Chicago History

Participating Member of Metropolitan Library System

Chicago Metro History Fair page includes links to past projects, and research resources.

General Chicago History

Encyclopedia of Chicago from The Chicago Historical Society, The Newberry Library and Northwestern University Great Resource!
Chicago History Museum
A wonderful resource for Chicago History and historical collections on the Internet. Find the The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory.
Video Archives of Chicago History from WTTW Searchable and free!

Chicago Architecture Foundation
Chicago Architecture Imagebase by UIC
Find a wealth of information at this site from before the Great Fire of 1871 to the present including the Fire Insurance Maps of Chicago, , Historical View Books, and much more! Browse the imagebase collection by era. Find information on Using Historical Maps and Dating Buildings by Stylistic Analysis. View contemporary photographs 1970-1990's of Chicago.
This site has a detailed table of contents button on the left of the home page. Highlights include, Robinson Atlas of Downtown Chicago (ca. 1886), Chicago's Loop (1893) as seen by Rand McNally's artists, images from books about Chicago and views of Chicago arranged by era.

Chicago Fire 1871
The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory, an online exhibit at the Chicago Historical Society.

Haymarket Tragedy
Illinois Labor History Society
Site includes a series of articles about the Haymarket Affair.
Haymarket Affair
History Channel
Search under "Haymarket"
Haymarket Affair From the Library of Congress American Memory digital collections. "This collection showcases more than 3,800 images of original manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints and artifacts relating to the Haymarket Affair. The violent confrontation between Chicago police and labor protesters in 1886 proved to be a pivotal setback in the struggle for American workers' rights."

Illinois Labor History Society
Site contains a series of articles about labor history in Illinois.

Bridgeport
- Bridgeport
  University of Illinois at Chicago
  Describes the development of this historic neighborhood.
Pullman
- Historic Pullman Foundation
- Map of Pullman (1915)
  American Memory Project
- Pullman Palace Car Co. Photographs
  American Memory Project

Chicago-L.org by Graham Garfield
This unofficial site includes the history and chronology of the Chicago rapid transit system. It also features maps and schedules, photos and descriptions of "L" stations and includes information on historical figures. A great resource for history fair.
The Digital Librarian: Railways and Waterways
A guide to internet sites.
Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society
Includes a historical sketch and timeline of the Illinois Central Railroad.
American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
Library of Congress
This site contains a number of photographs of the 'L' (a search under "Chicago elevated railroads" yields more than a dozen photographs).

Chicago Tunnel Railroad History
Phil O'Keefe
Information about the tunnel system below the Loop.