Research Guides and Other Resources

Visiting the Abakanowicz Research Center

Admission is free. We encourage you to email research@chicagohistory.org to ensure that an on-site visit is best for your needs.

Please present a valid driver's license, state-issued identification card, or passport at the Ticket Desk when you arrive.

Spring Hours (January 2–May 25): Tuesday-Friday: 12:00-3:30 p.m., Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Summer Hours (May 28–August 30): Tuesday-Friday: 12:00-3:30 p.m.

The Abakanowicz Research Center requires visitors to wear masks. We thank you in advance for helping us maintain a safe environment for staff and visitors. Learn more about the Museum’s safety policies and procedures.

Featured Image

Broadside for the South Shore Line titled Spring in the Dunes, 1929. Chicago History Museum, ICHi-027104; Otto Brennemann, artist.

View more highlights from the Broadsides collection or search ARCHIE for addtional Broadside topical headings

Searching ARCHIE

Here are a few helpful tips for navigating the online catalog, ARCHIE:

Using the search bar at the top will allow you do various types of searches throughout all the Chicago History Museum's research collections. The drop-down menus will allow you to limit your search by types of materials and/or which fields are being searched.

You can also narrow your search by putting the word or phrase in quotations, which will return the exact spelling of your search term(s). You can also use the advanced search option to specify "exact phrase," as well as limit your search by material type, or search across specific fields like title or author.

ARCHIE does not search full text, but searches the descriptive information in the catalog record. You may need to think of a broader search term and when you find a useful source, look to the subject headings used in that record to find more related materials.

If an item has been digitized, there will be a link at the top of the record. If you would like to see an item that you find which has not been digitized, you can either visit us in person and request the item, or you can request a photocopy or a scan of the item. If you'd rather search directly for only digitized items use the links to the right under "Digital Items."

More information on how to navigate ARCHIE can be found in this LibGuide and in the video below.

Search for More

Chicago History Museum has many items that are found in places other than ARCHIE.

To run a more complete search of Archives and Manuscripts collections, search the Finding Aids Collection in CARLI Digital Collections. You can also type your search term and "site:chsmedia.org" into any search engine, which searches across our legacy finding aids and inventories.

Use the links below to look for different types of materials in other databases.

Many of these other systems have FAQs or guides to help you, but you can always email us with questions.