Browse Items (66 total)

This is a bird's eye view map of Chicago in 1857 that shows the early beginnings of the city. It was first drawn by James T. Palmatary. Later drawn on stone by Christian Inger, lithographed by Herline and Hensel, and published by Braunhold and Sonne,…

This is a perspective map of Chicago in 1857 that shows the early beginnings of the city. It provides a bird's eye view above the lake of the city streets and buildings.

An illustrative map of the city of Chicago before the Great Fire, the First City before the Great Conflagration of October 8th-10th, 1871.

Police officers measure the exit of the Iroquois Theater after the 1903 fire. Taken fromChicago's Awful Theater Horror, by the Survivors and Rescuers, with an introduction by Bishop Fallows. (Memorial Publishing Co.,D. B. McCurdy, 1904)

Photograph of poster relating to the epidemic of influenza in Chicago occurring during the fall of 1918. Part of the text reads, "Influenza frequently complicated with pneumonia is prevalent at this time throughout America. This theatre is…

An illustration of a throat, mouth and tongue to show signs of Diphtheria, with a caption reading "Plate XI. Note the extension of the false membrane to the soft palate."

Titled, "Join the Parade: We had Polio Vaccine, get Your Polio Shots now.", the illustrated poster encourages polio vaccination among infants and children especially.

Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone and the storefront sign reads "Free Soup Coffee & Doughnuts for the Unemployed."

Exterior view of the the northeast corner of Clark Street and Ontario Street, Chicago, Illinois, October 1952. Formerly the Clarendon Hotel.

Illustrated postcard of Cook County Institution at Dunning, IL (later to be called the Dunning Mental Hospital and then the Chicago State Hospital)

Boys learning carpentry during a class at an open air summer school in Chicago, as open air schools were believed to help prevent and combat the spread of tuberculosis among children.

A photograph of Chicago skyline from the Tribune Tower with the Wrigley building in the foreground, showing the heavy smog that blanketed the city in the mornings.

An aerial photograph of the city of Chicago from 1900 or 1901, titled "The Heart of Chicago".

An illustration of Briggs House (a hotel in Chicago) being raised, as the city planned to lift the buildings up by a few feet in order to install new foundations and municipal sewage systems

This is an 1880's photo of 1741 W Wrightwood in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Note the wooden sidewalk, dirt road and lack of buildings surrounding the edifice.