© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2009 University of Chicago Library
The University of Chicago Library Chicago Jazz Archive Exhibits Records were processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Library. Chicago Jazz Archive. Exhibits. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Founded in 1976, the University of Chicago Library's Chicago Jazz Archive initially sought to preserve materials documenting the birth and early growth of jazz in Chicago. In partnership with the Jazz Institute of Chicago the collections grew significantly. Collections now detail more than eight decades of Chicago jazz life and history. Recordings, publications, photographs, articles, posters, programs, ticket stubs, and other ephemera of musicians, clubs, record companies, and jazz organizations are included in the collections.
In 2007-2008, the collections of the Chicago Jazz Archive were transferred to the University of Chicago Library's Special Collections Research Center.
The University of Chicago Library Chicago Jazz Archive Exhibits Records contain publicity, photocopies, brochures and programs, correspondence, announcements, articles, sheet music, slides, and ephemera related to Chicago Jazz Archive-produced exhibits, primarily "From Dreamland to Showcase: Jazz in Chicago, 1912-1996" and “Jazz-The Chicago Scene: The Art of Stephen Longstreet.” The collection is arranged by exhibit title. Material not pertaining to a specific exhibit is listed at the end. Oversize material is arranged according to size in Boxes 9-12.
“From Dreamland to Showcase: Jazz in Chicago, 1912-1996” was held in the Department of Special Collections, October 30, 1996 – February 28, 1997. The exhibition honored the 20th anniversary of the Chicago Jazz Archive. The majority of the exhibit contains scanned reproductions of historical photographs of musicians and Chicago jazz venues. Advertisements, brochures, and programs outline the exhibit’s content. The correspondence details the production of “From Dreamland to Showcase.” The newspaper and magazine articles document news coverage of the exhibit. Photographs taken of the exhibit are also included. There are two unfoldered boxes of slides of images from the exhibit.
“Jazz-The Chicago Scene: The Art of Stephen Longstreet” was presented in October-November 1989 and focused on the artwork of Longstreet, artist and jazz historian. Included are exhibit captions and scanned reproductions of photographs of musicians and Chicago jazz venues.
There are brochures and advertisements for other Chicago Jazz Archive exhibits including “Jazz, Literature, and Martin Luther King,” “Swing into Spring,” “Word Jazz and Written Riffs: Jazz in Poetry and Literature,” “The Chicago Tenor Tradition,” and “Hell Divin’ Women: Chicks in Jazz.” There are also captions and mounted record album covers from an exhibit highlighting the work of musicians in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Also included are captions from an exhibit on John Steiner.
There are brochures from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a program for the University of Chicago President’s lunch, a record, sheet music, and liner notes for an unidentified Dexter Gordon album. The booklet, written in Polish, is about the AACM and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. There is also a publication, Bluespeak.