Collections at CHM

Due to the high volume of donation offers the Museum receives, we are unable to accept unsolicited objects, images, or documents unless you first submit a completed Online Collection Donation Form describing the material you wish to donate.

Please do not send the original materials you wish to donate to the Museum until you have been contacted by Museum staff.

Learn more about donating to the collection here.

The Chicago History Museum’s Abakanowicz Research Center is one of the premier research facilities in Chicago, and it carries on the tradition of serving the public the Chicago Historical Society established with its founding in 1856. The Gilpin Library, which opened as part of the Society’s new building designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb in 1896 at Dearborn and Ontario Streets, provided the public with an up-to-date research facility. The Society moved to its current location in Lincoln Park in 1932 into a building designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White featuring a museum and a library. In the early 2000s, the multiple reading rooms dedicated to specific collections were consolidated into the CHM Research Center.

In 2021, it was renamed and dedicated as the Abakanowicz Research Center after sculptor and artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. The naming acknowledges her commitment to truth and diversity in history and her deep association with the city of Chicago, where she is best known for her public work, Agora (2006), in Grant Park. The Archie Motley Reading Room of the Abakanowicz Research Center is named in honor of Archibald Motley, who was a staff member from 1955 to 2002 and served legions of researchers as the Museum’s archivist (1974–98).

Visitors to the Abakanowicz Research Center include authors; educators; independent scholars; photo researchers; members of the press; elementary and secondary school students (especially Chicago Metro History Day students); undergraduate and graduate students, including PhD candidates; architects; building developers; and family and house historians.

Please review the Abakanowicz Research Center Information to learn more about the its hours, admission fees, policies, and services before planning your research visit. Note that access to certain materials may require advance notice.

If you are unable to visit us in person, there are a number of services available:

• Please explore the Online Research Resources listed above, including the Encyclopedia of Chicago and the CHM Images.
• If you require remote research assistance, please contact us at research@chicagohistory.org.
• You may also wish to consider hiring a freelance researcher to conduct research on your behalf.

The Museum’s collecting scope encompasses the following areas:

• Living in the Metropolitan Area: Demographic change, family life, communities, neighborhoods, religious life, gender, sports, recreation, class, leisure, crime, race, ethnicity, and education. We are currently collecting materials that document the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Working in the Metropolitan Area: The changing economic base of the city, business, manufacturing, labor, transportation, and scientific and technological development
• Governing the Metropolitan Area: Electoral politics, citizen action movements, community organizing, and urban planning
• The Built Environment: Architecture in its broadest social and economic context, going beyond great buildings and architects
• Individuals and Ideas: Art, literature, music, and philosophy produced by individuals in the metropolitan area, particularly as reflections on and interpretations of this area

For more information about the Chicago History Museum’s collection stewardship and practices, please review its Collections Policy.

Yes, CHM no longer collects some historical objects, images, and documents.

Home Movies and Amateur Films
The Museum does not accept donations of home movies and amateur films for the collection. Please consider donating your home movies and amateur films to the Chicago Film Archives or the South Side Home Movie Project.

Chicago’s World’s Fairs Publications and Souvenirs
The Museum does not accept donations of publications or souvenirs from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the 1933–34 A Century of Progress International Exposition for the collection.

Costumes
The Museum does not accept donations of wedding gowns for the collection.

Photographs
The Museum does not accept donations of unidentified photographs for the collection.

World War II Materials
The Museum does not accept donation of material related to Chicagoans’ or other Americans’ service experiences in World War II for the collection. The only exceptions are materials related to servicemen and women while training or stationed in Chicago and material that documents the home front experience in Chicago during World War II. Consider donating your World War II material to the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.

The full Collections Management Policy can be found here.

In-person access to the Architecture (models and fragments), Costume and Textiles, Decorative and Industrial Arts, and Paintings and Sculpture holdings is available by appointment only.

Due to the extensive resources required to handle and retrieve these historical materials, research appointments are available only to researchers who are able to demonstrate that in-person access is required to support substantive research and that the results of that research will be disseminated widely. Please note that not all objects will be available for researcher access due to condition, location, staff availability, and/or other factors. Scheduling an appointment to view available material may require several additional weeks.

To request an in-person research appointment, please submit the Object Research Inquiry Form.