University of Chicago Library: Difference between revisions

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University of Chicago Library

University of Chicago Library

Contact Information

Email: Ask a Librarian form.

Address:

Regenstein Library
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago Illinois 60637

Telephone: General Reference 773-702-4685

Regenstein Library Hours

Google map: Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.
Maps, parking, and public transportation click here.

Internet sites and databases:

University of Chicago Library search, guides and tools, libraries and collections, and events.
University of Chicago Library Catalog

online by keyword, title, author, subject, call number, etc. Also available in WorldCat.

Collection Description

The Joseph Regenstein Library houses 4.5 million print volumes about the humanities, social sciences, business, divinity, and area studies. The Library has access to 100,000 online periodicals and newspapers. Special Collections manuscripts cover topics like Kentucky and the Ohio River valley history, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Civil War era. They also have good microfilm, and map collections.

This library has plentiful historical records. Noteworthy is the Durrett Collection of historical Kentucky and Ohio River Valley manuscripts. The size and content of this collection is comparable to the Draper Manuscript Collection. It includes the earliest people in the Ohio Valley.^[1]

Tips

Must have legitimate research need. Members of the public must establish their research need with the Library in order to be granted access. See Access for Members of the Public.

Alternate Repositories

If you cannot visit or find a source at the University of Chicago Library, a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections

National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service & pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.^[2]
Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, premier periodical collection, including Midwestern genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, and passenger lists.^[3]
National Archives Great Lakes Region (Chicago) old federal court and agency records for Illinois and Midwest U.S. federal censuses 1790–1940; military service and pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, Fold3.^[4]
Newberry Library, Chicago, a large repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, and the British Isles.^[5]

Similar Collections

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Lovejoy Library best library in southern IL with a large genealogical collection of newspapers, biographies, county histories, family folders, and maps.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Main Library one of the best book collections in America, including county histories, and farmers registers. Think of it as another archives for Illinois.

Neighboring Collections

Cook County Clerk births, marriages, and deaths online
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court recent probates, civil, criminal records.
Cook County Recorder of Deeds land records, military discharge DD-214s.
Cook County Medical Examiner suspicious or unusual deaths.
U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois recent civil and criminal court records.
Arlington Heights Memorial Library a huge collection, with printed genealogies, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, special aids, surname folders—a great overall genealogy collection.^[6]
Asher Library, Chicago, Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies 500,000 books, and films.
Chicago History Museum 20 million manuscripts, letters, certificates, diaries, genealogy charts, log books, journals, memoirs, minutes, muster rolls, scrapbooks, sermons, speeches, and telegrams.
Chicago Public Library reference books, how-to-guides, histories, biographies.
Chicago Title and Trust for a fee they will search property records prior to the Chicago fire.
Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Chicago, 45,000 military history books, unit histories, photos, uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships of many world militaries. They help genealogists.^[7]
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Archives parish records, priest biographies, sacramental, school, or orphanage records.
South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, Hazel Crest, a very good collection with local histories, genealogies, naturalizations, Pullman Car Works personnel, obituaries, church histories.
University of Illinois at Chicago, biography, periodicals, newspapers, oral history, ethnic studies.
Repositories in surrounding counties: in Illinois: DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will; and in Indiana: Lake.
Illinois Dept. of Health Vital Records, Springfield, birth, marriage, death, adoption, and divorces.
Illinois State Archives, Springfield, county/state records, pre-Chicago fire sources, indexed vital records, early land grants, military records, all fed/state censuses, surname card index.^[8]
Illinois State Library, Springfield, state/federal records, federal censuses to 1920, plat books, IL county histories, Sanborn fire insurance maps, Rev. War pensions and bounty land warrants.
Illinois State Genealogical Society, Springfield, research guidance, teaching via webinars and the ISGS blog for free, death certificates 1916-1947 for a fee. No research requests.^[9]
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Springfield, HQ of 7 regional archives of local Illinois county/town records: birth, marriage, death, land, tax, voting reg., probate, naturalization, civil & criminal court, coroner, poorhouse. For Cook County see IRAD-Northeastern Illinois University.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, genealogy, plat maps, atlases, oral and county history, cemeteries, census, vital records, naturalizations in many counties.^[10]
John A. Logan College Library, Carterville, this library is a focal point of Southern Illinois genealogy. Their collection is huge.
Lincoln Library, Springfield, indexed obituaries, city directories, the Sangamon Valley Collection has photos, yearbooks, histories, and maps for studying Sangamon and surrounding counties.
Peoria Public Library enjoys a large genealogy and local history department, including many indexes, DAR files, and basic genealogy resources for the plains states.
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Rock Island, IL, Swedish church records, census, passenger lists, lodges, newspapers, directories.^[11]
Urbana Free Library their strength is Champaign County history, but they have good basic genealogy for the entire United States including printed genealogies, manuscripts, family folders.
Brethren Historical Library and Archives, Elgin, IL, cultural, socio-economic, theological, genealogical, and institutional history of the Brethren.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Elk Grove Village, IL, serves historians, congregations, synods, genealogists and others interested in Lutheran history.
Repositories in surrounding states: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin
National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), St. Louis, MO, military and civil services personnel records. For servicemen and servicewomen discharged from 1912 to 1953.^[12] ^[13]
Polish Genealogical Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, 60,000 books on Polish history, art, culture, reference.

Sources

↑ William Dollarhide, and Ronald A. Bremer, America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers (Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest, 1988), 39. At various repositories (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 J54d.
↑ Information for Researchers at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC in National Archives (accessed 31 December 2013).
↑ Genealogy Center Collections in Genealogy Center (accessed 27 February 2015).
↑ Genealogy in National Archives at Chicago (accessed 27 February 2014).
↑ Genealogy and Local History in The Newberry (accessed 27 February 2015).
↑ Dollarhide and Bremer, 39.
↑ Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 30 March 2015).
↑ Dollarhide and Bremer, 41.
↑ Genealogy Committee in Illinois State Genealogical Society (accessed 21 March 2015).
↑ Printed Materials in Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (accessed 30 March 2015).
↑ Genealogy in Augustana College (accessed 30 March 2015).
↑ Dollarhide and Bremer, 134.
↑ National Archives at St. Louis in National Archives (accessed 18 March 2014).

[1] William Dollarhide, and Ronald A. Bremer, America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers (Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest, 1988), 39. At various repositories (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 J54d.

[2] Information for Researchers at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC in National Archives (accessed 31 December 2013).

[3] Genealogy Center Collections in Genealogy Center (accessed 27 February 2015).

[4] Genealogy in National Archives at Chicago (accessed 27 February 2014).

[5] Genealogy and Local History in The Newberry (accessed 27 February 2015).

[6] Dollarhide and Bremer, 39.

[7] Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 30 March 2015).

[8] Dollarhide and Bremer, 41.

[9] Genealogy Committee in Illinois State Genealogical Society (accessed 21 March 2015).

[10] Printed Materials in Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (accessed 30 March 2015).

[11] Genealogy in Augustana College (accessed 30 March 2015).

[12] Dollarhide and Bremer, 134.

[13] National Archives at St. Louis in National Archives (accessed 18 March 2014).

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@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 '''Address:'''
-:Regenstein Library<br>University of Chicago<br>1100 East 57th Street<br>Chicago Illinois 60637<br><br>
+{{Block indent|Regenstein Library<br>University of Chicago<br>1100 East 57th Street<br>Chicago Illinois 60637<br><br>}}
 '''Telephone:''' General Reference 773-702-4685<br>
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 === Collection Description  ===
-The '''Joseph Regenstein Library''' houses 4.5 million print volumes about the humanities, social sciences, business, divinity, and area studies. The Library has access to 100,000 online periodicals and newspapers. Special Collections manuscripts cover topics like Kentucky and the Ohio River valley history, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Civil War era. They also have good microfilm, and map collections.<ref name="Reg" /> <ref>[http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/collections/modernmss/ Modern Manuscripts] in ''University of Chicago Library'' (accessed 3 April 2015).</ref>
+The '''Joseph Regenstein Library''' houses 4.5 million print volumes about the humanities, social sciences, business, divinity, and area studies. The Library has access to 100,000 online periodicals and newspapers. Special Collections manuscripts cover topics like Kentucky and the Ohio River valley history, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Civil War era. They also have good microfilm, and map collections.
 This library has plentiful historical records. Noteworthy is the '''''Durrett Collection ''''' of historical Kentucky and Ohio River Valley manuscripts. The size and content of this collection is comparable to the ''[[Draper Manuscript Collection]]''. It includes the earliest people in the Ohio Valley.<ref>William Dollarhide, and Ronald A. Bremer, ''America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers'' (Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest, 1988), 39. {{WorldCat|39493985|item|disp=At various repositories (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|728550|item|disp=FS Library Book 973 J54d}}.</ref>