Collections & Exhibits

Switch to Collections Currently viewing Exhibits Switch to Subjects

Browse by

Browse by Subject: American History

• All Subjects
• Area Studies
• Arts
• Biological Sciences
• Business
• Humanities
• Law
• Literature
• Medicine
• Physical Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Social Services
• Special Collections

Browse by Location

• Crerar Library, 1st Floor
• Regenstein 1st Floor Reading Room
• Regenstein 3rd Floor Reading Room
• Regenstein 4th Floor Reading Room
• Regenstein 5th Floor Reading Room
• Regenstein Bookstacks, 3rd Floor
• Regenstein Bookstacks, 4th Floor
• Regenstein Bookstacks, 5th Floor
• The D'Angelo Law Library
• The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
• The John Crerar Library
• The Joseph Regenstein Library

Limit to  

web exhibits  

Exhibit Thumbnail	Title	Locations	Subjects
Exhibits
	The Black Metropolis Research Consortium: Fifteen Years of Preserving and Documenting Black History and Culture in Chicago The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) is a Chicago-based membership association that aids in expanding broad access to its members’ holdings of materials that document African American and African diasporic history, politics and culture, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago. Our members include universities, libraries, museums, community, arts-based and government archives. It is the mission of the BMRC to connect all who seek to document, share, understand and preserve Black experiences. In 2021, the BMRC celebrates its 15th anniversary. This exhibit documents the origins of the BMRC, its efforts to aid discoverability and access to Black historical collections, and the consortium’s flagship Summer Short-term Fellowship and Archie Motley Archival Internship programs.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center View web exhibit >>	Subjects History African-American Studies American History
	Books from a Friend: The Old Northwest Depicted from the Collection of Florence Lowden Miller This exhibit showcases rare books and maps from the Collection which record the exploration and settlement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries early travelers to the American Midwest.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Nov. 1 — Jan. 1, 1989	Subjects American History
	Collecting Western Americana: Books from the Library of John Blew This exhibition examines the work of several important nineteenth-century publishers who edited historical documents of the American West and made them available to a broad audience of readers and scholars.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — April 30, 2002	Subjects American History
	Discovering the Beauty and Charm of the Wilderness: Chicago Connections to the National Park Service The National Park Service offers a rich variety of landforms, flora, and fauna that have been the subject of many University of Chicago scientific studies. The parks have also served as inspiration for art, photography and literature. To mark the National Park Service’s 100-year anniversary, we delve into the Library’s archives and rare collections to uncover Chicago connections to the parks.	Locations The John Crerar Library Oct. 31 — Dec. 31, 2016 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Organismal Biology American History University of Chicago Environmental Studies
	Encountering the American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 This exhibition explores the fascinating history of this first American west from the beginning of European American settlement to the end of the frontier period. Includes interrelated themes such as the contrast between native and European American attitudes toward the land, the encounters and confrontations of the pioneer migration era, the role of politics on the early frontier, and the shaping of Western cultural and social institutions.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — April 30, 2002	Subjects American History
	From Sausage to Hot Dog: the Evolution of an Icon The hot dog is an American creation, and Chicago even has its own style. But where did this popular food come from and how did it develop? This exhibit looks to the hot dog's origins in sausage-making practices brought by European immigrants to the Midwest. We consider techniques used in neighborhood butcher shops and the rise of industrial meat production. Homemade recipes and artisanal makers past and present are also examined.	Locations Crerar Library, 1st Floor Oct. 29 — Dec. 31, 2013 View web exhibit >>	Subjects History of Science History American History Chicago and Illinois
	In Lincoln's Time: Sources on 19th century America in the William E. Barton Collection The exhibition is the first public presentation of the William E. Barton Collection of Lincolniana, and present a balanced account of Lincoln's life in his own work through books, manuscripts, autograph letters, portraits, and artifacts.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Sept. 30, 1986	Subjects American History
	Kentucky and the Revolutionary Era, 1770-1815: An Essay Prepared by William T. Hutchinson on the Occasion of an Exhibition of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Reuben T. Durrett Collection Showcasing the Reuben T. Durrett Collection, which records the early history of trans-Appalachian settlement of Kentucky and the Ohio River valley.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Nov. 1 — Feb. 28, 1978	Subjects American History
	The Ludwig Rosenberger Collection of Judaica: A Selection Exhibited at the Joseph Regenstein Library This exhibition features 126 items from the Rosenberger Collection, arranged in three sections that correspond to emphases in the collection: Pre-Emancipation, 1200-1777; The Enlightenment and Emancipation, 16656-1858; and The Modern World, 1840-1940.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center March 1 — May 31, 1976	Subjects Jewish Studies European History American History
	Our Lincoln: Bicentennial Icons from the Barton Collection of Lincolniana Marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, this exhibition presents a selection of documents and artifacts from the University of Chicago Library's William E. Barton Collection of Lincolniana.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Feb. 28, 2009 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Chicago and Illinois American History
	Printing for the Modern Age: Commerce, Craft, and Culture in the RR Donnelley Archive The R. R. Donnelley Archive preserves a fascinating array of historical materials dating from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century, offering research potential in modern social and cultural history, the history of printing and the graphic arts, the history of advertising and mass consumption, economic and labor history, Chicago urban and community history, and modern cultural studies, among many other fields.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Feb. 28, 2007 View web exhibit >>	Subjects History of Print Chicago and Illinois American History
	Recipes for Domesticity: Cookery, Household Management, and the Notion of Expertise This exhibition, drawn primarily from the Rare Books Collection, provides a sampling of European and American cookbooks and domestic manuals from court chefs of the 15th century to cooking icons of the 20th century.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center April 22 — July 13, 2013 View web exhibit >>	Subjects European History American History
	The Salem Witch Trials: Legal Resources The Salem Witch Trials divided the community. Neighbor testified against neighbor. Children against parents. Husband against wife. Children died in prisons. Families were destroyed. Churches removed from their congregations some of the persons accused of witchcraft. After the Court of Oyer and Terminer was dissolved, the Superior Court of Judicature took over the witchcraft cases. They disallowed spectral evidence. Most accusations of witchcraft then resulted in acquittals.	Locations The D'Angelo Law Library Oct. 1 — Jan. 1, 2021 View web exhibit >>	Subjects American History U.S. Law
	Souvenirs! Get Your Souvenirs! Souvenirs can come in all shapes and sizes; they can be simple or complex, tasteful or tacky. This exhibition presents various souvenirs created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the 1933 Century of Progress International Exposition, and the City of Chicago. It draws on collections throughout the Special Collections Research Center, catalyzed by the Ian Mueller Collection of Chicago Memorabilia.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center July 22 — Oct. 4, 2013 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Special Collections American History Chicago and Illinois
	Stephen A. Douglas and the American Union The life and career of Senator Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861), a divisive leader in political struggles over slavery, settlement of the Western territories, and the dissolution of the Federal union, is the subject of this exhibition. Drawn from the Douglas papers and other printed, manuscript and archival holdings, the exhibition marks the Douglas family's recent gift of significant additional materials.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — June 1, 1994	Subjects American History
	United States Supreme Court: Portraits and Autographs A web exhibit to highlight some of the notable portraits and documents available in the United States Supreme Court: Portraits and Autographs collection at the University of Chicago D'Angelo Law Library, as well as to provide some resources for further research on these individuals and documents.	Locations The D'Angelo Law Library View web exhibit >>	Subjects American History Law U.S. Law
	A Voice for Justice: The Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells This web exhibit showcases the achievements of civil rights activist Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) and documents her lifelong campaign for the rights and lives of African Americans in the nineteenth and twentieth-century United States of America.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center View web exhibit >>	Subjects Chicago and Illinois American History African-American Studies