Research Guides

Guide to researching Chicago's architectural history

Encyclopedias, Guides and Guidebooks || Finding Journal and Magazine Articles || Finding Information on Named and "Ordinary" Buildings || Architects and Architectural Firms || Newspapers || Maps, Drawings, Photographs and Archival Materials || Museum and Historical Society Libraries

Encyclopedias, Guides and Guidebooks

Encyclopedia of Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004). A comprehensive reference to Chicago, its history and neighborhoods.

University of Chicago: An Architectural Tour. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. LD931 .P75 2006

AIA guide to Chicago. Orlando: Harcourt, 2004. NA735.C4 A43 2004

Chicago In and Around the Loop: Walking Tours of Architecture and History. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Chicago's Famous Buildings. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. NA735.C4 C4 2003

Architectural Records in Chicago: A Guide to Architectural Research Resources in Cook County and Vicinity. Chicago: Burnham Library of Architecture, the Art Institute of Chicago, 1981. NA55.C5C85

Finding journal and magazine articles, plans

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (1860s-present). Core resource for articles on architecture, city planning and individual architects.

America: History and Life (1954-present). Articles and book reviews in North American history. The leading index to journal articles in American social and cultural history.

Index to 19th Century American Art Periodicals This index to art periodicals published in the United States during the 19th century also covers (though to a lesser degree) architectural trends, and decorative elements such as mural paintings and architectural metalwork.

More databases of interest to students of the built environment:

Academic Search Premier Articles in the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Nice mixture of scholarly journals and general- interest publications such as the New Yorker, Ms., and New Republic. Coverage varies considerably, title by title.

American Periodicals Series Online, 1740-1900. The full texts of hundreds of American general interest and specialized periodicals. While much of the content dates from the pre-Civil War era, some titles from the late 19th century are included.. See "List all periodicals" for a complete roster of the titles indexed.

Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984) and Art Abstracts (1984-present): A core resource for art research, indexing over 300 key journals.

ArtBibliographies Modern (1974 -present). Best place to start for 20th-and 21st-century artists and movements; performance and multi-media art; and emerging trends in contemporary art.

JSTOR Back issues of scholarly journals in all disciplines, with a moving wall of about five years. View included architecture and architectual history titles here.

Making of America A searchable full text database of American magazines from Antebellum times to the end of the 19th century:

Some major architectural journals include: American Architect and Building News, Architectural Record, Architect, Architectural Reviewer, Pencil Points, Inland Architect, Western Architect.

Realty and Building (Chicago: Economist Publishing Co., 1888-present) fHG1.E19 bookstacks is one important title NOT indexed in any of the databases, and a good source of information on real estate and construction activity in Chicago.

 

Finding information on named and "ordinary" buildings

For citations to journal articles, look up the building in the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.

For books, look up the buildings in the library catalog using one or more of the search strategies below:

Search under the full name of the building in direct order.
For example: Robie House (Chicago, Ill)

If not found, look for the name under "Chicago (Ill)" plus name of building.
For example, Chicago (Ill) London Guarantee and Accident County Building

If it is unlikely that the building is the subject of an entire book, try a broader subject category to find books that might have a chapter or section on your building.

For example,
Apartment houses -- Illinois -- Chicago
Department stores -- Illinois -- Chicago

Also try the Chicago Histroric Resources Survey a searchable database of 17,000+ properties of historical significance maintained by the Chicago Landmarks Commission.

 

Architects and Architectural Firms

If you know the name of the architect or firm, search the library catalog, and the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, under this name.
For example, in the catalog use the "SUBJECT BROWSE" index and search for Wright, Frank Lloyd. In Avery, use

Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1994. For architects active between 1740 and 1952. NA736.W82 4th floor reference collection

Contemporary Architects. New York: St. James Press, 1994. f NA680.C6250 1994 4th floor reference collection

Henry Ives Cobb, a project of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), provides a survey the architect's career. The website includes both image galleries and project lists arranged  by  building type--residential, commercial,  educational and other. The AIC also maintains a Historic Architecture and Landscape image collection, which is searchable by architect or firm.

Holabird and Roche, Holabird and Root: An Illustrated Catalog of Works. 3 vols. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.
fNA737.H558 A40 1991 Art Collection, Room 420. The complete works of Chicago's premier architects of commercial, residential and public buildings from 1880 to 1940.

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects. New York: Free Press, 1982. 4 vol. NA40.M19 4th floor reference collection. Biographical information on international architects. Includes a chronological list of works and a bibliography.

If the architect or firm is not known, look up the building in the AIA Guide to Chicago (NA735.C4 A43 2004 Reserve) or in another guidebook.

 

Maps, Drawings, Photographs and Archival Materials

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, available on black and white microfilm-- microfmHG9778.I3S26 1983
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970.
Fire insurance maps provide detailed information on building features such as size and shape, construction details, roof type, and function. They are a particularly good resource for tracing the evolution of a site or a neighborhood over time. Fire Insurance Maps do not include interior views or plans. For more information on the the library's Sanborn Map collection, see this page prepared by Map Librarian Chris Winters. See also, this very helpful index to locating various Chicago neighborhoods on Sanborm Maps.

Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials for buildings in the United States. Great source for industrial structures

Researching a University of Chicago building? Start with Special Collections Research Center's University of Chicago Photographic Archive: Series II, Buildings and Grounds which includes10,000 photographs of the University of Chicago buildings, campus, and landscape, and images of the Hyde Park neighborhood. Special Collections has three manuscript collections you might want to investigate: Architectural Drawings Collection, Archival Buildings File, and Records of the Office of Buildings and Grounds, 1892-1932 and 1932-1965. Email David Pavelich or Julia Gardner, Readers' Services Librarians, for assistance with manuscript sources, or drop by--no appointment necessary.

Map Collection, Room 370, Regenstein Library. Contact Chris Winters, Map Librarian, with questions about cartographic resources for Chicago, or Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933. A freely-available database of images that can be searched by building, street and community names, and personal names.

Archives of American Art /Smithsonian Institution Library Catalogs The Archives of American Art holds artists' and architects' papers; the records of galleries, museums, and art organizations; and videos and interviews from the Archives’oral history project. Most of these collections are available to the University of Chicago community on microfilm though interlibrary loan.

North American Womens' Letters and Diaries Full-text database of first-hand accounts of travellers' and others' experiences. Many references to architecture and everyday life in Chicago.

Archival Resources Contains collection records and collection guides for library and museum holdings across the country. You may search the databse for names, keywords, etc., and also view detailed digitized guides, including finding aids for University of Chicago manuscript collections.

 

Newspapers

Chicago Defender, 1905-1975. Influential African-American newspaper published in the city.
Chicago Tribune, 1849 to 1984 and Chicago Tribune, 1985-present.
New York Times, 1851 - 2003 and New York Times,1995-present. New York Times Magazine, 1997-present.

Lexis Nexis Academic Provides access to selected national, regional and international newspapers. Coverage varys considerably, title by title.

 

Museum and Historical Society Libraries

Chicago History Museum Many collections of primary sources relating to Chicago, including hard-to-find newspapers, and a complete run of city directories.

Chicago Public Library In addition to the circulating collections, CPL maintains the Neighborhood History Research Collections and excellent newspaper collections.

Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago The Archives' collections include the papers of. architects Edward Bennett, Daniel Burnham, Bruce Goff, Bertrand Goldberg, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Mies van der Rohe, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Consult the description of the archival collections for more information.