In addition to the Photofiles, there are other photographic resources in the Archives. Many archival collections include photos chronicling the family and professional lives of their subjects. Hundreds of glass lantern slides and glass plate negatives help record the first decades of the University, as does a separate collection of Eva Watson Schutze's portraits of early faculty members, their relatives, and friends. Campus architecture in the 1970s is documented in the Dreams in Stone collection of photos and negatives.
Prints and negatives have come to the University Archives from a variety of sources. Most originated in the Office of University News and Information and its public relations predecessors. Along with photographs, these transfers often included negatives and sometimes contact sheets. A substantial group of photographs, nearly all of them depicting undergraduate activities, came from the Maroon, Cap and Gown, and other student publications. Various departments, divisions, schools, and other University bodies have also contributed a significant number. Still others were acquired with archival collections or donated by alumni and friends of the University.
The Photofiles are divided into five broad series: Series I: Individuals and Groups, Series II: Buildings and Grounds, Series III: Events, Series IV: Student Activities, and Series V: Sports
Series I: Individuals and Groups
In this category are included photographs of people currently or formerly affiliated with the University. The vast majority of these holdings are photos of individual faculty members, staff, or alumni, and they are arranged alphabetically by surname. Photographs of recognized University groups -- Old University of Chicago classes, departments, degree-granting committees -- are grouped separately in alphabetical order in the Groups section within Series I. Following the NAME subheading for each individual and group photo, there are one or more designated TYPEs, also filed in alphabetical order. The TYPE categories include:- Album. Photo scrapbooks, usually devoted mainly to family members and events.
- Childhood and Youth. Early photos of the individual, typically alone but sometimes with siblings.
- Family. Photos of adolescent years with parents, siblings, and other relatives and/or in later years with spouse and children.
- Formal. Posed, usually studio shots of individual alone.
- Group. Posed or candid views of individual in non-family gatherings, including, for instance, conferences, ceremonies, meetings, parties, celebrations, and banquets.
- Informal. Casual photos of adult individual in any non-group setting.
- Portrait. Photos of paintings, etchings, drawings, and other portraits of the individual executed by artists.
Other TYPE categories are determined by the identity of the individual. Presidents Robert Hutchins and Lawrence Kimpton, for instance, have separate envelopes marked Inaguration, whereas scientists or departmental groups might have ones labeled Experiments or Field Work.
Series II. Buildings and Grounds
Filed at the beginning of this series are photos related to the University's origins, including the Old University of Chicago campus at 35th and Cottage Grove, the Henry Ives Cobb plan, and the present University's site. Thereafter an alphabetical arrangement governs filing order. Most of the photographs in this series depict University buildings, campus plans, landscaping, and maintenance. There are also some photos of the contiguous neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn, particularly for the turn-of-the-century years and the urban renewal period of the 1950s-1960s. Likewise, nearby parks--Jackson, Washington, and the South Parks system--are represented, primarily for the early part of the twentieth century. Common subheadings for TYPE in this series include:- Architects' Drawings. Photographs of proposed and actual designs.
- Architects' Models. Photographs of pre-construction models for buildings or their ornamentation.
- Construction Series. Sequential photographic record of building progress, from start to finish.
- Entrance. Shots of building doorways and entry facades.
- Exteriors. View of the outside of a building, usually further defined according to the direction from which the photo was taken (From Northeast, From West, etc.). Exterior does not always appear on the outside of the envelope, which in such cases is marked simply From East or From Northwest. For a few buildings, snow scenes were numerous enough to warrant grouping them together and labeling them In Winter.
- Interior. Shots of indoor spaces, typically specified according to room or use. Thus, depending on the building, there are envelopes allocated for libraries, labs, lounges, dining rooms, cafeterias, classrooms, stairways, exhibit areas, murals, and so forth. As with exterior views, the word Interior is occasionally omitted, the envelope then being filed according to its room or object identification, such as Lounge or Light Fixtures.
- Site. Pre-construction location.
Some knowledge of University history, including campus planning, will help anyone using this series. Many buildings--because of their proximity or connection to other buildings or because of a change in function over time--have several potential locations within the Photofiles. For instance, views of buildings fronting Hull Court or the main quadrangles may be filed according to their respective names or according to those headings. Likewise, some photos of Bond Chapel are placed under its name, while others are filed under Swift Hall, to which it is attached. Similarly, views of Mitchell Tower and Hutchinson Hall are found in several places besides their respective names, including Hutchinson Commons, Hutchinson Court, and Tower Group. Photos of the Reynolds Club, however, since they are all interior shots, are filed under Reynolds Club alone.
Some photos are filed entirely or partially under building names that are no longer in official use. For instance, photos of the original Quadrangle Club building are located primarily under Quad Club (Old), with a cross-reference to Ingleside Hall, since the name and use of this structure have both changed. Photos found under the latter heading are more recent views reflecting the building's later functions. Another example is the existing bookstore building; because most of the photographs date from its original use as the Press Building, they are principally filed under that name. A person seeking pictures of the University's earlier bookstore should instead look under Ellis Hall, which housed it. Law School photos predating the construction of the Laird Bell Law Quadrangle are located under Law School (Old), and under Stuart Hall, which it is now called. Early photos of Foster, Kelly, Beecher, and Green Halls may be found under their respective names as well as under Women's Dorms, the purpose for which they were originally built.
The Photofiles also preserve pictures of many demolished buildings. Some were temporary structures--the old gymnasium and library, post-World War II student housing--but most served longer-term needs, including Lexington Hall, Ellis Hall, and Ricketts North and South. Dudley Field, now the site of Woodward Court, is also represented. A more famous and very well documented example is the old Stagg Field, upon which Regenstein Library now stands. The Photofiles, however, contain only recent views of the Home for the Incurables, part of which still survives as the Young Memorial Building and is used by the University Police and the Office of Facilities Planning and Management. Medical Center photos are organized insofar as possible by pavilion, wing, lab, or specialized hospital unit. This is true, for example, for Chicago Lying-in Hospital, Bobs Roberts, the Ben May Laboratory, and the A. J. Carlson Animal Research Facility. Hospitals and Clinics is a more inclusive heading created for general or group photos. In this category are found, for instance, exterior shots depicting more than one hospital unit and unidentified interior shots. Laboratories is another significant general category, and it holds photos of unidentified labs in the biological and physical sciences.
SERIES II also includes photos of events related to building donors and construction, such as groundbreakings, cornerstone layings, and dedications. Here too are photos of class gifts--among them the Class of 1922 bridge and the Class of 1916 bulletin board--as well as the "C" bench, Botany Pond, sculpture ("Nuclear Energy"), and other campus landmarks.
Users should also be aware of an important comprehensive heading, General Campus Views, filed under "G." Photos in this category do not spotlight specific buildings but rather campus scenes, panoramas, or groups of buildings. They have been arranged in rough chronological sequence, and a substantial number have been separated according to motif (Aerial Views, Winter, Bridges and Arches, Midway Plaisance).
Another comprehensive category, the Hanscomb Survey, contains contact sheets and negatives for a February 1982 campus survey of building conditions conducted by the Architect's Office. A complete set is filed under this heading, while enlargements of individual photos have been interfiled with their respective buildings. An earlier group of architectural prints, the work of the Capes photographers, has also been separated and filed according to individual building name. The recently discovered 8" x 10" negatives for these prints are now also matched to the appropriate photographs.
Series III: Events
This series houses photos for all events, with two important exceptions: those that were primarily student-oriented or student-organized (Series IV), and those related to buildings (Series II). All self-explanatory, the most substantial NAME subdivisions here are:- Alumni Activities
- Ceremonies
- Exhibits
- Faculty Activities
- Inaugurations
- Reunions
- Theatre/Dramatics
- Visits [of notable individuals]
- Wartime Activities [World Wars I and II]
- World's Columbian Exposition
As with previous series, each of these categories is further divided, and sorting by TYPE is dictated by the nature of the event depicted. Thus the World's Columbian Exposition photos are arranged according to building or area name, whereas wartime photos are sorted by military group or activity portrayed. Reunions, on the other hand, are filed chronologically and then by class or event.
Series IV: Student Activities
Here belong all photos, both posed and candid, depicting student groups and activities. The largest NAME category in this series is Athletics, arranged alphabetically by sport and then further divided into team portraits, seasons, specific competitions, and other appropriate groups. A more complete set of team portrait and photos of individual athletes are filed in Series V.Other major subcategories include:
- Classes, Labs, and Seminars
- Fraternities and Women's Social Clubs
- Recreation
- Registration and Orientation
- Residence Halls
- Student Life
- Theatre/Dramatics
When appropriate, photos of student groups are sorted by the nature of the interest they represent--such as religious, musical, political, and unidentified--and then alphabetized according to specific group name. A particularly notable set of early photos in this series offers unusual glimpses into the activities of an early women's club. Filed under Fraternities and Women's Social Clubs, the Esoteric Club scrapbook pictorially documents the period from approximately 1900 to 1911. A general category, Student Life, has been created for photos capturing student living situations at different times. Here are filed the Vories Fisher photos, negatives, and contact sheets, used for a 1948 public relations project. Photos of unidentified students, student groups, and student activities are sorted according to these three categories, numbered, and filed together at the end of SERIES IV. As with SERIES III, the diversity of subjects represented here means that subdivisions by TYPE necessarily exhibit little uniformity.
Series V: Sports
In addition to the sports photos in SERIES IV of the Photofiles, a far greater number are arranged in SERIES V. Beginning in most cases in the 1890s and continuing with few gaps into the early 1970s, sports covered include baseball, basketball, cross-country, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and water polo, tennis, track, and wrestling. There are also team pictures for ice hockey and polo taken in the mid-1930s, and there is a weight-lifting team portrait from 1948. High school sports photos are filed here as well. Most are University High School team portraits from the early 1950s, but some unidentified photos from high school track meets in the first decade of the century have also survived. The high school sports represented are fencing, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, track, and wrestling.Each envelope, filed alphabetically by surname, is labeled with the athlete's name, sports played, and years participated. The individual photo series is most complete for the years during which Amos Alonzo Stagg served as Professor and Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Athletics (1892-1933).
Apart from posed team and individual athlete photos in Series V, Series IV contains all other athletic photos, including action shots, oversize team portraits, and practice session photos.
For questions about the Archival Photographic Files or any of the photographic holdings of the department, please direct your inquiry to:
- Department of Special Collections
- University of Chicago Library
- 1100 East 57th Street
- Chicago, Illinois 60637
- Phone: (773) 702-8705
- Fax: (773) 702-3728
- e-mail: SpecialCollections@lib.uchicago.edu