CHM director of research & access Ellen Keith shares about the most requested research collections from the Abakanowicz Research Center in 2024.
In 2024, staff at the Abakanowicz Research Center retrieved nearly 900 linear feet of archival material and more than 500 distinct collections. Here are the top five most requested in 2024, and if you followed what was requested in 2022 and 2023, no surprises for the top collection.
#5 – Glessner family papers [manuscript], 1851–1960, bulk 1864–81
Chicagoans now consider the Gold Coast the city’s most high-end neighborhood, but in the late 19th century, the most affluent neighborhood was Prairie Avenue, south of Roosevelt Road. One of the still extant homes there, now a house museum, is Glessner House. At the time, the socially prominent Glessner family was on par with the Armours and the Pullmans.
The J. J. Glessner residence at Prairie Avenue and 16th Street, Chicago, c. 1905. CHM, ICHi-068071; Charles R. Clark, photographer
#4 – Business and Professional People for the Public Interest records [manuscript], 1938–2003
The BPPPI (now Impact for Equity), a public interest law firm, most notably sued the Chicago Housing Authority on behalf of Dorothy Gautreaux for the placement of public housing in low-income, African American neighborhoods. Learn more in Alexander Polikoff’s Waiting for Gautreaux: A Story of Segregation, Housing, and the Black Ghetto.
Representatives of the BPPPI hold a press conference regarding the Red Squad at the Executive House Hotel, 71 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, January 5, 1977. Dr. Marvin Rosner is speaking at the podium, and Albert E. Jenner Jr. sits to the left of the podium. ST-60002106-0062, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM
#3 – Studs Terkel papers [graphic, manuscript], 1944–2008, bulk 1944–85
Louis “Studs” Terkel (1912–2008) was a well-known radio host, author, oral historian, and the Chicago History Museum’s first Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence. He published the oral history compilation Division Street: America in 1966, beginning a long career of conducting and publishing oral histories including Hard Times (1970), Working (1974), and American Dreams: Lost and Found (1980). Look for the upcoming podcast, Division Street Revisited, and in the meantime, check out digitized radio programs at the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.
Studs Terkel interviews Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson in a recording studio, Chicago, c. 1960. CHM, ICHi-025638; Stephen Deutch, photographer
#2 – Chicago Yacht Club records [manuscript], 1869–1999
Founded in 1875, Chicago’s oldest yacht club has sponsored the Race to Mackinac since 1898. This manuscript collection includes correspondence, membership lists, various announcements of activities, programs, and race results, as well as architectural drawings of its Belmont Harbor station.
The Chicago Yacht Club’s Monroe Station, 400 E. Monroe St., Chicago, April 26, 1985. ST-20002700-0014, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM
#1 – Chicago Police Department Red Squad and related records [manuscript], c. 1930s–1986, bulk 1963–74
The winner and still champion! As these are records of surveillance by the CPD of suspected “subversives,” which included anarchists, suspected communists, labor organizers, and reform organizations, this collection is governed by a court order.
