The Museum’s Best-kept Secret
December 9th, 2009Filed under: Collections
“In the 1890s, would a passenger train from San Francisco to Chicago pass near the Union Stock Yard?” A question from a novelist making use of the resources of the Chicago History Museum’s Research Center. Sometimes known as the “museum’s best-kept secret,” the Research Center (located on the third floor) contains a wealth of material on the history of Chicago’s people, buildings, neighborhoods, and events. Researchers register at the front desk and make their way to this treasure trove in search of information.
On any day, you might find:
A writer going through the 1950s telephone books, researching the motels on Lincoln Avenue (formerly Route 41, a major interstate route).
The owner of an older house, searching for photographs showing the original porch railing.
A father and his junior high school sons working on a History Fair project on the Great Lakes Naval Base (the theme of this year’s History Fair is Innovation—lots of possibilities in Chicago!)
A graduate student tracing the changes in a neighborhood through Sanborn maps.
An architect looking at blueprints from Holabird and Root, anticipating a possible renovation.
A retiree looking for a copy of the Austin High School yearbook from his senior year.
A novelist perusing Emily Frankenstein’s diary for insight into a young girl’s view of the race riots of 1919.
The owner of a newly-opened restaurant searching for pictures of classic Chicago restaurants to decorate the walls.
A documentarian hoping to find pictures of a Chicago butcher shop in the 1920s.
And in case you’re curious about that initial question: Using articles in the Historical Chicago Tribune discussing new railway service to San Francisco in the 1890s and maps of Chicago from the period, we were able to help the novelist determine that a passenger taking the Chicago and Alton line here from San Francisco would have passed within a mile or two of the Union Stock Yard, but no closer. Probably not close enough to see it—although, if the wind was right, close enough to smell it!
> Explore the Chicago History Museum Research Center
Images at top, left to right: Sanborn map vol. 16, researcher, photo of house on Goethe Street, ICHi-35608. Images center, left to right: researcher, architectural drawing, Austin High School year book. Images bottom, left to right: photo of Berghoff restaurant exterior, ICHi-27871, Emily Frankenstein’s diary, researcher.
Tags: Emily Frankenstein, Historical Chicago Tribune, History Fair, Holabird and Root, Lesley Martin, Research Center, Sanborn, Union Stock Yard