University of St. Francis Library Archives

Research room in the Chicago History Museum October is American Archives Month and in celebration I attended Chicago Open Archives: Yours to Explore last week. Over thirty local archives, research centers, and cultural institutions in the Chicago area offered special events open to members of the public. I visited three archives, each with different missions and goals for their collections. First up, the Chicago History Museum . “The Chicago History Museum is a research center and exhibition space focused on collecting and telling Chicago's stories. In addition to exhibitions on Chicago’s history, the Chicago History Museum houses a Research Center which serves the research collections of the museum—archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, published material, and architectural drawings.” With such vast holdings the archivists focused on their sports-related collections. The two-hour tour began in the museum with the typical cases the public can easily view. T...

Image taken from presentation This past weekend, on October 10 th , I held the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection Showcase . This was my opportunity to highlight one of the Archive’s special collections to the public, who might have been unaware of its existence. This event was in cooperation with Chicago Area Archivists and Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting . Alumna Barbara Cooke gave a wonderful presentation on the history of sheet music, which she separated into three different time periods: the Vintage Era (1860-1880), the Victorian Era (1880-1900), and the Golden Age (1900-1935). Selection of sheet music covers from 1900-1935 The Vintage Era produced sheet music with basic and functional covers, primarily in black and white. These pieces are very rare because it was expected that a sheet would be thrown away when the song’s popularity faded. The Victorian Era was heavily influenced by European ideas, especially from England’s Queen Victor...

An exciting event is happening next month in the USF Archives as a part of Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting . Over twenty local archives, research centers, and cultural institutions in the Chicago area will offer special events open to members of the public on October 8-10, 2015. Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting is an opportunity to discover unique historical materials and engage with archivists, librarians, and museum curators. I will present one of the Archive’s special collections, the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection on Saturday October 10 th .  Barbara Cooke is an alumna of USF whose career in musical theater has spanned over 30 years. She spent time on stage in both Chicago and New York City, all the while collecting sheet music, books and other items related to musical theater. Visitors will have the chance to view rare materials and hear how the Archives acquired the collection. The collection includes sheet music, comp...