Illinois History Research Guide

Bibliographies
General Works
Sites & Landmarks
Magazines & Journals

Illinois History Sites
Chicago History Sites
Topic-Shopping for a Chicago History Project
Other Regional Sites

Finding Other Illinois and Local History Resources

Books, Magazines and Journals
The following books, magazines and journals are good starting points for your research and can be found in library's collection. Click on a book's title to view the catalog record.
Note that reference works cannot be checked out and must be used in the library.

Bibliographies

Illinois History: An Annotated Bibliography
REF Z1277 .W47 1995 (Reference)
A list of books about Illinois history, organized chronologically and by subject. Prepared under the auspices of the Illinois State Historical Library and the Illinois State Historical Society.

Also see Finding Other Illinois & Local History Resources

General Works

Encyclopedia of Illinois -- Includes bibliographical references and index.
REF F539 .E52 1994 (Reference)

Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois -- The history of Chicago and Cook County, with biographies.
REF F547.C7 B3 (Reference)

The hoofs and guns of the storm: Chicago's Civil War connections

Hollywood on Lake Michigan: 100 years of Chicago & the movies

Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide -- Compiled and written by the Federal Writer's Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Illinois. The library has both the original 1939 version and the 1951 revised edition.
Illinois Facts
REF F521 .I44 (Reference)
"A comprehensive look at Illinois today, county by county."

Also see Finding Other Illinois & Local History Resources

Sites and Landmarks

Chicago Landmarks, 1980 -- Documentation of the landmarks of Chicago, as designated by the City Council of Chicago. Includes index.
REF F548.37 .C693 1980 (Reference)

Brevet's Illinois Historical Markers and Sites -- Reference and Circulating copies are available.

Directory of Illinois Museums -- Includes historical, cultural, and scientific agencies.
REF AM12.I3 D57 2002 (Reference)

Also see Finding Other Illinois & Local History Resources

Magazines and Journals

Illinois Heritage -- A publication of the Illinois State Historical Society. Fall 1997 through the current issue.

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society -- Spring 1953 through the current issue.

Chicago History -- A publication of the Chicago Historical Society. Fall 1945 through the current issue.

Also see Finding Other Illinois & Local History Resources

Subscription Databases
The library offers history specific databases, but the general academic databases also contain articles from History Review, History Today, History, Historical Methods and other historical journals.

Search for a specific journal title here, or try searching any of the following.

Britannica Online
Expanded Academic ASAP
Academic Search Premier
SIRS Researcher

The Digital Sanborn Insurance Maps were created to assist fire insurance companies. The map series are accurate at street- and plot-level, and maps of Illinois from around 1895 through around 1930 (depending on the area) are offered.

Web Sites
The following sites offer information about a wide range of history topics, including digital archives of primary source material.
It is always best to critically evaluate a site before using the information is offers.

Illinois History Sites

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Illinois State Archives -- The Illinois State Archives serves by law as the depository of public records of Illinois state and local governmental agencies which possess permanent administrative, legal, or historical research values. Its collections do not include manuscript, newspaper, or other nonofficial sources. Includes Descriptive Inventories of the Archives' Holdings and online resources such as select Lincoln documents, the Database of Illinois Servitude and Emancipation Records and other online Illinois genealogical databases.

Illinois History Research Page -- Maintained by Mark Sorenson of the Illinois State Archives, this site includes links to a wide range of current and historical Illinois resources, including educational, historical and cultural institutions. Includes Illinois Native Americans, women, labor, maps, chronologies, customs, vital statistics, and more.

Digital Past -- From the North Suburban Library System. Digitized collections of historical documents held by NSLS member libraries.

"Land of Lincoln" -- llinois' state slogan

Lincoln's Home in Springfield -- National Park Service

Abraham Lincoln Online

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Lincoln Documents Online -- llinois State Archives

Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library -- Library of Congress

Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project -- Lincoln/Net presents historical materials from Abraham Lincoln's Illinois years (1830-1861).

Chicago History Sites

WWW Virtual Library Chicago History -- This comprehensive site includes links to Chicago maps, photographs, images, associations, universities, museums, and archives covering Chicago history.

Chicago Subject Guide -- From DePaul University.

Chicago History Museum

Chicago: City of the Century -- Companion site for the PBS "American Experience" show on Chicago. Includes maps, photographs, video, trivia quiz, teacher's guide, and more.

Encyclopedia of Chicago -- Thousands of historical resources including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers.

Jazz Age Chicago -- Urban leisure from 1893 to 1945.

Photographs from the Chicago Daily News: 1902-1933 -- From the Library of Congress in collaboration with the Chicago Historical Society. Over 55,000 images of urban life taken between 1902 and 1933 by photographers employed by the Chicago Daily News. Search by keyword or browse by subject.

Topic-Shopping for a Chicago History project? The following sites may help:

Information on Chicago's History to 1900 from DePaul University

Information on Chicago's History after 1900 from DePaul University

Other Regional Sites

The South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society

Finding Other Illinois and Local History Resources

Search the Library's catalog by Author
For example, a search for works by Sandburg, Carl will find his works on Abraham Lincoln.

Societies and Libraries also publish authoritative material. For example:

The Illinois State Historical Society
The Illinois State Historical Library
The Chicago History Museum

Search the library's catalog (PAC) by Subject Heading
For a general search, try using such headings as:

Illinois History
Fires -Illinois
Chicago (IL)-History
Cook County (IL)

For specific events or people, try using the name in a subject heading search. For example:

Haymarket
Black Hawk War
Pullman Strike
Democratic National Convention. (1968 : Chicago, IL)
Daley Richard J. Note that a subject heading search using an individual's name will find works about that individual.

Search the library's catalog (PAC) by Keywords -- This is also called a "Words in Record" search. You can search by a single term, such as Labor Movement. Try combining key search terms, such as Labor Movement AND Chicago or History AND Illinois AND Women. Search tip: it's important to separate the terms by the word AND.

Search the Library's Subscription Databases

Librarians and other Library staff will gladly assist you in using the many sources for history research. Do not hesitate to ask them for assistance at any point in your search.