[Cross-dressing] Archive of six 19th century photographs of cross-dressing performers, Springfield, Illinois, capturing early American drag performance during a period when public cross-dressing outside performance contexts could provoke not only social but legal backlash. These cross dressing portrait photographs created in Springfield, Illinois during the late nineteenth century document early.....

[African American][Voting Rights] New Constitution for the State of Illinois. 1870 printing of the Illinois Constitution ratified after the Civil War documents Reconstruction-era legal reform in a Midwestern state that had previously enforced restrictive Black Codes despite its status as a free state. By the outbreak of the Civil War.....

United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve service of Lucille documented in photographs created primarily during the Second World War. The images provide direct visual evidence of women’s integration into the United States Marine Corps through the Women’s Reserve program established in 1943, which expanded military labor by assigning women to.....

[Mining][Labor][Steel] Iron mining photographs of Inland Steel Company workers at Greenwood Mine, southwest of Ishpeming, Michigan, documenting the labor system that linked Upper Peninsula ore extraction to steel production in Chicago during the central decades of twentieth century industrial expansion. Greenwood Mine gave the Inland Steel Company, one of Chicago's.....

Dawson, William L., African American congressman from Chicago and World War I veteran of the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment, House of Representatives speech delivered April 13, 1951 addressing segregation in the United States armed forces during the early years of the Cold War. Dawson served in Congress for nearly three.....

[Labor] Industrial rock drilling photograph archive documenting Gardner Denver and drill carrier machinery in factory, yard, and field settings, circa 1960s, recording how specialized drilling equipment was designed, serviced, and operated in steep-cut and tunnel construction environments. The group centers on crawler-mounted drills, compressor-fed hose systems, and rail-mounted heavy equipment.....

African American military band musicians photographed during the World War II era document the musical units that formed an important part of Black participation in the U.S. armed forces during the mid twentieth century. 17 photographs dating approximately from the 1940s depict African American soldiers performing in brass bands as.....

[African American] [Music] [Photography] Demlinger, Sandor. Photographs of Louis Armstrong, 1940s to 1963 document performance, travel, and interpersonal moments within mid twentieth century jazz culture through the work of a Chicago based photographer engaged with the city’s music scene. The images place Armstrong within both staged and informal contexts, including.....

Archive of three black and white silver gelatin photographs of black models dating from the 1950s-70s. Photographs measure approx. 8" x 10". This archive includes a press photo from 1974, showing model Beverly Bradshaw posed in front of a museum display of elephants wearing a traditional Nigerian Ibo wrapped dress.....

Prince Hall Freemasonry materials, 1940s to 1990s, document the institutional life, leadership structures, and community functions of one of the most significant African American fraternal organizations in the United States and provide direct evidence of how lodges operated as centers of social, civic, and religious life across multiple decades. Founded.....

[Labor Organizing] United Mine Workers of America archive, 1910s through 1930s, when the coal industry was being reshaped by mechanization, falling labor demand, and increasingly unstable operator finances. After the wartime expansion of coal production, mine operators pushed wage reductions and open shop policies while new machinery displaced large numbers.....

Waters, Ethel, group of six items dating from 1934 to 1959, documents the stage and screen career of Ethel Waters, a central figure in twentieth century African American performance history whose work in theater, music, and film intersected with the integration of American entertainment industries. Rising to prominence in Harlem.....

Illinois National Guard press photograph archive, 1936–1984, documenting the Guard’s role as both military reserve force and instrument of state authority across mid twentieth century American conflicts and civil crises. The images place the Guard within major domestic flashpoints in Illinois, including deployment during the 1966 Chicago disturbances, the 1968.....