Large Scale Digitization
The Special Collections Research Center has a launched an initiative for the digitization of archives and manuscript collections. The digital images are being made available via the online finding aid for each collection. This will recreate for the online user the experience of a researcher encountering the original materials in the SCRC Reading Room, with documents displayed as they are housed in each folder, and with description of the contents in the form of folder headings.
Individual, high-resolution images of each page will be permanently preserved in the Library's digital repository, and can be made available for publication or other research needs. Due to provisions of copyright laws, digitization efforts are currently focused on materials in the public domain, or those for which the University of Chicago holds copyright.
Collections with digitized content now available online include:
American Recipes, 1855-1905
Manuscript collection of cooking recipes. Includes recipes and home remedies. Also includes newspaper clippings, pasted in, with additional loose recipes in multiple hands, laid in.
Anderson, William H. and the Anti-Saloon League. Papers, 1903-1928
Contains correspondence, press releases, speeches, and reports. Material documents Anderson's work with the Anti-Saloon League and the League's relations with John D. Rockefeller and the Black Belt Farms Company. Correspondents include Charles S. Whitman, two-time governor of New York.
Archicofradía del Santísimo Sacramento y Caridad. Records, 1555-1858
Records of the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament of the metropolitan cathedral of Mexico City, from 1555 to 1858. Contains legal, financial, and other documents relating to the activities of the confraternity.
Bakwin, Dr. Harry and Dr. Ruth Morris Bakwin. Soviet Posters. Collection, 1930-1932
This collection contains nineteen Soviet political posters produced in the early 1930s, collected by the American physicians Dr. Harry Bakwin and Dr. Ruth Morris Bakwin during two trips to the Soviet Union. The majority of the posters promote the First Five Year Plan (1928-1932), a series of industrial targets designed by the Stalinist regime to build up heavy industry in the Soviet Union. Most of the posters are in Ukrainian, with the remainder in Russian. The posters depict various aspects of the industrialization and militarization drive of this period, as well as general themes in the communist worldview and important moments in Marxist history.
Baldwin, Loammi. Papers. (CrMs 203), 1821-1842
Loammi Baldwin was a pioneering civil engineer who lived in Massachusetts from 1780 to 1838. He planned and executed public works projects in several Eastern states including canals, public monuments, dams, and tunnels. His lifework was a series of dry docks he built on commission by the United States government in 1833. The collection contains 247 handwritten letters both from and to Baldwin and his business associates, colleagues, and family members. The letters reveal aspects of Baldwin's personal life as well as his professional projects and meditations.
Bekker, Immanuel. Papers, 1806-1853
Immanuel Bekker (1785-1871) Philologist. The Papers consist entirely of correspondence addressed to Bekker. Some are semi-official communications (Niebuhr, W.V.Humboldt); many are of a scholarly nature, occasionally with extensive Greek quotations. Those written by Bekker's closer intimates are often typical of the need felt in the Romantic era to open one's heart to a friend, while a few are no more than short invitations (Reimer).
Brainerd, Mary Bowen. Papers, 1895-1915
Mary Bowen Brainerd received her Ph.D from the University of Chicago in 1897 from the Graduate School of Arts and Literature. Her Papers consist of correspondence, research notes, and draft of her dissertation, “The Influence of Petrarch on the Elizabethan Sonnet.”
Caballero, Fernán. Papers, 1855-1877
Fernán Caballero, pseudonym of Cecilia Francisca Josefa de Arrom, (1796-1877), Spanish author. The papers consists primarily of correspondence from Caballero to French scholar Antoine de Latour, but also includes other correspondence, manuscripts and articles.
Chicago Committee of Fifteen. Records, 1909-1927
These twenty-six volumes were gathered for an investigation of Chicago crime, focusing on prostitution and the illegal sale of alcohol. Notes are from on-scene investigations, summaries of court records and newspaper clippings.
Davis, Jefferson, Trial Papers. MS 979, 1865-1868
These Papers document the legal entanglements, ambiguous delays, political floundering, and shifting of responsibilities that occurred during the period from Jefferson Davis' first indictment for treason, on May 10, 1866, through March 6, 1868, when the trial, finally set for March 26, 1868, was postponed again. The collection includes seven original letters and two copies of correspondence between L.H. Chandler, U.S. District Attorney for Virginia; Henry Stanbery, U.S. Attorney General; Edwin Stanton, U.S. Secretary of War; William M. Evarts and Richard H. Dana, assistant council for the prosecution; and Charles O'Connor, Davis' lawyer.
Field, Eugene. Correspondence, 1884-1895
Eugene Field, writer, poet. The Eugene Field Correspondence consists of 301 letters written to Eugene Field by various admirers, friends, family members, and business associates during the years 1884 - 1895. The collection also contains newspaper and magazine clippings pertaining for the most part to Field and his poetry.
Heaton, David F. Papers, 1837-1853
The David F. Heaton Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, documenting Heaton's work as a clerk in the General Land Office during the presidency of Andrew Jackson and in the private sector as an expert in land transfer and ownership. The collection also contains family correspondence exchanged between Heaton, his wife, and his sons.
Jackson, William Henry. Photographs
William Henry Jackson, photographer (1843-1942). The William Henry Jackson Photograph collection consists of 85 unique photographs and 17 duplicate prints of the West taken for the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories (1870-78). Areas include Colorado, Mexico, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. Prints in box 4 are not identified as part of the Survey, but appear to be from roughly the same time period.
Lee, Elon N. and Edson S. Bastin. Papers, 1864-1919
Elon N. Lee and Edson S. Bastin, early students. The Elon N. Lee and Edson S. Bastin Papers consist of Edson S. Bastin's correspondence (1866-1919), Elon Lee's diary from his service as a private in the Civil War in Company G, Unit 134 of Illinois (1864-1865), drafts of essays, and miscellaneous ephemera concerning the Old University of Chicago (1867-1881).
Lewis, Fielding. Papers, 1783-1900
Fielding Lewis, plantation owner. Papers contain business records, legal documents, tax receipts and other records that document the management of an ante-bellum plantation on the James River. The collection also includes receipts for purchase of slaves as well as daily expenses.
Lincoln Collection. Lincoln Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 1587-1924
The Lincoln Miscellaneous Manuscript section of the William E. Barton Collection of Lincolniana contains an array of material relating to Abraham Lincoln, his parentage, the Civil War, and his presidency. It includes briefs, pardons, and commissions in Lincoln's hand, original letters of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the few extant letters written by Lincoln to his wife, and a letter written by Willie Lincoln while accompanying his father on a trip to Chicago. It also includes letters written by members of the Lincoln cabinet and other notable political and military figures of the time.
The O'Gorman Mahon. Papers, 1824-1892
James Patrick Mahon, also known as "The O'Gorman Mahon" was an Irish politician and adventurer. The collection contains correspondence, materials from court cases, documents pertaining to business ventures, a letter book, a diary, a passport, election posters, and two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings. Papers document Mahon's various political, military and business activities. Correspondents include Ann Choquet, John Adams-Acton, Arthur Richard Wellesley, William O'Shea, and Charles Parnell.
Middle Eastern Posters. Collection, 1970s-1990s
The Middle Eastern Posters collection comprises posters produced by government offices and private organizations, primarily in Iran and Afghanistan.
Old University of Chicago. Records, 1856-1890
The first University of Chicago, a Baptist school, was incorporated in 1857 on land donated by Senator Stephen A. Douglas. The University closed in 1886 due to financial difficulties. The records contain records of the Board of Trustees, and faculty, matriculation records, catalogs, student publications, and other historical materials, including two scrapbooks.
Paper Dolls. Collection, mid 19th century
This collection consists of paper dolls and accompanying paper clothing and accessories. The dolls were found in an 1839 volume of the New York Mirror. Made by hand from scraps of magazines and wallpaper, the dolls are unique, well-preserved examples of a typically fragile and ephemeral folk art.
Slavery and Indentured Servitude Collection, 1752-1864
Contains seven documents pertaining to indentured servants (1766-1785). The remaining documents relate to slavery and include bills of sale, a memorandum describing the slave trade in Havana (1783), estate inventories, public notices, letters, deeds, a will, and indemnity bonds. Many of the documents are facsimiles.
Starr, Frederick. Liberian Research Collection, 1792-1914
Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, Frederick Starr, maintained these research materials for his book, Liberia: Description, History, Problems.
University of Chicago. Founders' Correspondence, 1886-1892
Consists of typewritten transcripts of correspondence between John D. Rockefeller, founding donor of the University of Chicago, and others involved in the establishment of the University. Correspondents include William Rainey Harper, Thomas W. Goodspeed, Frederick T. Gates, and others.
University of Chicago. Laboratory Schools. Work Reports. Records, 1898-1934
The Laboratory School Work Reports Records are made up of monthly and quarterly reports about the Elementary and Secondary division of the University of Chicago's Laboratory School.
University of Chicago. Office of the Registrar. World War I Service. Records, 1917-1919
The World War I Service Records consist of 3X5 cards recording war service of University of Chicago students, including dates of enlistment and discharge, ranks and assignments, and war service credit given by the University, 1917-1919.
Wagoners’ Guild of Apolda, Germany. Records, 1677-1862
This small collection contains documents relating to the Wagoners’ Guild of Apolda, Germany. and its members. It consists of 33 pieces from 1677-1862, including a journeyman’s passbook of 1820, numerous certificates of apprenticeship and journeyman’s work, birth certificates, and miscellaneous guild documents.
Wells, Ida B. Papers, 1884-1976
Ida B. Wells, (1862-1931) teacher, journalist and anti-lynching activist. Papers contain correspondence, manuscripts of Crusade for Justice: the Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, diaries, copies of articles and speeches by Wells, articles and accounts about Wells, newspapers clippings, and photographs.
Winston, Thomas. Papers, 1854-1927
These papers relate primarily to Winston's activities as a surgeon for Illinois troops during the Civil War. Includes biographical material, case histories, lists of medical supplies, receipts for effects of soldiers, and various documents relating to individual soldiers. Also contains some material relating to real estate after the Civil War.
Woodruff, Timothy Lester. Papers, 1897-1909
Timothy Lester Woodruff (1858-1913), Republican politician. Lieutenant Governor of New York, 1896-1902. Material deals primarily with campaigns, patronage, and other political issues, some with references to Theodore Roosevelt and Lemuel Quigg. Correspondents include Thomas Platt, Frank S. Black, John D. Rockefeller, James Sherman, and James Wadsworth.
Yoshitoyo, Ichiryusai. Mashin teate kiho no ben, Makiyama Sensei dempo, 1800s
Handwritten text in Japanese, "About the special way to treat the measles; Dr. Makiyama's remedy." Illustrated with colored woodcut. Includes typescript translation of text from Japanese into English.
