and pioneer families - all the strands weave a fabric of heritage that provides the present foundation and civic character of Cherry Valley. Included in this collection is a document created by the Cherry Valley Bicentennial Committee, "Cherry Valley: Our Memories are Warm". This committee collected photographs, written histories and oral histories from village and area residents.

This collection is made available by the Cherry Valley Public Library.

Coal Mining, Machine vs. Man

Strip mining was a major source of employment and very important to the Wilmington Coal Field towns of Coal City, Braidwood, and Wilmington during the 1930's through the 1950's. The Wilmington Coal Field is located sixty miles south of Chicago. The growth of the city and its need for energy prompted the search for coal in this area. In the late 1800's and very early 1900's many of the small villages in the area were built. Due to the proximity of coal to the ground surface, shaft mining was dangerous and expensive. Strip mining was first introduced in the Danville, Illinois area in the mid 1800's and it was tried in the early 1900's in the Wilmington Coal Fields but it wasn't until the end of the 1920's that strip mining became commercially successful in this area.

This collection includes information on the mining process, how strip mining affected the communities and how they have recovered and continue to progress today. For more information about this project visit this link at the Coal City Public Library site.

Flora Public Library Digital Newspapers

This project is the first phase of a multi-phase project to digitize the local newspaper which is currently on microfilm. Funding for this project was made possible by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a Division of the Office of the Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

The scope of this project covers approximately sixteen years, an estimated 7,800 pages, of early 20th century local newspapers that are currently on microfilm. These newspapers contain a wealth of local history information on businesses, individuals and events that is not available elsewhere.

The reels include: one reel with eight sporadic issues ranging from 1883-1917 (Southern Illinois Journal & Weekly Journal), two reels that contain most issues from 1907-1908 (Southern Illinois Journal), and thirteen reels covering most issues for Oct. 1912 through Dec. 1926 (Southern Illinois Record, Flora Record, and Flora Journal Record).

Henderson County Historical Society Museum

The Museum contains collections in frontier life, the development of an emerging agricultural economy, one-room prairie schoolhouses, the impact of both World Wars on rural Illinois, and the westward migration of the American population during the 19th century. The collection of early 20th century home, school and working life includes a complete blacksmithing shop and one-room schoolhouse.

Historic Maps of Aurora

The historic maps in this collection represent a unique historical resource. These maps show the physical changes and growth, over time, of Aurora. They also show changes in the city's political boundaries such as ward changes, street names, and, in some cases, building and business locations. Maps in this collection include:

1860 map of Kane County - this map is one of the earliest owned by the Aurora Historical Society and may be the earliest extant map of Kane County.

Aurora city maps dated 1859, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1884, and 1891 - these maps show the growth and development of Aurora, including street name and ward boundary changes.

"Aerial view" maps of Aurora, 1867 and 1882 - detailed artists' renderings showing streets, houses, and buildings.

This collection is made available by the Aurora Public Library.

Illinois Blue Books

The Illinois Blue Book is one of the most comprehensive sources of state government information. It is a nationally recognized source for information about Illinois' executive, judicial and legislative branches of government. Originating in 1861 as a privately published roster of legislators, the Blue Book has evolved into a historical publication complete with biographies, articles, illustrative photographs and helpful information for Illinois citizens. Recent issues of the Blue Book also include lists of toll-free state telephone numbers and updated listings for Illinois news media - including contact information.

This collection, from the Illinois State Library, contains keyword/subject searchable versions of the Illinois Blue Book.

Illinois Constitution

The first constitution of the State of Illinois (1818) was compiled mainly with provisions taken from the constitutions of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. It was adopted by the delegates to the convention, but never submitted to the people of Illinois. This first constitution put virtually unlimited power in the hands of the Legislature while effectively keeping it away from the people.

In 1847, with an increase in the population, a movement began for calling a convention to "alter, amend, and revise" the constitution of 1818. The resulting constitution of 1848 was an improvement over the previous one, but still proved to be susceptible to abuses that encouraged greed of all kinds, which caused the Legislature to waste much time and attention, to the detriment of the public interest.

The Legislature of 1859 submitted a proposal, to hold a third constitutional convention, to a vote of the people. This proposal was endorsed in the election of 1860 and the convention convened in Springfield on January 7, 1862. According to law, the delegates to the convention were required to take an oath to support the state constitution, before starting the business of the convention. Unfortunately, the majority of the delegates not only refused to do this, but they assumed powers such as the right to interfere with military affairs - powers they did not have. This convention was soon termed a "high rolling convention", to the disgust of the people and their work was brought into disrepute. Once the delegates became aware that the convention was being severely criticized, they began to make a great effort to create a constitution acceptable to the people. The constitution was overwhelmingly defeated in the popular vote and matters left as they were until after the war.

Once the war was over and Reconstruction began, calls again began to be made for changes to the 1848 constitution. This need for constitutional changes was primarily based on the continuing growth in both population and economic complexity of Illinois. Because of the widespread belief that changes in the state constitution would affect improvements in the performance of Illinois state government, the constitution of 1870 was approved by a large majority and went into effect on August 8, 1870.

Until 1970, Illinois had five state conventions for the purpose of creating a state constitution. Of these, the 1818, 1847, and 1869-70 conventions adopted constitutions that went into effect, while the proposed constitutions framed by the conventions of 1862 and 1922 were rejected. Illinois government basically remained static from 1870 to 1970. The sixth constitutional convention, in 1970, produced a new constitution which was approved by voters on December 15, 1970.

This collection of full-text materials, from the Illinois State Library, includes the text of all the Illinois constitutions.

Illinois Historic Aerial Photographs

On May 12, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Agricultural Adjustment Act. This law was originally administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Adjustment Administration (USDA-AAA), and today the USDA-AAA is known as the USDA Farm Service Agency. Since the mid 1930s, the USDA-AAA and subsequently the USDA-FSA have periodically acquired nationwide aerial photography. Acquired on a county-by-county basis, this aerial photography was first used by the USDA to assess the nation's agricultural lands by estimating cropland acreages from measurements taken on the photographs. USDA-AAA aerial photography also served as the basis for the first national soil surveys.

In Illinois, first-time statewide coverage of USDA-AAA aerial photography was achieved between 1936-1941. This aerial photography is widely recognized in Illinois as a unique resource that represents the earliest photographic record of the cultural and physical landscape features of the entire state. It is intensively used by government agencies, surveyors, planners, consulting scientists and engineers, and other individuals for diverse purposes ranging from determination of past land uses to providing the basis for needs assessment studies in ecological restoration.

In Illinois, this USDA photography between the years of 1936-1941, is estimated to be 33,066 photographs. When the original 9"x 9" and 7"x 9" cellulose nitrate film negatives for these photographs were deemed a fire hazard, they were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration in the 1960s and eventually destroyed, and high-quality photographic paper prints remain as the only physical record. Public access and continual use of library print collections for several decades has resulted in a significant number of the photographs becoming defaced, faded, worn, or lost. The Illinois State Library (ISL), the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), and other libraries have collaborated on scanning these photographs in order to complete a digital archive that will provide a comprehensive photographic record of the early twentieth century for the entire state. As a result of previous contracts and grants, more than one-half of the print collection has already been digitized, and on-line Internet access is available at the Illinois Historical Aerial Photography (ILHAP) web site (http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/). Once a statewide digital archive is established, it will reduce and eventually eliminate the need for patrons to regularly handle the original paper prints. Furthermore, placing the digitized photographs on-line ensures the most widespread access to potential user groups and reduces the pressure on the print collections residing at libraries within the state.

Illinois in the Civil War - Documents from the Illinois State Library

Immediately following the capture of Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln, on April 15, 1861, issued a call for 75,000 militia - thus putting an end to all speculation about whether there would be civil war. At this time, Illinois had no arms nor an effective militia force. Governor Richard Yates called a special session of the General Assembly to provide for the organization of six regiments - the Illinois quota under the President's order. By October of that year Illinois had forty-three regiments in service. From April 17, 1861 to April 30, 1865 Illinois furnished 256,297 men who served during the war. By the end of the war, 35,000 Illinois men died fighting to preserve the Union. (For a more in-depth look at Illinois during the Civil War, see the Illinois Blue Book, 1959-1960, "Illinois and the Civil War" by Clyde C. Walton, Illinois State Historian, pp. 16-45)

This collection, from the Illinois State Library, contains full-text books and documents.

Illinois State Library - General Collection

This collection includes full-text materials in numerous subject areas.

Illinois Veterans History Project

On October 27, 2000 President Bill Clinton signed into law Public Law 106-380 establishing the Veterans' History Project. This law charged the Library of Congress with the responsibility of collecting and preserving the wartime memories of our nation's veterans and those civilians who supported the war efforts.

The Illinois Secretary of State's office has been a partner with the Library of Congress in the Veterans' History project since November 2003 and officially launched the Illinois Veterans' History Project in November 2005. The Illinois Veterans' History Project began with the collection of written information about Illinois veterans through use of the Illinois Patriot Information Form. In September 2007 the Secretary of State's office entered the next phase of the project, collecting oral histories of Illinois veterans. These histories will now be available through the Illinois Digital Archives.

Images of Loves Park, Machesney Park and Roscoe

In 1994 the Friends of North Suburban Library formed a local history committee. Since that time they have collected scrapbooks, photographs, maps, yearbooks, diaries, letters and other memorabilia documenting the history of the communities that surround Rockford, Illinois: Loves Park, Machesney Park and Roscoe. Included in the collection presented here are images from the Harlem School District, Harlem Village in the late 19th century, and the Lusk collection of buildings. Photographs of farms and businesses that represent important developments in the community are also featured. The minutes of the Roscoe Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Roscoe Literary Club, in the late 19th century, afford a sense of the community at the time.

For more information about this project, visit the Local History link at the North Suburban Library District site.

The Living Museum

The Living Museum has for decades been a rich source of information on Illinois art, natural history, anthropology, and history. This online project does not replace the print version of The Living Museum but makes this popular educational resource also accessible electronically to students, teachers, researchers, and others throughout the world. The Living Museum, a quarterly journal of the Illinois State Museum, is available without charge. To subscribe, contact editor@museum.state.il.us. For more information on the Illinois State Museum, see http://www.museum.state.il.us

Mining and Mother Jones in Mount Olive

"Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living", her words still inspire labor organizers, but who was Mother Jones? Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, known as the Miners' Angel, was once described by West Virginia District Attorney Reese Blizzard as "...the most dangerous woman in the world." She described herself in these words: "I'm not a humanitarian, I'm a hell-raiser." In reality, she was all of these things and more in her role as one of the foremost labor organizers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

She claimed to have been born in Cork, Ireland on May 1, 1830. Although a recent (2001) biography by Elliot Gorn states that she was actually born on August 7, 1837. It is unclear why she changed the date of her birth to make it earlier. In 1867, she lost her husband and children in a yellow fever epidemic and in 1871, she lost everything she owned in the great Chicago Fire. It was at this time that she became involved with the newly-formed Knights of Labor and began traveling around the country working for or with labor.

Her growing interest in labor union issues and radical politics led her to become active as a radical labor organizer. Some of the activities in which she was involved include: 1877, helped with the Pittsburgh railway strike; after 1890, became involved in the struggles of coal miners and became an organizer for the United Mine Workers; 1898, helped found the Social Democrat Party; 1899, organized the coalfields of Pennsylvania; 1905, was present at the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World.

This small collection, from the Mount Olive Public Library, includes photographs of mines and mine workers from Mount Olive as well as some Mother Jones memorabilia - including the letter she wrote to the miners of Mount Olive, requesting that "I hope it will be my consolation when I pass away to feel I sleep under the clay with those brave boys." Mother Jones died on November 30, 1930 and is buried in the Union Miners Cemetery at Mount Olive, Illinois. Her grave is near that of "those brave boys" she referred to - the victims of the Virden mine riot of 1898.

Naperville Heritage Collection

Settled by Captain Joseph Naper and his family in June 1831, Naperville, Illinois is the oldest city in DuPage County. It has grown from prairie wilderness to pioneer village to prosperous city through the efforts of its citizens, its natural resources, its transportation links, and its proximity to the city of Chicago. Various celebrations of milestones in the city's history have helped document its growth and progress. Naperville citizens have taken pride in their civic improvements, schools, libraries, and variety of businesses, churches, and community organizations, while watching it become Illinois' fourth largest city.

For the historian and the genealogist, sources from the Naperville Heritage Collection will help identify land plats, farm families and their descendants, early businesses, development of the Centennial and Sesquicentennial memorial gifts to Naperville, the growth of city services and its three libraries, and listings of early telephone subscribers. Publications for the Home Coming in 1917 and the Centennial in 1931 provide timelines of important events and profiles of prominent citizens and leaders. Naperville celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2006, and looks back to the accomplishments of the Centennial of 1931 and Sesquicentennial of 1981 through books, pamphlets, slides, and films in this collection of sources. A history of DuPage County reveals the role of Joseph Naper and his associates in carving out DuPage County from Cook County in 1839 and establishing Naperville as its first county seat.

Native American Collection - McLean County Museum of History and ISU

The McLean County Museum of History offers access to a wide range of Native American objects. The collection includes pre-historic lithics and pottery fragments found in Central Illinois used in farming, hunting, and food processing. The collection also contains objects obtained through trade with early European settlers and made by Kickapoo and other Native Americans for use in daily life.

Collection highlights include artifacts gathered from archeological excavations at the Grand Village of the Kickapoo and Kickapoo Stockade, photographs taken at the Kickapoo Reservation in Horton Kansas in 1906, and manuscripts and documents relating to the Kickapoo People collected by Milo Custer. Additional highlights include artifacts excavated from archeological work conducted at the French and Fox Indian battle location known as the Arrowsmith Battlefield. You can also view lithics and pottery fragments from the Woodland and Mississippian eras.

Oak Ridge Cemetery Interment Records

Established in 1856, Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, is the largest cemetery in Illinois in land area (365 acres). More than seventy thousand people are interred in this historic cemetery. With more than 2.5 million visitors each year, it is the second most-visited cemetery in the United States.

Each entry includes the name of the deceased; the date of death; age at death; cause of death; a designation of the grave location, through a combination of block, lot, range, and grave numbers; place of birth; and remarks.

Note: The text of each volume is searchable (within the volume) by name, year of death, and cause of death.

These records were made available through the collaborative efforts of the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library, Oak Ridge Cemetery, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and the Papers of Abraham Lincoln.

O'Hare Digital Collection

The Bensenville Community Public Library has, over the past three decades, collected a substantial amount of material dealing with the transformation of Douglas Field from a World War II aircraft manufacturing facility into O'Hare International Airport. Contained within this collection are letters, press releases, governmental resolutions, photographs and other historic documents. These materials may help the researcher understand O'Hares' development into a national transportation center, its impact on the ecology of northern Illinois, and the consequences of various expansion plans on the quality of life in Chicago's western suburbs.

For more information, visit the O'Hare Digital Collection at the Bensenville Community Public Library site.

Oral Histories of Centralia

In 1975 a project to commemorate the American Revolution Bicentennial was undertaken by the Centralia Public Library. The result is this collection of oral histories created by local residents who talk about their personal experiences and their family histories. Topics covered include: Education, railroading, oil industry, mining (including the story of the Number 5 mine disaster), agriculture, businesses, churches, and ethnic groups.

The Oral History Collection of the University of Illinois at Springfield

The Oral History Collection at UIS consists primarily of material collected by the Sangamon State University Oral History Office from 1971 to 1991. Some oral history memoirs have been added in recent years by volunteers and UIS graduate history students. The collection includes the memoirs of a wide array of people including: coal miners; members of the African-American, Italian-American, Jewish, and other ethnic communities in central Illinois; Illinois legislators and politicians; farm families; WWII conscientious objectors and prisoners of war; members of Springfield churches and clubs; teachers in rural one room schools; and many others.

The collection is a vital record of life in Illinois and beyond from the late 19th century to the present, and preserves the memories of many individuals whose experiences would not otherwise be recorded.

This oral history collection is housed in Archives/Special Collections at Brookens Library, University of Illinois at Springfield. A guide to collection may be found at http://www.uis.edu/archives/contents.htm.

Park Forest -- A Planned Community

Park Forest began in 1946 as a dream held by Carroll F. Sweet, Sr., to build a "G.I. Town" for returning veterans. Due to the lack of building during the Depression and World War II, the returning veterans and their young families faced a severe housing shortage. Carroll F. Sweet, Sr., introduced Nathan Manilow, a Chicago builder to Philip M. Klutznick, who was working in Washington D.C. as head of the Federal Public Housing Authority. Both men thought the dream was worth bringing to reality. The result was the first post-World War II planned community to include a shopping center and all of the amenities of modern life built in to the original plan. The plan was turned in to FHA in November 1946. Move-ins began in August 1948. On February 1, 1949, at the suggestion of the builders, Park Forest was incorporated as a village. By October 1949, 3,010 rental units had been completed. Construction of "For Sale" homes was begun by 1950. 

Polo Area Cemetery Records of Ogle, Lee, Carroll and Whiteside Counties

This digital collection, made available by the Polo Public Library, consists of cemetery records dating to the 1850's. Volunteer members of the Polo Historical Society walked through each of the individual cemeteries and recorded information from stones and markers.

Pullman State Historic Site

The Pullman State Historic Site museum (http://www.pullman-museum.org) focuses on their special collection archive of images and information relating to Pullman and Roseland history. The grant project focuses on Pullman's industrial and labor history featuring historic photographs of the 1881 Pullman Palace Car Company, George Pullman's Town of Pullman, and the town of Roseland; related maps and other materials are also included. The Pullman Company continued its transportation activities into the 1980s and the selection will include visuals representing all the eras of Pullman production. It will include images from well-known Pullman photographers, including Henry R. Koopman. J. W. Taylor, Thomas S. Johnson, John P. Van Vorst, and Melvin C. Horn. Many of the visuals illuminate the lives of the workers in the Town of Pullman and the community of Roseland as well as showcase the Pullman factory and its historic train cars.

Remembering the Houses of Western Springs

Remembering the Houses of Western Springs is a collection of photographs of 19th century houses, with dates and some background information on each house. The Western Springs Historical Society took the photographs in 1977, and Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs digitized them in 2005.

Western Springs is a suburb of Chicago located on the western edge of Cook County. The community was first settled in 1870s, and the village was incorporated in 1886. Being located along the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, the village became an affordable location for the homes of Chicago-bound commuters. The village was in many ways typical of Chicago suburbs that developed in the late 19th and early 20th century. Remarkably, many houses built in that era survive.

The photographs may also be found in the book Western Springs: 19th Century Houses and Their Owners, 1978.

For more information about this project visit this link at the Western Springs History site.

St. Charles, Then and Now

The St. Charles Public Library (SCPL) digital collection chronicles the events and people that have shaped the history of St. Charles, IL from the early 1800s to the present. Materials include old maps (including the city of St. Charles, St. Charles Township and Campton Township), militia records, biographies, photographs, diaries and other materials from the Library's archived collection.

Many of the files are compilations of clippings taken over the years from local newspapers covering topics of interest such as the school district, police department, local businesses and more. Although the city of St. Charles is the main focus of the collection, some information about the surrounding Fox Valley area and Kane County is also included. Digitization and addition of materials to the collection is on-going.

To improve your search, try using both subjects (such as "Business and Industry") as well as proper names. Some larger works also include separate indexes which have also been digitized and provide a good starting point. In addition, you might like to visit the "Local History" page of the St. Charles Public Library web site (http://www.st-charles.lib.il.us/history/historicalbuildings.htm) for more information about local historic buildings as well as other resources that are available at the Library.

The digital collection was started in 2003 with a grant from Secretary of State/State Librarian Jesse White.

Social Justice and Activism at Elmhurst College

Since its founding in 1871, Elmhurst College has been a community where spiritual life, humane values, mutual respect, service to others, and responsible citizenship are practiced. Throughout its history, these values have led the College and its students to participate in the social activism of twentieth century America. Particularly since the 1920's, discussion and debate in the college newspaper, speakers brought to campus to discuss important current issues, and student activism both on and off campus have characterized the College's engagement in social issues. Events at Elmhurst College have reflected on a smaller scale the national scene, and thus provide an interesting context for studying the social movements of twentieth century America.

The collection includes photographs, excerpts from the college newspaper, and other supporting papers from the Elmhurst College archives. The largest part of the collection focuses on the social movements of the 1960's - civil rights, student activism, Vietnam War - but materials from other eras, including the 1920's and World War II are included.

Southeast Chicago Historical Society

The Southeast Chicago Historical Society (http://www.neiu.edu/~reseller) curates a collection particularly strong in materials related to industrial and labor history. Included in their collection are artifacts related to numerous industries in the area including Wisconsin Steel, United States Steel South Works, Republic Steel, Acme Coke /Interlake Steel, Valley Mould, and others. Materials digitized from this collection focus on industries in the Calumet region other than Pullman and Acme/Interlake Steel. This includes several major steel mills including U. S. Steel, Wisconsin Steel, and Republic Steel. Other area industries such as General Mills, the State Line Generating Station, and local shipyards are also included. Labor activities, especially the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, related to these industries and local millgate communities including South Chicago, South Deering, the East Side and Hegewisch are featured.

Springfield Aviation Company Collection

The Springfield Aviation Company Collection, 1927-1955, was donated to the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library in May 1995 by Craig Isbell, former co-manager of the company. Isbell formed a partnership with Gelder Lockwood in the late 1920s and operated this company at Springfield's Southwest Airport. This airport was first called Commercial Airport and later Municipal Airport. It continued as a private airfield after the opening of Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in 1947. The collection is comprised of several hundred photographs, publications and newspaper clippings related to the company and aviation in Springfield.

These digital images, made available by the Sangamon Valley Collection at the Lincoln Library (Springfield), are of photographs from this collection.

A University Goes to War, World War I Women

The materials in this collection, dating from 1917-1919, document the participation of the students, alumni, faculty and staff of Illinois State Normal University in World War I. During the war, Illinois State Normal University Librarian Ange Milner corresponded with persons in service. After the war, she sent a survey to all who could be located. The bulk of the material in this collection consists of the responses to this survey as well as letters and photographs sent to Miss Milner and others at the University. These materials were gathered in War Service Records for each individual. It also includes documentation of on-campus activities, including a reunion for everyone that served in World War I, hosted by the University in June 1919.

These women form a very interesting group. Four of them were members of the University faculty (including the director of the newly-opened women's residence hall); six had graduated since 1910; five graduated between 1900 and 1910; one graduated in 1890 and was in her early forties at the time she entered the service; seven did not graduate; three were graduates of University High School; two were sisters. Most had taught school since graduation, but several had gone into nursing during World War I. Many served as nurses, reconstruction aides or Red Cross workers, and one spent the entire war as a Navy typist in Washington, D. C. About half of these women saw service in Europe. At least two served in hospital units that came under fire in France and one was among the twenty-plus women awarded the Croix de Guerre. One of the most prominent women in this group was Julia Scott Vrooman, wife of Carl Schurz Vrooman, U. S. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture who went to Europe as a member of the Agricultural Commission. The women represented in this collection provide excellent examples of the roles that women played in World War I.

For more information about this project, visit this link at the University Archives, Illinois State University.

Urban Landscapes of Illinois: Digitization of Original Glass Negatives

In October 2006, the Field Museum Library's Photo Archives began a project that was funded by the Library Services Technology Act through the Honorable Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian. The purpose of the project was to use digital technology to create replacement-quality, high-resolution replicas of a collection of approximately 800 original glass negatives.

The images produced for this project range from 1894 to 1925 and show Chicago and outlying areas' flora, fauna, parks, and neighborhoods. They also document architectural changes to the Field Columbian Museum in Jackson Park and The Field Museum in its present location in Grant Park.

Vachel Lindsay Collection

The Vachel Lindsay Collection is comprised largely of materials containing the published prose and poetry of Vachel Lindsay in formats such as posters, newspaper and magazine articles, booklets, pamphlets, magazines and books. Other items include newspaper and magazine articles that contain biographical information on Lindsay and his family, critiques of his work and memorials and tributes to Lindsay. A small collection of photographs include Lindsay, his family, Elizabeth Graham, the Lindsay Verse Speaking Choir, 1940 and his tombstone. Phonograph recordings of Lindsay reading his works and his son, Nicholas Cave Lindsay, reading his father's poems make up another part of the collection.

Two scrapbook albums put together by Frances "Fannie" Hamilton, the younger sister of Vachel's mother contain materials about Lindsay from 1914 to about 1930. The albums include poems, drawings, private publications, clippings about and by Lindsay, a lock of his hair and some photographs. Bound volumes of his work include The Tramp's Excuse, The Village Magazine first edition, The Village Magazine third and fourth editions, Vision Magazine, A Letter About My Four Programmes and a notebook kept by Joy Lindsay Blair, Vachel's younger sister.

These digital images, made available by the Sangamon Valley Collection at the Lincoln Library (Springfield), are of photographs from this collection.

Warbler Digitization Project (Eastern Illinois University)

The Warbler, Eastern Illinois University's student yearbook, provides a fascinating insight over the years into Eastern's history, from the perspective of its students. Published yearly since 1919, the Warbler captures information and photographs of students and faculty, chronicles important cultural and sporting events, describes organizational activities, and depicts changes in the campus layout and physical plant. Taken together, the Warblers document in a very vivid way, the story of Eastern Illinois University as it evolved from a small normal school to the comprehensive university that it is today.

The William Hayes Collection: 1820-1860

The William Hayes Papers are primarily family letters written from 1830-1857. However, they also inlcude legal documents, business letters, and copies of "Andrew Borders vs. William Hayes," his 1844 civil trial at Picnkneyville for helping five Borders slaves escape to northern Illinois and the Illinois State Supreme Court trial which followed.

William Hayes was born on November 9, 1795, the son of Henry Hayes (1762-1823) and Mary Ann (Molly) Ferris(s). Little is known of his life prior to his marriage to Anna Johnston (1800-1861) on November 25, 1819. In 1825 he was a resident of Galway, New York. By 1826 he had "undertaken the farm for mother's and the girl's comfort." The mother mentioned here was probably Rachel Johnston, Anna's mother. The "girls" were Anna's half-sisters, Leah (1781-1843) and Jane (1792-1857) Cownover (variously spelled "Conover" and "Cowenhoven"). As early as 1826 William and Anna were receiving letters from her half-sister Ursula Taylor, to sell the farm and move her mother and sisters to Cleveland where she lived with her husband Charles. In 1829 William began receiving letters from Oliver Bannister, who had settled in Randolph County, Illinois, urging him to move to the Illinois country.

In late May of 1833 William, Anna, and their children (Mary Rachel, Margaret, Euphemia, William James, Isaac Henry, and Jane Ann) left their home in Galway and traveled to Cleveland to look over the land and visit with her half-sister, Ursula. Besides their large family, Anna's two half-sisters, Leah and Jane Cownover, also made the trip. In July of that same year, William left Cleveland, leaving the women and children behind, and went to Illinois to see if he liked it better than Ohio. Apparently he liked what he saw because in September 1833 he moved his family to Fort Clark, Illinois (present-day Peoria). While living in the Peoria area, William bought and sold land in northern Illinois. He seems to have been a land speculator. The Hayes family left Peoria in 1834 and settled in Randolph County. The reason given in one letter is that his wife had been sick with "the ague" for the entire year they lived in Peoria.

The first mention of William's work with the Underground Railroad occurs in a letter from his brother, James, in 1841. The following year on August 31, 1842, William helped five "indentured servants" (Susan Richardson - "Sukey", Hannah Morrison, and Sukey's children Jarrot, Harrison, and Anderson) escape from Randolph County. The five had "belonged" to Andrew Borders, a very wealthy and influential man who lived west of Sparta. The route the escapees traveled is not known, but by September 5, 1842 they had arrived in Farmington, Illinois. In February 1843 Andrew Borders sued William Hayes for aiding his servants in escaping and asked for $2500 in damages. The case was finally tried in April 1844 in Pinckneyville, Illinois. Hayes was found guilty and fined $300. He appealed the case to the Illinois Supreme Court which upheld the Perry County decision and refused to grant a new trial. A letter exists from 1845 that clearly indicates that William Hayes did not stop his involvement in the Underground Railroad. In 1848 a criminal charge was leveled against him and a Daniel Morrison for "harboring a slave" in Clinton County. This case never came to trail because William Hayes died intestate in 1849. His estate was probated in 1852. When the estate was finally settled, Anna Hayes received $118.25.

The documents in the Illinois Digital Archives website are only a portion of the letters written to William Hayes. Transcripts of the entire collection cam be found at the Sparta Public Library, Sparta, Illinois and the Knox College Library, Galesburg, Illinois. The entire story of Sukey, William Hayes, and Andrew Borders is told in the book Betwixt Two Suns: A True Tale of the Underground Raiload in Illinois by Carol Pirtle (Southern Illinois University Press, 2000.)

World War I - Documents from the Illinois State Library

Hundreds of men, as well as many women, of Illinois were playing a part in the World War long before the United States enterd the war. Some were fighting on the western front, some were Red Cross nurses or welfare workers. Others joined the Lafayette Escadrille (the American aviation unit in the French army), or entered the Foreign Legion. Records compiled by the Office of the Adjutant General show that Illinois gave 351,153 men to the army and navy of the United States during the war. Out of every twelve men in the army one was from Illinois. Illinois furnished more men to the army and navy than any other state in the Union, with the exception of New York and Pennsylvania, both of which had larger populations. The state's own division, the Thirty-third, was the only distinctly Illinois division that saw active service in France.

Money, next to men, was the greatest need of the government and Illinois gave its share and more. About seven percent of the subsrciptions received for the nation's war loans, a total of approximately $1,300,000,000 came from Illinois - which, at the time, had about five percent of the population of the United States. Statistics compiled by the State Council of Defense show that the total contributions of the state to various funds raised by war aid and relief organizations was more than $45,000,000. One of the largest Illinois contributions to the war effort by Illinois farmers was the farm crop of 1918. Estimated by the Department of Agriculture to be worth $879,697,000 it was the greatest crop in money value that was ever produced by any state in the Union. As factories were quickly converted into munitions plants the output of Illinois factories in direct war contracts in 1918 was approximately $2,000,000,000.

By the time the War ended, more than 5,000 men from Illinois had given their lives in defense of world freedom and liberty.

World War II - Documents

This collection, from the Illinois State Library, contains United States government documents on subjects such as rationing and conservation, women's work, civil defense, the Japanese interment, the development of the United Nations, and more.

World War II - Posters

During World War II the United States government issued posters on topics such as national security, rationing and conservation, investing in war bonds, military recruitment, civil defense, and industrial production. These posters were part of an aggressive propaganda campaign designed to encourage and mobilize the home front war effort. Artists such as James Montgomery Flagg, Otto Fischer, Ben Shahn, and Norman Rockwell contributed their talents to create some of these posters.

This collection, from the Illinois State Library, contains posters issued by various United States government agencies from the beginning of the war through 1945.

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the Founding and Early History of The Field Museum

As the planned outcome of Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, The Field Museum may well be called "the Fair that never ended."

In its special collections the Library holds important original materials from the Exposition and a wealth of material relating to the founding and early history of The Field Museum. Our digital presentation of these collections allows you to browse or search among these holdings and view images.

The collections include official records, objects and photographs, as well as personal memorabilia from the Fair, such as the Robbins Family Scrapbook containing hundreds of fascinating items collected during the family's seven visits to the Exposition. Official records from the Fair include the immense handwritten financial ledger - six feet across when opened - recording the operating costs of the Fair. Also included are a collection of 350 photographs that document the construction of the Museum's present building at 12th Street, at the foot of Grant Park between 1915 and 1919.