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Featured Resource
Chicago Tribune Historical Archive »
Search the entire text of the Chicago Tribune, including classified and display advertisements, from 1849 to 1986. (For articles appearing in the paper after 1986, use Chicago Tribune (1985-present).)
Note that a Chicago Public Library card is required to use this resource from home, school, or work.
Related Databases
Use these resources from home, school, or work with a Chicago Public Library card.
Biography Resource Center » teen pick
Biography Resource Center offers articles about famous Chicagoans (and non-Chicagoans) taken from numerous biographical encyclopedias.
Business & Company Resource Center »
Use this database to find short histories and timelines of such Chicago companies as Rand McNally & Co., R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Montgomery Ward & Co., and Marshall Field's.
Chicago Defender Historical Archive »
Find articles from a digital archive of one of the most significant African American newspapers in the country. Search for articles, classified ads, death notices, and more that appeared in the paper between 1910 and 1975. (For articles from 1999 to the present, use Black Newspapers or Illinois Newsstand.)
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Step inside Chicago and learn about the City's history.
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Helpful Websites
- Encyclopedia of Chicago »
A project of the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, and Northwestern University, this online version of the award-winning print encyclopedia is a first stop for research into any topic on Chicago's past.
- Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933 »
This American Memory collection from the collections of the Chicago History Museum comprises over 55,000 photographs taken by the photographers of the Chicago Daily News. Additional material relating to Chicago can also be found in other collections of the Library of Congress's American Memory project.
- Chicago History Museum »
In addition to information on the museum, visitors to this web site will find online exhibits on the Great Chicago Fire (1871) and Haymarket bombing (1886).
- Your House Has a History »
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks offers this step-by-step guide to researching your property's history.
- Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull House and Its Neighborhoods, 1889-1963 »
Co-sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, this extensive site offers a large number of photographs and other historical sources with scholarly commentary.