University Archives
Library

Mission Statement

The mission of the Roosevelt University Archives is to preserve and promote the institutional memory of Roosevelt University and its predecessor or related intuitions by collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and providing access to historical materials in a variety of formats.  The RU Archives assists faculty, staff, students, alumni, and scholars by making these items available for research either on site or electronically and by promoting the historical collections through exhibits, special programs, and by assisting faculty to incorporate historical materials into their curricula.

Hours

The Roosevelt University Archives is located in the Murray-Green Library on the Downtown Campus and is available by appointment from 8:00-4:00, Monday through Friday (except university holidays).  Please contact University Archivist Laura Mills at lmills@roosevelt.edu or 312-341-2280 or Archives Specialist Michael Gabriel at mgabriel@roosevelt.edu or 312-341-3645 for more information.

Online Catalog

Although most of the collection is currently unprocessed, we are working to make the collection available online.  To search our online database click here.  You can also see a special collection of artifacts related to Franklin Roosevelt at Remembering FDR.

Archives Blog

Check out what’s going on in the Archives on the Archives Blog.

Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC)

Roosevelt University is a participating member in the BMRC. For more information click here.

Collections

The Roosevelt University Archives consists of four main collections:

• The Auditorium Theatre Collection – currently housed in the historic Auditorium Theatre, this collection contains records of the operations of the Auditorium Theatre and a large collection of playbills.

• The Center for New Deal Studies Collection – this collection includes two accessions of artifacts and ephemera relating to Franklin Roosevelt (see Remembering FDR) and the papers of Albert Lepawsky relating to the New Deal.

• The Chicago Musical College Collection – sheet music, recordings, and documents relating to the Chicago Musical College, founded in 1868, which later merged with the Chicago College of the Performing Arts.

• The Roosevelt University Collection – which documents the founding and operations of Roosevelt University, its faculty, staff, alumni, and predecessor organizations.  Some record groups in this collection include:

 

Ø  The Chicago Auditorium Association (1886-1931) – documents the operations of the association which ran the Auditorium Hotel and Offices

 

Ø  Oral History Project in Labor History
In 1970, Elizabeth Balanoff received an NEH grant to conduct and transcribe a series of interviews with individuals in the Chicago area who were involved in the labor movement.  For a description of the topics covered by these transcripts, click click Oral History Project in Labor History

 

Ø  Speech Collection – containing texts of speeches delivered at Roosevelt University or by Roosevelt University staff or faculty

 

Ø  Biographical and Correspondence Collections – these two collections contain information about and correspondence of RU staff, faculty, founders, and trustees

 

Ø  Photo Collection – the RU Archives has thousands and photos of the Auditorium Building and of the people and events of Roosevelt University

 

 

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