News

The agenda, 2012 meeting minutes, draft revisions of by-laws, and candidates for the CAA Steering Committee openings are posted in the Member's Only Forums Section

CAA Members will need to be logged into the website to access the Forum.  Click "Forgot password" if you do not remember your login information and a message will be sent to the email we have on file via your member registration information.

Stay tuned for RSVP information for the CAA Members Meeting on Tuesday, March 19th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at DePaul University, John T. Richardson Library, Room 400, 2350 N. Kenmore Avenue.

Send questions or comments to info@chicagoarchivists.org

Do you like learning about Chicago history? Would you enjoy supporting motivated students that want to share their exhibits, performances, websites, documentaries, or papers with you?

Each year, Chicago Metro History Fair students in grades 6-12 select a topic related to Chicago history, then dive deep into research to develop their own interpretation or argument which they then present for evaluation by community-minded judges. Through this research and evaluation process, students gain skills and knowledge that will carry them through high school and prep them for college work.

Please consider volunteering as a History Fair judge this year. Many CAA members (and non-members) have volunteered in the past and found it to be a very rewarding experience. There are several evening and weekend judging opportunities in March and April. No prior experience is necessary. The Chicago Metro History Education Center provides orientation on the day of the event and pairs new judges with veteran judges.

For more information and to volunteer, visit the History Fair website.

Historic photos of the Union League Club of Chicago were featured in the December issue of Sciprophily, the Journal of the International Bond & Share Society.

This past fall, the journal contacted Union League Club archivist Anita Mechler about a photo it found on eBay. In response, Mechler provided the journal with information about one of her favorite pieces of ULCC historical lore: the Million Dollar Room. This room was wallpapered by member’s “useless” stocks and bonds in 1934. The name was derived from the value of the items before the stock market crash of 1929 and further decline of the market in 1932 and 1933. The room was decommissioned in 1936 when members decided to see if their “wallpaper” was worth anything after the economy briefly recovered.

The result was an article featuring these historic photos from the Union League Club’s archives. All images Courtesy of the Union League Club of Chicago.

Top: Union League Club of Chicago member Harry Dougherty and a workman named Jake hang "wallpaper" in the Million Dollar Room.

Middle: The first meeting of Union League Club members in the Million Dollar Room, May 1934.

Bottom: The Million Dollar Room undergoes transformation to the Gold Room, May 1936.

All images Courtesy of the Union League Club of Chicago.

A star on both the stage and screen, Northwestern alumna Patricia Neal was best known for her film roles in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), and Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. A new exhibit at Northwestern University Library explores her legacy, based on the extraordinary collection of personal papers, Hollywood souvenirs, photos, and other memorabilia now held by the Northwestern University Archives.

 

Curated by Benn Joseph, Manuscript Librarian for Special Collections and Archives, the exhibit is packed with artifacts from Neal’s childhood, school life, career, family, legacy, philanthropy and celebrity. Among them are a baby book with a lock of Neal’s hair; intimate letters from Gary Cooper, whom she met while starring with him in The Fountainhead; and her Academy Awards tickets from 1964, the year she was nominated for best actress.

 

Her marriage to Roald Dahl, the celebrated author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other beloved children’s books, is chronicled in photographs of Dahl and their five children; a letter Neal wrote about Dahl’s work on James and the Giant Peach; and a profile Dahl wrote for Ladies Home Journal about Neal’s struggle to recover after her stroke. And there are letters from friends and colleagues including Paul Newman, Gene Kelly, Ronald Reagan, Anne Bancroft, Kirk Douglas, and Andy Griffith.

 

The collection, established at University Archives by Neal’s daughters Lucy and Ophelia Dahl, is “an exceptional collection, the largest collection of personal artifacts ever given to the university by a celebrity alumna,” according to University Archivist Kevin Leonard. “She made lifelong friends here who played an important role in her life,” says Leonard. “She was very fond of Northwestern.”

 

Northwestern University Library is located at 1970 Campus Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston Campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public through 22 March 2013 during the library’s regular public hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM–5:00 PM and Saturday, 8:30 AM–12:00 PM.

CAA Members - Candidates needed for Steering Committee Openings

Four positions on the Steering Committee of two year terms beginning in March 2013 and ending March 2015 are open.  Candidates will be elected by a vote of CAA members at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, March 19^th.

Service on the Steering Committee is open to all CAA members in good standing, anyone with an interest in the profession, from students to retirees, professionals and paraprofessionals in all types of archival repositories.

Qualifications include enthusiasm, initiative, and a commitment to the profession.

The Steering Committee meets monthly at a location determined by the members of the Steering Committee to:

• Establish programmatic goals for the organization

• Circulate information to and responds to the needs of the CAA members

• Represent CAA within the larger profession and to the general public

• Sets standards to ensure the sustainability of CAA

Interested CAA members should submit a brief (1-2 paragraph) Statement of Interest that will be distributed in advance of the Annual Meeting to inform the voters about your background and motivation for serving on the Steering Committee.  Send the Statement of Interest to info@chicagoarchivists.org and be sure to include your full name, title and place of work if applicable, and preferred contact phone and email address.

The Deadline to submit your Statement is Monday, February 11^th at 5pm.

Please send questions or comments to info@chicagoarchivists.org

CAA Members Meeting

Date: Tuesday March 19^th

Time: 5:30pm-7:30pm

Location: DePaul University, John T. Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 400

Stay tuned for the full agenda but please note that CAA Members in good standing will have the opportunity to vote on the following at the meeting:

CAA members to serve on the Steering CommitteeTerms for four members of the Steering Committee are ending in March 2013.  Vote for CAA members who will serve a two year term (March 2013-March 2015).  Candidates’ Statements of Interests will be shared with CAA members by February 19^th, one month prior to the Annual Members Meeting.

 

Changes to the by-lawsIf approved these changes would take effect at the close of the 2013 Members Meeting.

The CAA Steering Committee proposes the following changes to the by-laws.  The changes are all in reference to expanding the members’ ability to vote. Currently, voting can only be done in person at the Annual Meeting.  Our new membership software opens up the possibility for online voting, so we propose to change the by-laws to take advantage of options other than voting in person into account.

A pdf of “By-laws proposed changes January 2013” is posted on the CAA Website: http://chicagoarchivists.org/reports

An increase in dues. 

The last dues increase CAA members experienced was in 2004 when dues were raised from $5.00 to $10.00.  The Steering Committee is proposing to increase dues to $15.00 as we have begun to incur the following regular monthly and annual expenses: bank account fees, Wild Apricot Membership Software/Website fees, and State of Illinois annual report filing fees.  If approved this change will be take effect with payment of 2014 dues.

Please send questions or comments to info@chicagoarchivists.org

Continuing its 125th anniversary celebration, the Glessner House Museum presented The Glessners and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 16 January. Executive Director and Curator William Tyre spoke about the relationship between the Glessner family and the Orchestra and its first two music directors, Theodore Thomas and Frederick Stock.

 

Attendees had the opportunity to view the Glessner Doll Collection, on loan from the CSO’s Rosenthal Archives. On 1 January 1913, Frances Glessner Lee presented her mother with a unique and memorable birthday gift: a meticulously crafted model of the members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On 17 January, the Glessners welcomed the entire orchestra to their home for dinner and the chance to view the model.

 

To commemorate the centennial of that event, the Glessner Doll Orchestra will be on exhibit at the Glessner House Museum through Sunday, 24 February 2013. You can see the miniatures on the Rosenthal Archives blog and in an ABC7 Chicago story. Even if you’re not interested in miniature dolls, you should check out the video for the interview with Frank Villella, Archivist at the Rosenthal Archives!

Please join me in welcoming Audra Adomenas to the CAA Steering Committee.  Audra responded to our September call for CAA members to volunteer to fill the open 2012-2014 term of service position created when our colleague Heather Stecklein resigned to take a new job as University Archivist at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Audra is the Project Director of the Lithuanian Archives Project and brings a suite of skills, new ideas, and fresh enthusiasm to the Steering Committee.  Thank you Audra for joining us as we work to fulfill the mission of the CAA. 

CAA Members stay tuned for a call for volunteers to step up to fill Steering Committee positions for 2013-2015 terms of service.  Voting will take place at our Annual Members meeting in March (date, time, and location TBD). 
Questions or comments can be sent to info@chicagoarchivists.org