S06 
 
 CHICAGO 
 HISTORICAL 
 SOCIETY 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 HANDBOOK 
 
LI B R.AR.Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/chicagohistoricalOOchic 
 
r 
 

 CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 A MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Founded 1856 
 
 ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK 
 
 CHICAGO, U. S. A. 
 1935 
 
LOCATION 
 
 The Chicago Historical Society stands in the southwest corner 
 of Lincoln Park at the intersection of Clark Street and North Ave- 
 nue, just fifteen minutes from the Loop or business section of the 
 city. Facing the spreading lawns of Lincoln Park and the blue 
 waters of Lake Michigan in the distance, this Georgian building of 
 red brick and white limestone commands a view of the famous 
 St. Gaudens' statue of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The Chicago Historical Society is served by all Clark Street car 
 lines and by the Broadway line on State Street, both to and from 
 the Loop. Northbound buses stop at Burton Place for visitors to 
 the Historical Society, southbound buses at North Avenue, and 
 elevated trains at Sedgwick Street. The building of the Society is 
 located at the point where Dearborn Street enters Lincoln Park. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 The Chicago Historical Society is a corporation not for profit 
 and is supported entirely by memberships, door fees, and income 
 from endowment. It receives no tax support whatever. 
 
 Founded in 1856 for, the purpose of instituting historical in- 
 quiry, collecting and preserving the materials of history, and of 
 disseminating historical information, the Chicago Historical Society 
 has widened its scope of service until it has created for itself a 
 unique place in the educational, civic, and cultural life of the United 
 States. 
 
 THE NEW BUILDING 
 
 The new home of the Society, the fourth it has built to house 
 its ever-expanding collections, was made possible through the gen- 
 erosity of a small number of public-spirited citizens of Chicago. 
 Plans for the building and for the raising of funds for its construc- 
 tion were developed under the able and vigorous leadership of 
 Mr. Charles B. Pike, President of the Society, who gave unsparingly 
 of his time and energy to bring this project to a successful con- 
 clusion. On May 19, 1932, exactly one year from the day on which 
 ground was broken for the new museum building, the Executive 
 
Offices of the Society were moved into the completed structure. 
 Moving the Museum and the Library required six months in all and 
 the exercise of considerable ingenuity. The task was accomplished 
 with dispatch and efficiency by the regular staff. 
 
 The new museum and library building of the Chicago Historical 
 Society was designed by Messrs. Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, 
 well-known architects, and marks a step forward in museum plan- 
 ning and construction. Since the very fabric of history is chronology, 
 the period rooms of the new building were planned to show the 
 sequence of American history from the days of Columbus to the 
 present time. The latest principles of visual education have been 
 carefully applied in constructing pleasing backgrounds for the ob- 
 jects displayed. Many of the rooms are accurately copied from 
 houses famous for their beauty or for historic events which trans- 
 spired within their walls. The latest developments in case and 
 room lighting have been applied, and in many instances new de- 
 signs and principles of lighting have been worked out by our Art 
 Department. 
 
 SPECIAL FEATURES 
 
 The new building of the Chicago Historical Society houses 
 today the most modern museum of its kind and embodies innumer- 
 able innovations which, we feel, will not be long in becoming a 
 part of standard museum technique. The Chicago Diorama Gallery, 
 for example, gives the visitor a bird's-eye view of the rise of Chicago 
 from the mud flats of Indian days to the great industrial center of 
 today. Electric control switches are so arranged that visitors can 
 light the dioramas, or set in motion various mechanical devices. 
 The Marine Room with its high beamed ceiling and early New 
 England fireplaces looks out upon a lighted diorama of the great 
 Crowninshield Wharf in Salem as it appeared in 1806. Ship riding 
 lights guard the south entrance of the room, while a flashing 
 harbor light in the center calls attention to our fine marine exhibits. 
 
 ; 
 
 l* 
 
 171 
 
FOYER OF THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 A REPRODUCTION OF THE FOYER IN INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 
 
 [8 
 
THE STORY OF A NATION 
 
 TOLD BY PERIOD ROOMS 
 
 THE SPANISH EXPLORATION ROOM 
 
 The story of the rise of the United States opens with the 
 arrival of the Spanish adventurers to conquer and colonize the New 
 World and to establish the earliest, uninterrupted historical link 
 we have with Europe. The room is walled with crushed coquina 
 rock from St. Augustine, oldest city in the United States. It is a 
 curious rock filled with tiny sea shells which lies in long reefs off 
 the coast of Florida from the River St. John to Key Largo. The 
 Spaniards cut out great blocks of it with hatchets when building 
 the famous castle-fort San Marco in St. Augustine and made use 
 of it in other forms for the smaller houses and monastery which 
 clustered beneath its protecting walls. The high beamed ceiling of 
 the room, the red tile floor, iron-grilled window, and balcony are 
 all characteristic of Old Spain. 
 
 The weather-beaten doors guarding the entrance to the Spanish 
 Exploration Room are ragged and gray with age. They came from 
 the house of Bartolomeo Perestrello, father-in-law of Columbus, in 
 whose house Columbus lived before setting out to explore the "Sea 
 
 SPANISH EXPLORATION ROOM 
 
 [91 
 
of Darkness," as the Atlantic was called by the sailors of those days. 
 They bear the seal of the Spanish Government attesting to their 
 authenticity. The anchor to the right of the doorway is the cele- 
 brated Columbus Anchor from the "Santa Maria," flagship of 
 Columbus which an inexperienced boy at the wheel allowed to drift 
 onto the reefs during the night of December 24, 1492. This anchor 
 is one of the articles Columbus listed in his inventory of provisions 
 and equipment left at Fort Navidad when he sailed away. Anchors 
 from the third voyage of Columbus and one found on the estate of 
 his son Diego are against a second wall of the room. The rusty 
 iron cross high on one of the walls and the ancient doors closing 
 the far end of the room are from the monastery of La Rabida where 
 Columbus spent much time and where he left his small son to be 
 educated. 
 
 THE PAUL REVERE HOUSE 
 
 Standing flush with the red brick sidewalk, a reproduction of 
 the Paul Revere House of Boston marks the next step in our journey 
 down the years. It is a curious old house of unpainted clapboards, 
 
 with a projecting second story, 
 and mullioned windows turned 
 amber and purple with age. 
 The house sags slightly to one 
 side, but its battered gray door, 
 studded with iron nails and a 
 heavy knocker, stands inviting- 
 ly open. Inside we find a pleas- 
 ant, low-beamed living room 
 with birch logs burning on the 
 hearth. Flickering candlelight 
 gleams on copper and pew-ter 
 here and there about the room. 
 Furniture characteristic of the 
 period includes an occasional 
 rare old piece to suggest the 
 comfortable home the Reveres 
 made of the house during the 
 thirty years they lived in it. 
 
 Upstairs is a typical bedroom 
 
 of the Colonial period with its 
 
 white canopied bed, simple 
 
 chest of drawers, hooked rugs, 
 
 and formal fireplace. 
 
 From the original of this house Revere hurried away on the 
 
 night of April 18, 1775, galloping through the moonlight to warn 
 
 Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the secret advance of the 
 
 PAUL REVERE HOUSE 
 
 10 
 
British, and it was there that he was living when he put out the 
 inflammatory Boston Massacre poster which did so much to arouse 
 the people of that city against their British governors. 
 
 The Paul Revere House is typical of the dwellings built in 
 the cities of the north late in the seventeenth century after the dis- 
 appearance of the crude shelters in which the first Colonists sought 
 to protect themselves from the cruel New England winters. 
 
 THE FRENCH EXPLORATION ROOM 
 
 While the British were planting a colony along the western 
 shore of the Atlantic, the French were carving out an empire on the 
 broad expanse of the Mississippi Valley. The French and Indian 
 War brought to a close the dreams of the French, yet it is to them 
 that we owe much of our knowledge of the early history of the 
 valley before the English frontiersmen began to pour into it through 
 Cumberland Gap and down the Ohio River. France first realized 
 the vast wealth of this inland basin and sent her coureurs-de-bois 
 and priests to explore its immensity and to try to hold it for her 
 by a network of sympathy and diplomacy. 
 
 Yellowed old maps are spread upon the walls of the French 
 Exploration Room, silent testimony of how little this intrepid na- 
 tion knew of our great valley. Portraits of Louis XIV, Frontenac, 
 and LaSalle look down upon us. Famous relics of those early days 
 are in a center floor case. There are land grants, promissory notes, 
 military orders, and friendly letters written or signed by such men 
 as Montcalm, the ablest general France sent to America; LaSalle 
 who explored the Mississippi River to its mouth and claimed the 
 region it drained for his king; and Louis Joliet under whose capable 
 guidance Father Marquette made that arduous journey of explora- 
 tion down the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers returning by the 
 Illinois. Here we find documents which tell us just how Joliet 
 wanted his new house built, how Champigny felt about Tonti's 
 and LaForest's trading liquor with the Indians, who appointed the 
 members of the Supreme Council of Quebec, and how Bienville 
 aided the Spanish in their quarrels with the English. An old brass 
 compass has a story and that piece of charred wood from the coffin 
 of Father Marquette — there is romance about this room which bids 
 us stay — but history leads us on. 
 
 THE BRITISH COLONIAL ROOM 
 
 Life could be pleasant and even luxurious in the great cities of 
 Philadelphia, New York, and Boston before the Revolution. The 
 fleets of the great merchant families of these cities brought furni- 
 ture, damasks, and silver from England and France, rugs and silk 
 stuffs from the Orient. An aristocracy of money had begun to make 
 
 [111 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
its impress upon Colonial culture. This was the period when so 
 many of our beautiful Pre-Revolutionary Georgian houses were 
 built. Of these fine mansions none was handsomer than Mount 
 Pleasant near Philadelphia. John Macpherson, founder of the estate, 
 was thus characterized by John Adams who dined at Mount Pleasant 
 in 1775: "He has the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania, a clever 
 Scotch wife and two pretty daughters. His seat is upon the banks 
 of the Schuylkill. He has been nine times wounded in battle, is an 
 old sea-commander, made a fortune by privateering, had an arm 
 twice shot off, shot through the leg." 
 
 The dining room from Mount Pleasant has been reproduced 
 by the Chicago Historical Society to lay before us the life of the 
 wealthy British Colonial before the Revolutionary War. A large, 
 airy room with walls of cream and woodwork of dull blue, the 
 British Colonial dining room has a paneled fireplace faced with 
 marble from old Norristown Quarry, three built-in china cupboards 
 filled with blue Staffordshire china from England, and tall windows 
 draped with gold brocade. A large portrait of George III above the 
 fireplace creates the illusion of gracious formality so characteristic 
 of the mid-eighteenth century. 
 
 THE FOYER 
 
 The Foyer is the heart of the Chicago Historical Society 
 Museum. Copied from the foyer of Independence Hall in Philadel- 
 phia where the Declaration of Independence was signed, the white 
 hall with its red tile floor and high archways is the keystone of the 
 building for it symbolizes that love of liberty which has been the 
 outstanding characteristic of the United States since its first settle- 
 ment. The foyer of the Chicago Historical Society differs from the 
 original in that the two archways on the south have been left open. 
 In Philadelphia they were closed when the members of the Second 
 Continental Congress were discussing the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, but the Society in planning its new building left the openings 
 in their original state for the sake of beauty and symmetry. 
 
 THE SENATE CHAMBER 
 
 We take up our story once more in the Senate Chamber from 
 Congress Hall, Philadelphia. The Senate of the United States met 
 in its third session in the original of this room, and here George 
 Washington delivered his Second Inaugural Address. Wearing a 
 black velvet coat and knee breeches, he walked quietly into the 
 room, and after refusing the rostrum, gave his one hundred and 
 forty word address. The black velvet suit he wore on this occasion 
 hangs in a wall case to the right of our rostrum. A white embroid- 
 ered waistcoat which also belonged to him is in a case to the left. 
 
 [12] 
 
SENATE CHAMBER 
 
 Above the fireplaces hang famous Rembrandt Peale portraits of the 
 first President, while Revolutionary War mementos, furniture from 
 Monticello (the beautiful estate of Thomas Jefferson), and docu- 
 ments signed by the men whose names appear on the Declaration 
 of Independence stand in cases in the center of the room. The 
 great men who set this nation upon its course met in the original 
 Senate Chamber. Here were waged the battles over the establish- 
 ment of the Mint, the resurrection of our national credit, and the 
 organization of our Army and Navy. The Senate Chamber in the 
 Chicago Historical Society is one of the most beautiful in the entire 
 sequence of period rooms. 
 
 THE WASHINGTON ROOM 
 
 In the Washington Room we find the priceless relics of the 
 Washington collection. The room itself is an adaptation from the 
 West Parlor of Mount Vernon. Against walls of pale green with 
 woodwork of white, stands the Washington desk upon which the 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army wrote so many of 
 his early Revolutionary orders. A gold and white clock on the desk 
 was a present from Frederick the Great who admired him. The 
 famous Polk portrait of the first President hangs above the desk. 
 In a case on one side of the room are objects used by Washington 
 at Valley Forge. Washington documents and his hunting rifle are 
 in a second case nearby, while across the room are Martha Wash- 
 
 13] 
 
ington's sewing basket with a piece of uncompleted embroidery, a 
 crystal bell used at Mount Vernon, pewter, and other objects asso- 
 ciated with life on one of the great plantations of Colonial Virginia. 
 
 THE NEW REPUBLIC ROOM 
 
 The period from 1800 to 1830 is portrayed for us in the New 
 Republic Room. These years after the Revolution were days of 
 great French influence in the United States. The Louisiana Purchase 
 Papers, by means of which the newborn nation acquired approx- 
 imately 1,000,000 square miles of territory and the mouth of the 
 Mississippi River for its commerce are on exhibit in a case in the 
 center of the room. In another are uniforms and military equipment 
 from the War of 1812. The dressing gown worn by Lafayette when 
 he visited the United States in 1824 at the invitation of Congress 
 is also in this room. Furniture of the Empire period, an enthusiasm 
 for which was one of the repercussions of Napoleon's victories, is 
 used about the room. With crystal chandeliers from the house of 
 Governor Warmoth of Louisiana, in the old French Quarter of New 
 Orleans, the atmosphere of the room is complete. 
 
 THE WESTERN EXPANSION ROOM 
 
 Crossing the doorsill to the Western Expansion Room we find 
 ourselves in the days when great Conestoga wagon trains followed 
 by lowing cattle and restless horses were creeping slowly across the 
 western plains. Cases about the room hold early newspapers, mili- 
 tary caps, wooden eye-shades, heavy chamois jackets with many 
 sectioned pockets and innumerable straps, everything to produce 
 before our eyes a detailed picture of the days of the Gold Rush and 
 early settlement of the western prairies. Above the entrance to the 
 room hang a pick and shovel used to break ground for the first 
 transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific. 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR ROOM 
 
 The Civil War followed fast upon the heels of the Gold Rush 
 period. The story of those terrible days of fratricidal conflict are 
 told for us in the Society's Civil War Room. The wall at the far 
 end of the room is of brick from famous Libby Prison in Richmond, 
 Virginia, where it is estimated 125,000 Union men were imprisoned 
 from the outbreak of the war to its close under such appalling 
 conditions that many died or regained their liberty ruined in health. 
 
 The Historical Society presents both sides of this great con- 
 troversy. Confederate battle llags and portraits hang along one 
 wall, while facing them from the opposite side of the room are 
 portraits of Union officers and banners. A military cloak and hat 
 
 [141 
 
worn by General Robert E. Lee is at one end of the room, and not 
 far away is the black saddle used by General Ulysses S. Grant. The 
 Appomattox table standing in the center of the room is of the 
 greatest historical importance. Upon its white marble top General 
 Robert E. Lee signed the terms of surrender which ended the 
 carnage of this great war between the states. 
 
 THE VICTORIAN ROOM 
 
 The Society has chosen for its next room a typical Chicago 
 parlor of the 1850's. It is an accurate reproduction of the front 
 parlor of a well-known house on Terrace Row, the fashionable 
 street of Chicago before the Fire of 1871. Against walls papered in 
 cream and gold, stands carved rosewood furniture. The white 
 marble fireplace is from the Mahlon D. Ogden house, one of the 
 few dwellings in the path of the Chicago Fire to escape destruction. 
 The figured carpet is characteristic of the period. On the walls are 
 portraits of important Chicagoans by G. P. A. Healy and other 
 American painters of the day. The bronze candelabra and matching 
 clock on the mantel were gifts to James C. Spencer from the Prince 
 of Wales who was later Edward VII. The inscription states that 
 they were presented in memory of three days of prairie chicken 
 
 VICTORIAN ROOM 
 
 [151 
 
shooting on the plains of Illinois in I860. A lovely mahogany 
 jewel table in the passageway displays jewelry which belonged to 
 the beautiful Mrs. Potter Palmer I, to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, and 
 to others. 
 
 THE CHICAGO ROOM 
 
 The Chicago Room has strong small-boy attraction. Around the 
 top of the walls are oval paintings which picture the history of 
 Chicago from the first visit of Father Marquette in 1673 to the 
 present day. In the center of the room stands Fire King No. 1, 
 Chicago's first engine, built by the renowned locomotive manufac- 
 turers John Rogers & Son of Baltimore. Portraits of Chicago 
 mayors from 1833 to the present time gaze down upon us from the 
 walls. High bicycles, an old fashioned megalethoscope, and prints 
 of the city in other days attract us here and there about the room. 
 
 THE CHICAGO FIRE ROOM 
 
 "Chicago is burning!" says the Evening Journal Extra upon the 
 wall of the next room we enter. "Up to this hour of writing 
 (1 o'clock p. m.) the best part of the city is already in ashes! . . . . 
 The scene of ruin and devastation is beyond the power of words to 
 describe. . . . During the night telegrams were sent to St. Louis, 
 Cleveland, Milwaukee, and nearer cities for aid and at the time of 
 going to press several trains are on the way to the city bringing 
 fire engines and men to assist us in this dire calamity." 
 
 Chicago has had several fires, but the one which broke out on 
 the night of October 8, 1871, was by far the worst. Raging uncon- 
 trolled for two days and two nights, fanned by a gale, it swept over 
 2100 acres, destroying 17,450 buildings and causing some 200 
 deaths. It brought the greatest destitution and suffering to the city. 
 Out of a population of 324,000 more than 70,000 were rendered 
 homeless, and nearly one third of the property in the city was 
 destroyed. 
 
 The Chicago Fire Room is devoted to relics of this great fire. 
 Prints of the flaming city and proclamations issued by the Mayor 
 during those dreadful days are on the walls. The painting by 
 Armitage representing the United States and Great Britain succoring 
 the stricken city dominates the room. It was a gift of international 
 friendship from the people of England to the City of Chicago. 
 Objects rescued from the ruins, daguerreotypes scorched and smoky, 
 a beautiful set of Sevres china reduced to a shapeless mass of potter's 
 clay, uniforms worn by firemen of the period, and small models of 
 engines used in fighting the fire fill the cases about the room. 
 
 [161 
 
THE PICTORIAL CHICAGO ALCOVE 
 
 The Pictorial Chicago Alcove, a room where exhibits are 
 changed every three months, is devoted to various aspects of the 
 culture of this great city. Prints, photographs, manuscripts, early 
 publications, china, glassware, and silver used in famous houses will 
 be found here at various times. 
 
 THE CHICAGO ALCOVE OF FIGURES 
 
 In the room which follows we find figurines of famous women 
 of Chicago. These small figures walk out the door and across the 
 stage of a small reproduction of the beautiful portico of the Chicago 
 
 Historical Society 
 when an electric switch 
 is turned. Dressed in 
 replicas of gowns 
 worn by well-known 
 women from earliest 
 times to our own day, 
 they present a kaleido- 
 scopic view of cultural 
 and costumes changes 
 within the last century. 
 From Mrs. John Kinzie 
 in sunbonnet and 
 shawl to Amelia Ear- 
 hart Putnam in avia- 
 tor's helmet and flying 
 suit, these figurines lay 
 before us the history of Chicago from a feminine point of view. 
 The room is one of the most popular in the new museum building, 
 and its parade of famous women seems to fascinate men and women 
 alike. These figurines, one hundred in number, were made and 
 presented to the Chicago Historical Society by Mme. Minna Schmidt, 
 well-known authority on the history of costume. They represent 
 years of research and work by Mme. Schmidt. 
 
 CHICAGO ALCOVE OF FIGURES 
 
 THE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR ROOM 
 
 The Spanish-American War Room is the next period room in 
 our series. It is filled with military and naval trophies of the brief 
 but spectacular struggle with Spain. The rusty iron door against 
 the far wall is a bulkhead door from the ill-fated battleship "Maine" 
 whose destruction in Havana Harbor was the immediate cause of 
 the war. A silver pitcher from the officers' mess and other mementos 
 of this tragedy are in cases nearby. Portraits of American com- 
 manders and their ships hang on the walls, while regimental flags 
 
 [17] 
 
and insignia, first-aid kits, rifles, and shells bear silent testimony 
 to the short, fierce righting. A lamp and a bell from the "Vizcaya," 
 ( rack Spanish cruiser destroyed by her own men at the Battle of 
 Santiago, Spanish flags and regimental badges tell the other side of 
 the srory. One wall devoted to Filipino shields of woven bamboo, 
 spears, and other primitive equipment paints for us a vivid picture 
 of native resistance in the Philippine Islands. 
 
 THE WORLD WAR ROOM 
 
 The World War Room is a memorial to Chicago's World War 
 dead. Designed to give the illusion of an open air chapel, chevrons 
 for the pattern of the floor, deep blue glass chandeliers for the sky 
 overhead, and a tall stained glass window with a great gold star 
 glowing in its center give this room an atmosphere which quiets 
 the most turbulent crowds. On one wall hangs a white cross from 
 the grave of Dinsmore Ely, one of the first Americans in the 
 Lafayette Escadrille to be killed. On the opposite wall are six 
 carrier pigeon messages from the Lost Battalion in the Argonne 
 Forest. Flags, regimental insignia, shells, and machine guns tell 
 of America's greatest adventure in war. The 3,000 photographs of 
 Chicago men and nurses killed in the line of duty, displayed in a 
 lighted multiplex along the south wall, bring tears to the eyes of 
 many who visit this room. 
 
 THE CHICAGO DIORAMA GALLERY 
 
 In the Chicago Diorama Gallery we find a bird's-eye view of 
 Chicago history told in a series of eight large dioramas. 
 
 1. THE GREENVILLE TREATY OF 1795 
 
 General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and Chief Little Turtle of the 
 Miami Indians are shown on the rolling prairie of northern Ohio 
 discussing the Greenville Treaty, one of the most important polit- 
 ical events in the history of Chicago. In the Treaty of 1795 the 
 Indians ceded to the whites all of their lands as far west as the 
 Wabash River and six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago 
 River where Fort Dearborn later was built. 
 
 2. JOHN KINZIE'S CABIN— 1808 
 
 John Kinzie was the first white trader to bring his family to 
 live at Fort Dearborn. The interior of his log cabin across the 
 river from the Fort is shown in this diorama. Mrs. Kinzie stands 
 in the doorway talking to an Indian while Mr. Kinzie in deerskin 
 
 [18] 
 
blouse and breeches sits at a table beneath a window making silver 
 ornaments for an Indian who leans against the wall watching him. 
 The Indians considered John Kinzie their friend, and for this reason 
 he and his family were spared at the time of the Fort Dearborn 
 Massacre in 1812. 
 
 JOHN KINZIE CABIN 
 
 3. THE SAUGANASH TAVERN IN 1833 
 
 The Sauganash Tavern was Chicago's first hotel, and around it 
 and its jolly proprietor Mark Beaubien centered the social and 
 political life of the town of 1833. Not only were all important 
 early meetings of the governing officers held there, but Chicagoans 
 young and old flocked there to dance and sing to the gay music of 
 Mark Beaubien's violin. The music which accompanies the diorama's 
 dancing figures was played on his violin and recorded to the accom- 
 paniment of a flute which belonged to an old resident of the Fort. 
 
 4. RUSH STREET BRIDGE IN I860 
 
 In this diorama we see the Chicago River in the days when 
 Chicago was one of the great grain exporting cities of the world. 
 The bridge, an old style turntable swung by two men at a wheel on 
 the top platform, is the Rush Street Bridge as it appeared in I860. 
 You will notice that at this time there was no Lake Shore Drive and 
 that sand dunes covered the Lincoln Park of today. The river is 
 lined with warehouses bearing the names of men now legendary as 
 the builders of Chicago. The Buckingham Elevator on the right 
 and the water tower on the left are the only buildings here which 
 withstood the Chicago Fire of 1871 to remain standing today. 
 
 5. LA SALLE STREET IN 1865 
 
 As we look on this view of LaSalle Street before the Chicago 
 Fire we realize that the importance of this district as a financial 
 
 [19] 
 
RUSH STREET BRIDGE 
 
 center is not recent. In 1865 the most important building on the 
 street was the Court House set in its formal garden, supported by 
 the beautiful Chamber of Commerce Building and faced on the 
 west by business blocks. The wide street, horse car in the fore- 
 ground, and old fashioned draught and brewery wagons are a 
 striking contrast to the canyon of tall skyscrapers which constitutes 
 the LaSalle Street of today. 
 
 This diorama was made possible by the generosity of: The 
 Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company, The First 
 National Bank of Chicago, The Foreman State-National Bank, and 
 Mr. A. W. Harris, Chairman of the Board, The Harris Trust 
 Company. 
 
 6. THE CHICAGO FIRE OF 1871 
 
 Gazing at the flickering flames of the great Chicago Fire and 
 watching them leap out before our eyes to engulf the business 
 district as we pull an electric switch, we begin to realize what terror 
 and horror must have filled those men and women loaded with their 
 belongings who are rushing through the streets to the lake as the 
 fire sweeps down upon them. History tells us that they walked out 
 into the icy waters of Lake Michigan and that many of them had 
 their hair and eyebrows singed off by the terrific heat, while others 
 were scarred for life by flying embers and burning debris whirled 
 through the air by the strong wind. The fire raged uncontrolled 
 for two days and two nights destroying 17,450 buildings and causing 
 about 200 deaths. 
 
 7. WASHINGTON PARK RACE TRACK IN THE 1890's 
 
 At Washington Park Race Track were run some of the most 
 spectacular American Derbies of the 1890's. From the center field 
 we watch the crowd gathered at the rail. In their varicolored cos- 
 tumes and gay attitudes they present a cross section of the sporting 
 clement in Chicago in the late 19th century. Standing in victorias, 
 
 [20] 
 
and boughams, and sitting on a tallyho are men and women in the 
 dress of the period. The tight waists, bustles, and trailing skirts 
 of the women often bring forth amused reminiscences from our 
 visitors. 
 
 As the visitor turns the switch the race starts. Jockeys on 
 horses flash past. Around and around they go. One near the last 
 gradually presses forward until he wins the race. This realistic- 
 horse race always causes the greatest excitement among our visitors. 
 We have in miniature in this diorama a gala day at Washington 
 Park Race Track in the 1890's. 
 
 8. COURT OF HONOR OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 
 OF 1893 
 
 The beautiful moonlit Court of Honor of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition is the last diorama in the series. Around the 
 great central lagoon a gleaming crown of lights pick out the tiny 
 gondolas dotting the surface of the water. At the far end of the 
 Court like a Greek temple stands the Administration Building with 
 the famous Columbian Fountain before it. On the left are Machinery 
 Hall, the Agricultural Building, and the Casino, while on the right 
 lights stream from the windows of the Electricity, Mines and Min- 
 ing Building, the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building, and 
 Music Hall. The tall gold statue in the foreground is "Republic" 
 by Daniel French. 
 
 WORLDS COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 
 
 * * * 
 
 THE MARINE ROOM 
 
 The Marine Room with its beamed ceiling, white plaster walls, 
 and windows looking out upon a diorama of famous Crowninshield 
 Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts, forms a background against which 
 we trace the story of the rise of the United States Navy and mer- 
 chant marine. Whaling equipment, ship ladders, and models of 
 
 [211 
 
MARINE ROOM 
 
 great clipper ships set before us the lives of those fearless Yankees 
 who spent their lives "sailing before the mast." 
 
 Great battles in the annals of the American Navy are brought 
 to mind by gangboards, grappling irons, and wheels from famous 
 ships-of-the-line. Small models show us these vessels in their prime. 
 From the ceiling in the center of the room hangs the red lantern 
 which signaled the attack upon Fort Sumter, the bombardment 
 which opened the Civil War. A wheel from the "Powhatan," flag- 
 ship of Commodore Matthew C. Perry recalls the voyage to the 
 Far East when he persuaded Japan to open her ports to the com- 
 merce of the world. A splendid collection belonging to the late 
 Admiral George Dewey has recently been placed on exhibition in 
 the Marine Room. It includes the great silver loving cup made of 
 70,000 dimes contributed by the school children of the United 
 States and presented to Admiral Dewey in memory of his great 
 victory at Manila Bay. There are also several of Admiral Dewey's 
 uniforms, dress swords, medals, and his diary, as well as documents 
 associated with the various naval engagements in which he partici- 
 pated during his long career. 
 
 Our story of the sea ends with a modern cork buoy to which 
 the seaplane of General Italo Balbo was anchored during his visit 
 
 [22] 
 
to A Century of Progress in Chicago in 1933. The Marine Room, 
 like the museum itself, will be kept up-to-date by the addition of 
 objects associated with outstanding events in current American 
 history. 
 
 THE LEE HOUSE STAIR CASE 
 
 The mahogany stair case 
 leading to the second floor of 
 the Museum is a reproduction 
 of one in the Jeremiah Lee 
 House in Marblehead, Massa- 
 chusetts, a beautiful Colonial 
 house built in 1768. Rising 
 from a hall lined with paint- 
 ings by great American artists, 
 the stairs mount gracefully to 
 a tall window and then turn to 
 attain the second floor. The 
 chandelier of brass and plate 
 glass which lights the hall is a 
 reproduction of the one still 
 hanging in the Lee House. 
 
 THE SECOND FLOOR 
 
 The rooms on the second floor of the building are devoted to 
 special subjects and do not necessarily follow a chronological 
 sequence. They are designed as study rooms for special interests, 
 and their exhibits are arranged to that end. 
 
 THE LINCOLN HALL 
 
 One of the Society's most impressive rooms is the Lincoln Hall 
 where the personal belongings of President and Mrs. Abraham 
 Lincoln are on exhibit. Here we find the gray shawl he wore so 
 often when visiting the hospitals at night, his tall silk hat, and large 
 cotton umbrella, and the coat that he wore the night he was shot. 
 The case on the other side of the famous G. P. A. Healy portrait 
 of the great President is filled with relics from the Lincoln funeral 
 train. 
 
 [23] 
 
Near the center of this great 
 hall stands the rosewood grand 
 piano Mrs. Lincoln bought 
 when living in the White 
 House. Even today it is beauti- 
 ful, and its tone is round and 
 smooth. Other belongings of 
 Mrs. Lincoln are in a case 
 nearby. 
 
 The incredibly small desk 
 and chair in the corner were 
 used by Lincoln in Vandalia. 
 A table with an octagonal 
 marble top which stands near 
 the entrance of the Lincoln 
 Hall came from the Tremont 
 House. Around the table sat 
 the committee which nominated 
 Abraham Lincoln for President. 
 Many of the members of the 
 committee were his old friends, 
 judges he had known on cir- 
 cuit, neighbors from Spring- 
 field. "We worked like nailers," 
 Governor Oglesby said of that committee in after years. 
 
 THE NUMISMATIC ROOM 
 
 In the oblong alcove which separates the Lincoln Hall from the 
 Lincoln parlor we find the stamp and coin collections of the Chicago 
 Historical Society. Early Chicago stamps are in one case, modern 
 issues are in another, while Civil War stamps have a case to them- 
 selves. In a case of autographed envelopes we find one signed 
 "Charles A. Lindbergh, Pilot" which was carried by Lindbergh from 
 Springfield to Chicago in 1926 during the pioneering days of the 
 United States Air Mail. The War Department has loaned a collec- 
 tion of awards of merit among which are the Purple Heart, the 
 Silver Star, and the Distinguished Service Cross, all honors for 
 extraordinary bravery under fire. Other cases of medals, coins, and 
 stamps will draw the attention of enthusiastic numismatists. 
 
 LINCOLN PARLOR 
 
 THE LINCOLN PARLOR 
 
 In this reproduction of the front parlor from the Lincoln House 
 in Springfield, Illinois, we have a comfortable room of the 1850's 
 which bears the stamp of the two vivid personalities who lived in 
 it — Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. It is furnished with original 
 
 [24] 
 
furniture from Springfield. Three straight, red-seated chairs bright- 
 en the room and contrast with the black horsehair sofa which stands 
 in the corner. A great bookcase behind the door is filled with books 
 Lincoln read. In the place of honor near the fire-place stands a 
 large etagere, while a little black rocker is drawn up within leg-reach 
 of the fireplace stove. Two crystal and gold candelabra on the 
 mantel gleam in the sunlight which pours through the two windows 
 facing the street. Through these windows we look upon Eighth 
 Street in Springfield as it appeared in the days when Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lincoln lived there. 
 
 The Lincoln parlor leaves us with a feeling of having met the 
 Lincolns face to face and partaken of their hospitality, and we 
 take from this room a better understanding of the gaunt President 
 from Illinois and his pretty, temperamental wife. 
 
 REPRODUCTION OF BEDROOM FROM PETERSEN HOUSE 
 
 The tiny bedroom in the poor lodging house across the street 
 from Ford's Theater to which they carried President Lincoln after 
 he had been shot on the night of April 14,1865, is reproduced in 
 careful detail in the room which follows. The furniture is from the 
 original bedroom. On this short bed they placed the unconscious 
 president crosswise — he was so tall. At 7:22 the following morning 
 
 REPRODUCTION OF ROOM IN WHICH A. LINCOLN DIED 
 
 [25] 
 
he died. Photographs and prints in the hall outside this room re- 
 construct the tragic scene for us. 
 
 THE INDIAN ROOM 
 
 In the Indian Room we find objects associated with the lives 
 oi the Indian tribes of the Mississippi Valley. From one wall a life 
 size portrait of Shabonee, famous Potawatomi chief and good friend 
 of the whites during the Black Hawk War, looks down upon us 
 with dignity and quiet appraisal. Across the room a buffalo skin 
 painting or pictograph of a battle shows one means used by the 
 Indians to record historical events. Totem poles, bows and arrows, 
 crude knives, beautiful pottery and beadwork, and countless other 
 object in cases about the room tell us of other phases of the life 
 of the Red Man. 
 
 THE PIONEER ILLINOIS ROOM 
 
 The Pioneer Illinois Room with its rough-beamed ceiling, old 
 brass lanterns hung from a worn iron wagon rim, and a great fire- 
 place made of boulders forms a background for the Dr. Otto L. 
 Schmidt Collection of pioneer 
 material. Roped off at one end 
 of this great room is a pioneer 
 kitchen with a fireplace equip- 
 ped with oven and utensils of 
 a 1 1 descriptions. Before it 
 stands a characteristic settee 
 with a removable guard at one 
 end forming a cradle, so that 
 a tired pioneer mother could 
 rest a moment before the fire 
 and rock her baby to sleep at 
 the same time. Nearby stands 
 a crude table laid with a red 
 cotton cloth and bone-handled 
 knives and forks. The plates 
 and bowls are of heavy yellow 
 earthenware, while the large 
 pitcher is of pewter. A nearby 
 corner is devoted to the stor- 
 age of early wooden farm 
 implements. 
 
 At the other end of the 
 Pioneer Room is a typical bed- 
 room of the period. Here we 
 
 find a bed of rough pine spread with a coverlet of many colors. 
 Beneath is a trundle bed which in the daytime was pushed under 
 the higher bed and at night was pulled out and used by the children 
 
 
 
 Q ■ 
 
 y \ 
 
 o 
 
 
 PIONEER FIREPLACE 
 
 [26] 
 
of the household. Nearby is an old-fashioned cradle on rockers 
 built very close to the floor and boasting a wooden canopy at one 
 end to keep the sun out of the baby's eyes when he was taken into 
 the open air on fine days. A loom, a spinning wheel, and a flax 
 breaker complete the room and remind us of the smallness of 
 pioneer cabins and of the necessity of carrying on many different 
 activities in one room. 
 
 The Pioneer Illinois Room is dedicated to Dr. Otto L. Schmidt, 
 a former president of the Chicago Historical Society, and it contains 
 exhibits from the fine collection of early pioneer material he has 
 given the Society. It is the only memorial room in the building. 
 
 THE ILLINOIS ROOM 
 
 The Illinois Room is devoted to objects associated with the 
 early history of the State of Illinois from the days when it was still 
 an untracked wilderness known only to trappers and traders to the 
 early days of its statehood. On the walls are portraits of early 
 governors and their wives, of men who played important roles in 
 the foundation of the state, and of merchants who saw the richness 
 of the region and came here with their families to take part in its 
 development. Here, for example, is a portrait of George Rogers 
 Clark, the great soldier and scout whose capture of Vincennes in 
 1779 is one of the most extraordinary feats of bravery in the annals 
 of American history. Reports and commissions of early French and 
 British agents in this region and of government officials after it 
 became the Illinois Territory are also here. Against the walls stand 
 heavy iron safes from early Illinois banks and land offices. The 
 flag of the State of Illinois occupies a place of honor in this room. 
 
 THE MUSIC ROOM 
 
 In the Music Room we trace the history of musical instruments 
 in the United States from early days to modern times. There are 
 spinets, melodeons, square pianos, music boxes, horns, violins, 
 drums, etc., while on the walls hang portraits of early Chicago 
 musicians, musical scores, and drawings of early concert halls and 
 opera houses of the state. 
 
 THE THEATRE ALCOVE 
 
 The walls of the Theatre Alcove are lined with theater posters 
 advertising plays of other days by flamboyant pictures and colorful 
 descriptions. Cases about the room hold photographs of well-known 
 actors and actresses, programs, handbills, tickets for famous per- 
 formances. It is a spectacular and amusing room. 
 
 [27] 
 
THE COSTUME GALLERY 
 
 In the Costume Gallery we have a chronological story of the 
 kaleidoscopic changes in women's fashions in the United States 
 from 1835 to the present. From a tight bodiced, full skirted yellow 
 taffeta dress and bonnet of 1835, we trace woman's changing whims 
 in dress down through the century to Mrs. Rockefeller McCormick's 
 jet and crystal beaded evening gown worn with a great orange 
 feather fan in the 1920's. In each case the costume is complete, 
 showing hats, shoes, and gloves of the period. Prints on the rear 
 walls of the case and a piece or two of furniture of the day show 
 the visitor the backgrounds against which these gowns were worn. 
 
 The windows of the Costume Gallery are draped in rose satin, 
 and the furniture about the room relieving the severity of so many 
 pier cases is early Victorian rosewood upholstered in gray brocade. 
 
 THE CHICAGO PORTRAIT GALLERY 
 
 In this great hall are portraits and busts of men and women 
 famous in Chicago history. Against walls of white the portraits in 
 their gold frames and rich deep colors stand out strikingly while 
 beneath them on pedestals set into the wood paneling are the white 
 marble busts of men and women whose names are bywords in the 
 city today. At the four corners of the room bronze busts accentuate 
 the spaciousness of the hall. The lighting of this gallery, an inno- 
 vation in museum technique, is contrived by rows of parallel elec- 
 tric lights and a ceiling structure which throws the illumination 
 against the walls and leaves the center of the room in slight shadow. 
 This is restful to the eyes and makes it possible to study the por- 
 traits for long periods without fatigue or eyestrain. 
 
 THE MAP ROOM 
 
 This room is what its name implies— a room devoted to old 
 and new maps of all parts of the world. Early sketches of the United 
 States and of the State of Illinois are amusing in their inaccuracy. 
 Two multiplexes along the walls display old illuminated charts and 
 atlases. The room is under the supervision of the Library, and its 
 exhibits are changed frequently. 
 
 [28] 
 
THE GROUND FLOOR 
 
 The Ground Floor of the building contains five exhibit rooms. 
 These, too, are special subject rooms not laid out in chronological 
 order. 
 
 THE PIONEER LOG CABIN 
 
 This crude cabin at the far end of the Ground Floor Foyer is 
 built of logs from the second Fort Dearborn which was torn down 
 in 1857. It is furnished in the fashion of a typical one room pioneer 
 cabin of the period. Many of the objects and utensils came from 
 the original Fort. Viewing its small size and crowded furnishings 
 we realize what a poor but practical man the average pioneer was. 
 
 THE FORT DEARBORN FOYER 
 
 Outside the Pioneer Log Cabin stands the Massacre Tree, a 
 section of the great cottonwood which for many years marked the 
 site of the Fort Dearborn Massacre of 1812. Near it is the famous 
 
 Massacre Monument 
 
 showing Chief Black 
 Partridge rescuing 
 Mrs. Helm, wife of 
 an officer at the Fort, 
 as an Indian warrior 
 is about to tomahawk 
 her. Along the other 
 walls of the Foyer we 
 find cases filled with 
 belongings of victims 
 of the Massacre. A 
 model of Fort Dear- 
 born as it appeared 
 before it was burned FORT DEARBORN FOYER 
 
 by the Indians stands 
 
 near the center of the hall. A diorama of the house of John Kinzie, 
 an early and picturesque trader of the Fort, is in a case nearby. 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 Hi, |i' 
 
 H- " i ^ 
 
 THE CARRIAGE ROOM 
 
 Opening off the Foyer is a great barn with a red brick floor, 
 rough plank walls, and mangers filled with hay. This is the 
 Carriage Room, and here we find vehicles of all kinds from an early 
 Conestoga wagon which came over the Alleghany Mountains in 
 1811, to broughams, sleighs, and carriages used as recently as 1910. 
 Perhaps the most interesting exhibit in the room is the Lincoln 
 carriage which was used by the President in Washington. 
 
 [29] 
 
THE GUN ROOM 
 
 In the Gun Room is the famous Krodel Collection of firearms 
 tracing the development of the percussion lock and the various types 
 of rifles, pistols, and revolvers dear to the hearts of sportsmen. 
 Cases of brillant blue against walls and a floor of gray contain 
 specimens of unusual beauty and perfection. The large painting 
 on the far wall of the room is the "Fort Dearborn Massacre." 
 
 SPECIAL EXHIBITS ROOM 
 
 To the right of the Auditorium as one enters the Ground 
 Floor Foyer will be found a special class and assembly room devoted 
 primarily to the use of the school children of Chicago. Here 
 students gather for short informative lectures before proceeding on 
 tours of the building. The room is adapted for special exhibits 
 which have their appeal both to the student and the public at large 
 and are changed from time to time. 
 
 AUDITORIUM 
 
 The beautiful white Auditorium of the Chicago Historical 
 Society with its deep blue sidelights is one of the most attractive 
 rooms in the building. With a normal seating capacity of four 
 hundred and thirty, it has facilities for increasing this number to 
 seven hundred by raising the sliding walls of the two adjacent 
 exhibit rooms. Its large stage is equipped with modern lighting 
 effects and a screen for motion pictures. The fireproof projection 
 booth at the rear of the hall holds two 35 mm. motion picture 
 machines for showing silent or sound pictures. An amplifying 
 system makes possible the short symphony concerts which open the 
 regular Sunday Afternoon Programs. 
 
 The two regular courses of lectures given by the Society are 
 delivered in the Auditorium. Of these two, the Saturday Morning 
 Historical Talks are for school children, and the Sunday Afternoon 
 Programs are attended mainly by adults. Special night lectures are 
 frequently given for Members and the general public. The Audi- 
 torium is also used for meetings by civic and patriotic organizations 
 of the city. 
 
 1301 
 
EDUCATIONAL WORK 
 
 THE CHILDREN'S LECTURES 
 
 For many years the Chicago Historical Society has given a 
 series of free lectures on Saturday mornings for the school children 
 of Chicago. These talks are carefully planned to fit into the curricu- 
 lum of the American history course and to supplement the infor- 
 mation the children receive in class. Children who attend them 
 receive school credit for doing so. At the close of each talk ques- 
 tionnaires are distributed to the audience. These are filled in with 
 the assistance of the lecturer. The questionnaires are then taken back 
 to school by the children who use them to refresh their memories 
 when called upon to describe their visit to the Chicago Historical 
 Society. 
 
 SUNDAY AFTERNOON PROGRAMS 
 
 The Sunday Afternoon Lectures given during the fall, winter, 
 and spring months are always illustrated and are frequently given 
 by outstanding historians from great universities of the country. 
 This year in response to a definite demand the Society has used 
 historical motion pictures extensively in this series. The plan has 
 proved an extremely popular one and a similar series of motion pic- 
 tures is being prepared for next year. New talking picture equip- 
 ment, and an electrical phonograph connected with the theatre 
 amplifying system which plays symphonies from 2 to 3 o'clock 
 before the pictures begin, were recently donated by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles B. Pike. The programs made possible by this equipment 
 have tripled the number of visitors coming to the Chicago Historical 
 Society on Sunday afternoons. 
 
 TOURS OF THE MUSEUM 
 
 On pay days groups of twenty or more visitors are given tours 
 of the building free of charge when appointments are made in ad- 
 vance. Tea is served in the Current Exhibit Room at the conclu- 
 sion of these tours. Docents working under the supervision of the 
 Society's Education Department conduct these specially planned 
 visits to the building. Many are experienced teachers in the field 
 of history; others not regular members of the staff, are members 
 of the Junior League of Chicago who find this an interesting way 
 of fulfilling the social service work required by that organization. 
 Their cooperation has proved so valuable that plans are now going 
 forward which will allow them next year to take a greater part in 
 the educational work carried on by the Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 [311 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 The Reference Library is located in the north wing of the sec- 
 ond iloor of the building. It is used by the staff, members of 
 the Society, students, and research workers, and is open to those 
 doing serious historical investigation. The province ot the Library 
 is the entire field of American history, with particular emphasis 
 upon the history of Chicago, Illinois, and the Old Northwest. 
 
 The book collection of seventy-five thousand volumes and 
 pamphlets embraces not only current historical works, but rare and 
 interesting volumes on early America, the French explorers, reports 
 of foreign travelers who journeyed into the interior of the new 
 continent, pioneer sketches showing the political development of 
 the new settlements, and social life and customs on the frontier. 
 Illinois history has received its share of attention in the bringing 
 together of material on the various counties and towns throughout 
 the state. City directories, county histories and atlases, and records 
 of local events are available for reference. The Lincoln collection 
 numbering over five hundred volumes brings many Lincoln students 
 to our Reading Room. 
 
 Chicagoana is necessarily a very important subject in our Li- 
 brary. Shelf after shelf of histories, biographies, reminiscences, 
 pioneer sketches, files of reports of clubs, organizations, and business 
 institutions hold the story of Chicago's marvelous growth. A com- 
 plete file of Chicago directories, atlases of the Chicago region, and 
 several hundred maps of the city supplement these materials for 
 research on the history of this city. 
 
 The Manuscript Division embraces a large province, both in 
 time and geographical location. As in the book collection emphas ; s 
 falls upon local material, with much interesting source material on 
 the region which was once the Northwest Territory. Our Colonial 
 and Revolutionary manuscripts are particularly valuable, and many 
 items shed interesting sidelights on our national development. The 
 following list indicates a few of the outstanding collections and 
 the subjects of which they treat: 
 
 EDWARD GAY MASON AND OTTO L. SCHMIDT COLLEC- 
 TIONS OF EARLY FRENCH MANUSCRIPTS, containing 
 letters and documents relative to France in the New World, 
 signed by sovereigns, governors, and explorers of New France: 
 Louis XIII, Frontenac, Joliet, LaSalle, and Tonti. 
 
 LA WE FAMILY PAPERS, dealing with Indians and the fur trade 
 in Wisconsin. , 
 
 LAMBERT TREE COLLECTION, letters and autographs of 18th 
 and 19th century statesmen. 
 
 [32] 
 
LOUISIANA PURCHASE PAPERS, including Acts of Transfer 
 from Spain to France and from France to the United States. 
 
 EDWARDS PAPERS, an important group on early Illinois history, 
 national history from 1800-1830, and that of the Northwest 
 Territory. 
 
 MASON BRAYMAN PAPERS, treating the Civil War, Illinois 
 Central Railroad, Mormons in Illinois, and general Illinois 
 history. 
 
 KINGSBURY PAPERS, military papers of the Old Northwest em- 
 bracing the first decade of the nineteenth century. 
 
 WILKINSON PAPERS, letters and correspondence of James Wil- 
 kinson, containing many letters from his contemporaries, 
 among them Jefferson, Knox, Hancock, and Burr. Partially 
 published. 
 
 JOHN BROWN PAPERS. Gift of Mr. Frank G. Logan, supple- 
 mented by manuscripts purchased by the Society. 
 
 JACKSON PAPERS, an extensive collection on Andrew Jackson 
 bringing out much of interest especially up to 1820. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN COLLECTION, letters of Abraham Lin- 
 coln, and documents bearing his signature. Correspondence 
 pertaining to Lincoln. 
 
 The map and newspaper collections are among our most valu- 
 able sources of history and are constantly used by students and 
 scholars. The newspaper stacks contain some twenty-five hundred 
 bound volumes including early papers of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and 
 Vandalia, a file of the Chicago Democrat, Chicago's first newspaper, 
 as well as extensive files of important Chicago newspapers of later 
 date. 
 
 Among the Society's five thousand maps are found works of 
 European cartographers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 New France, New Spain, and the English colonies of America are 
 liberally portrayed in some of the collections. Atlases and maps 
 illustrating the development and growth of the United States, and 
 an unusually fine collection on the Middle West are of interest to 
 students of United States history and economics. 
 
 The books and bound periodicals are stored in a modern stack- 
 room with a capacity of 125,000 volumes. They are protected from 
 dust by washed air supplied by an up-to-date ventilating system. 
 
 [33] 
 
The Manuscript Vault with its special firewall houses the Society's 
 valuable documents and papers. Close at hand are quiet cubicles 
 for students seeking documentary sources. 
 
 LIBRARY READING ROOM 
 
 A charming Colonial Reading Room provides space for thirty 
 readers. The dark mahogany of the chairs and tables contrasts 
 softly with the cream of the walls and white of the doorways to 
 make a quiet and pleasant room for study. Chandeliers of brass 
 and frosted glass are copied from an old house in Alexandria, 
 Virginia. Portraits in rich dark colors of Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. 
 Gilpin, benefactors of the Library, hang on one wall, while a large 
 decorative map of early Chicago dominates another. Built-in cases 
 extending the entire length of the room at once protect and display 
 some of the treasures of the Chicago Historical Society collections. 
 The windows of the room look out upon the spreading lawns and 
 flower gardens of Lincoln Park, a restful vista for readers working 
 at the Library tables. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP 
 
 You are cordially invited to enroll and enjoy the many 
 privileges of membership and in this way to assist in the important 
 civic and educational work carried on by the Chicago Historical 
 Society. 
 
 ALL MEMBERS ARE ENTITLED TO THE FOLLOWING 
 
 Invitations to all general receptions and exhibitions. 
 
 Free admission to the Museum on pay days. 
 
 Use of the Library for reference work. 
 
 Admission to the illustrated Sunday Afternoon Programs. 
 
 Subscription to the Historical News Leaflet. 
 
 Copies of all pamphlets issued by the Society. 
 
 CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP: 
 
 Annual $10 a year 
 
 Life $100 (no dues) 
 
 Governing Annual $100 initiation fee and $25 a year 
 
 Governing Life $500 (no dues) 
 
 Life Memberships Accrue to the Endowment Fund 
 
 CHARLES B. PIKE, 
 
 President. 
 
 [34] 
 
WEEK DAYS 
 SUNDAYS 
 
 HOURS 
 
 . . 9:30 A. M 
 . . 1:00 P. M. 
 
 to 5:00 P. M. 
 to 6:00 P. M. 
 
 MONDAY 
 
 FREE DAYS 
 
 WEDNESDAY 
 
 FRIDAY 
 
 ADMISSION 25c 
 
 TUESDAY THURSDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 
 
 CHILDREN ADMITTED FREE 
 
i 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS-URBANA 
 
 C001 
 
 So HISTORICAL SOCIETY. AMUtEIW OF 
 
 3 0112 025327062