The Chicago History Museum, founded in 1856, is an iconic Chicago institution of learning, though it didn't start as a museum (in name). In fact, it began as the Chicago Historical Society, an organization dedicated to documenting and preserving history. Among these documents was the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation which, unfortunately, was lost in the Great Fire of 1871. Afterwards, the Chicago Historical Society continued to amass manuscripts, documents, paintings, and all manner of archival material as the years advanced until the modern day, where they serve thousands of students in their research center each year.
CHM's main attraction for a curious student is their free research center, which serves the archival materials, architectural drawings, maps, photographs, and published material of the museum. Available to you are: 22,000 linear feet of materials including personal papers, organizational records, and company records, over 6.5 million images, newspapers, annual reports on city departments, and more!
In addition to the research center, the CHM also offers a number of online resources for students including:
- ARCHIE, an online catalogue
- Image Database
- Encyclopedia of Chicago
- Research Center guides
- Google Arts and Culture online exhibits
One of the CHM's greatest strengths is their photo collection. In 2018, they acquired over 5 million photos from the Chicago Sun-Times, spanning 75 years of Chicago history—almost all of which are available or soon to be. For example, CHM has one of the largest collections of photographs from the Trial of the Chicago Seven anywhere, an invaluable research asset.
