Architecture and Urban Planning Collections

Architecture and Urban Planning: Selected Modern Manuscript and Archival Collections

Print versions of finding aids for the following collections are available in the Special Collections Research Center.
Finding aids that have been converted to digital form can be searched in the online finding aids database.

For more detailed information on holdings, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.

Allen Diehl Albert et al. Reports on World's Fairs. [Crerar Ms. 229]
3 vols.
Comparative reports on financing, logistics, and publicity for the World's Columbian Exposition (1893), Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904), Panama-California Expositon (1915), and Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915).
Architectural Drawings Collection.
Archival Biographical Files. HTML Guide
Biographical information on University of Chicago faculty members, officers, trustees, staff members, and other individuals related to the University. Materials include biographical data sheets, curriculum vitae, obituaries, press releases, articles, and news clippings.
Archival Buildings File. HTML Guide
Collection containing print and ephemeral materials on University of Chicago campus architecture, including guides and maps; articles and clippings; souvenir booklets; press releases; and programs for building-related events such as groundbreaking ceremonies, cornerstone layings, and dedications.
Archival Photographic Files. HTML Guide
Collection containing more than 70,000 photographs related to the University of Chicago, its faculty, trustees, students, alumni, and staff. The photographs are arranged in five series visually documenting different aspects of the University's history: Individuals and Groups; Buildings and Grounds; Events; Student Activities; and Sports.
Includes: Images of proposed and completed buildings and landscape designs of W. W. Boyington; Frederick Law Olmsted; Henry Ives Cobb; Charles B. Atwood; Dwight Heald Perkins; Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge; Pond and Pond, Frank Lloyd Wright; Lorado Taft; Olmsted Brothers; Holbird and Roche; Howard Van Doren Shaw; Coolidge and Hodgdon; Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue; Charles Z. Klauder; Mayers, Murray and Philip; Zanzinger, Borie and Medary; Armstrong, Furst and Tilton; Holabird, Root and Burgee; Schmidt, Garden and Erikson; Eero Saarinen and Associates; Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; Ludwig Mies van de Rohe; Smith, Smith, Haines, Lundberg and Waehler; I. W. Colburn; Ralph Rapson and Associates; Henry Moore; Stubbins Associates; and others.
Archival Photographic Files. South East Chicago Commission Photographs.
Archival Photographic Files. C. D. Arnold Photographs of the World's Columbian Exposition.
Includes: Images of buildings and landscapes designed by Adler & Sullivan; Solon S. Beman; Burling & Whitehouse; Henry Ives Cobb; Richard M. Hunt; Jenney & Mundy; McKim, Mead & White; Frederick Law Olmsted; Peabody & Stearns; George B. Post; Van Brunt & Howe; and others.
Archival Photographic Files. E. R. Walker Photographs of the World's Columbian Exposition.
Includes: Images of buildings and landscapes designed by Adler & Sullivan; Solon S. Beman; Burling & Whitehouse; Henry Ives Cobb; Richard M. Hunt; Jenney & Mundy; McKim, Mead & White; Frederick Law Olmsted; Peabody & Stearns; George B. Post; Van Brunt & Howe; and others.
Archival Photographic Files. Mildred Mead Photographs.
Archival Serials. HTML Guide
Guide to more than 600 serial and periodical titles published at the University and documenting the activities of administrative units, academic departments and committees, faculty clubs, alumni organizations, Hyde Park neighborhood associations, and student groups and extracurricular organizations. Includes bulletins, newspapers, newsletters, circulars, literary and political journals, and magazines.
Laird Bell. Papers.
Ernest DeWitt Burton. Papers.
A Century of Progress International Exposition. Press Releases. [Crerar Ms. 225]
8 vols.
Copies of press releases issued by the Publicity Division of the Century of Progress Inc., June-October 1934.
A Century of Progress International Exposition. Publications. [Crerar Ms. 226]
21 vols.
Printed publications and promotional materials produced for the Century of Progress International Exposition, 1933-1934. Includes guidebooks, pamphlets, and brochures distributed by national, state, and city agencies and by manufacturers and other companies with pavilions or displays at the fair.
A Century of Progress International Exposition. Scrapbook. [Crerar Ms. 227]
1 box
Contains published material related to the Century of Progress International Exposition, 1933-1934, including administative reports, newspaper articles, and promotional brochures.
A Century of Progress International Exposition. J. K. Wilcox, Checklist of the Official Publications of the Century of Progress International Exposition and Its Exhibitors, 1933. [Crerar Ms. 228] 1 vol.
Checklist of exhibitors at the Century of Progress International Exposition.
Cleaner Air Committee of Hyde Park-Kenwood. Records.
Horace William Shaler Cleveland. Design for the Arrangment of Grounds of Jonathan Young Scammon, Esq., Hyde Park, Illinois, May, 1870.
Cataloged as: ffSB479.S3C6 Rare
Handcolored manuscript site plan for the suburban Hyde Park estate of Chicago attorney Jonathan Young Scammon.
Commission on Race and Housing. Records.
1.5 linear feet
Formed in 1955 as an independent citizens' group, the Commission investigated problems of housing for African American and other minorities. Members included publisher Henry Luce, housing developer Philip Klutznick, educators Charles S. Johnson and Clark Kerr, and psychologist Gordon Allport. Collection includes research reports, maps, and text of final comprehensive report with findings.
Stephen A. Douglas. Papers.
56.5 linear feet
More than 21,000 manuscripts, letters, and empeheral items documenting the life and political career of Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861), U.S. Senator from Illinois and Democratic Party presidential candidate in 1860. Topics include electorial politics, political patrongage, slavery in the Western territories, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Popular Sovereignty, the Lincoln-Douglas senatorial campaign of 1858, and the presidential election campaign of 1860.
Includes: site plan of Oakenwald subdivision in Chicago; architectural sketches of Douglas house in Washington, D.C.; correspondence with Leonard Volk, designer of Douglas monument and tomb
Barbara Page Fiske. Oral History Interview.
Includes: Recollections of Hyde Park-Kenwood urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s.
General Archival Files. HTML Guide
160 linear feet
General information and ephemeral materials related to the history of administrative units, organizations, and activities at the University of Chicago. Files include a wide variety of items such as printed documents, brochures, pamphlets, clippings, programs, invitations, press releases, advertisements, and recollections of the history of academic departments by former faculty members.
Includes: Hyde Park Neighborhood and Community Organizations; Woodlawn Community; World's Columbian Exposition
Rachel Goetz. Papers.
Includes: Recollections of Hyde Park-Kenwood urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s.
Philip M. Hauser. Papers.
26.5 linear feet
Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, demographer Philip M. Hauser (1909-1994) was statistician and deputy director of the U.S. Census Bureau, where he helped improve methods for correcting census undercounts of African Americans. Files include material on Chicago urban policy; integration of Chicago Public Schools, especially 1964-1966; the Southeast Chicago Commission and housing in Hyde Park-Kenwood; and papers on differentials in fertility, mortality, housing, and socio-economic status as factors in urban racial segregation.
George E. Hooker. Collection on City Planning, Transportation, and Housing.
George E. Hooker. Report to the City Council of Chicago on Local Transportation in Great Cities. [Crerar Ms. 200]
Hyde Park Historical Society. Collection. Finding Aid
Includes: Documentation and photographs of the Hyde Park community from the late nineteenth century through the Hyde Park-Kenwood urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s.
Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference. Records.
123 linear feet
The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference was formed in 1949 as a local citizens' organization to address problems of housing, crime, and race relations in the neighborhoods adjacent to the University of Chicago. The Conference played a key role in shaping public policy during the Hyde Park urban renwal period of the 1950s and 1960s. Collection documents topics including urban redevelopment, desegregation, zoning, block clubs, employment, schools, public safety, crime and delinquency, gun control, and legal services.
Illinois. Submerged and Shore Lands Legislative Investigating Committee. [Crerar Ms. 243]
2 vols.
Historical and geographical survey of Illinois waterways and shorelines undertaken to determine legal boundaries, commercial rights, and government policy; illustrated with photographs and plans.
Includes: reports on Chicago River, Calumet River, Calumet Lake, and Lake Michigan shore
Jens Jensen. Photograph Collection.
Jenkin Lloyd Jones. Papers.
Includes: correspondence with architects Dwight H. Perkins, Frank Lloyd Wright
Philip M. Klutznick. Papers.
150 linear feet
Philip M. Klutznick (1907-1999) was an attorney, real estate developer, philanthropist, commissioner of the Federal Public Housing Authority, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, member of the American delegation to the United Nations, president of B'nai B'rith, and president of the World Jewish Congress. Papers include files concerning the transition team on which Klutznick served for incoming Chicago mayor Harold Washington (1922-1987).
Charles Herman Koenitzer. History of the First University of Chicago, 1856-1886.
Typescript history of the first (Old) University of Chicago, including manuscript drawings of Douglas Hall, designed by W. W. Boyington, and drawings and photographs of other campus structures and architectural details.
Ferdinand Kramer. Papers.
Julian H. Levi. Oral History Interview.
Includes:Recollections of the Hyde Park-Kenwood urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s.
Stephen Lewellyn. Photographs. Includes: Photographs of personalities and events at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1967, including images related to buildings on campus.
Andrew C. McLaughlin. Papers.
Includes: correspondence with architect Vernon S. Watson
Robert E. Merriam. Papers.
57 linear feet
Papers of Robert E. Merriam (1918-1988) Republican Chicago alderman from 1947 to 1955, chairman of the Housing Committee of the Chicago City Council, and Chicago mayoral candidate in 1955. Papers include files on political patronage and corruption in the Chicago public housing system, racial tensions in housing projects, land clearance and urban redevelopment, and the neighborhood conservation movement.
Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection.
12 linear feet
Collection of autograph manuscript letters and other items related to historical figures, mostly American and European.
Includes: correspondence of landscape architect Horace William Shaler Cleveland concerning tree planting, Chicago parks, and the World's Columbia Exposition
Harriet Monroe. Papers.
Includes: correspondence with architects Daniel H. Burnham, John Wellborn Root, Louis H. Sullivan, Thomas E. Tallmadge
Edward Morris House. Photographs.
Album containing photographs of the residence of Edward Morris located at 4800 S. Drexel Boulevard in Chicago. Howard Van Doren Shaw designed the house, which was completed in 1913. The landscape plan for the gardens has been attributed to Rose Standish Nichols.
Elinor Castle Nef. Papers.
Includes: correspondence with architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. Records.
85 linear feet
Editorial files of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, founded in Chicago in 1912 by Harriet Monroe (1860-1936). Collection consists of editorial files, galleys, and clippings documenting the publication of Poetry from 1912 to 1961. Includes correspondence and manuscripts of the principal modern poets of the period.
Includes: correspondence with architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Postcard Collection.
Quadrangle Club. Records.
Recueil factice de cartes et de plans de ville de l'Europe et particuliermente de la France. [Crerar Ms. 253]
Frederick C. Robie House. Collection.
Construction photograph sequence, contractor's annotated blueprints, and specifications for the Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908 and completed in 1910.
Julius Rosenwald. Papers. Finding Aid
35 linear feet
The papers of Chicago businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) document his commitment to reform in race relations and social services, in particular his support for rural African American education, higher education, Jewish charities, and medical care. The collection includes correspondence on progressive organizations and campaigns; reports and minutes of the Julius Rosenwald Fund (1928-1933); and sixteen scrapbooks containing letters, photographs, clippings, and memorabilia documenting Rosenwald's support for Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute, Howard University, World War I relief efforts,and early development of the NAACP.
Ryerson Family. Papers.
Emil Schwarzhaupt Foundation. Records.
26 linear feet
Established in 1936 by Emil Schwarzhaupt (d. 1950), a Chicago distiller, the Schwarzhaupt Foundation was dissolved in accordance with his wishes when its funds were exhausted in 1981. Collection includes correspondence and reports on grants to organizations such as the Comittee on Education for American Citizenship, Better Housing League of Cincinnati, Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, the Industrial Areas Foundation lead by Saul Alinsky, and the Highlander Folk School, a pioneering initative in integration and voting rights that was later absorbed by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
South Park Improvement Association. Records.
Harold H. Swift. Papers.
Sol Tax. Papers.
145 linear feet
Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, and Chairman of the Comittee on Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations, Sol Tax (1907-1995) was known for developing "action anthopology," a field-centered methodology emphasizing social problem solving in conjunction with research.
University of Chicago. Abstracts of Title.
University of Chicago. Board of Trustees. Correspondence, 1890-1913.
Includes: correspondence with architects Dankmar Adler, Henry Ives Cobb
University of Chicago. Board of Trustees. Minutes.
University of Chicago. Board of Trustees. Area Committee. Minutes.
University of Chicago. Board of Trustees. Committee on Buildings and Grounds. Minutes.
University of Chicago. Board of Trustees. Committee on Finance and Investment. Sub-Committee on Real Estate. Minutes.
University of Chicago. Buildings and Grounds Department. Annual Reports.
University of Chicago. Buildings and Grounds Department. Records.
University of Chicago. Office of Physical Planning and Construction. Records.
University of Chicago. Office of the President. Urban Renewal Subject Files.
University of Chicago. Presidents' Papers. 1889-1925. Finding Aid
University of Chicago. Presidents' Papers. Sequential series, 1925-1968.
Administrative records of the Office of the President of the University of Chicago. Files related to academic and budgetary policy, faculty research and teaching, professional schools and hospitals, student affairs, governmental relations, foundations and granting agencies, and educational associations.
Includes: correspondence with architects Henry Ives Cobb, Dwight H. Perkins, James Gamble Rogers, Howard Van Doren Shaw
Hermann Eduard Von Holst. Papers.
Includes: correspondence with Professor Von Holst's son, architect Hermann Valentin Von Holst
George C. Walker. Scrapbooks.
Louis Wirth. Papers.
34.5 linear feet
Louis Wirth (1897-1952) was Professor of Sociology and head of the Committee for Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations at the University of Chicago. Papers contain files on topics including the American Council on Race Relations, Chicago Urban League, Metropolitan Housing Council, Public Housing Association, and Southern Regional Council. Manuscripts and book reviews address race and public policy, race and nationalism, race restrictive housing covenants, and the situation of minority groups in American society.