LABOR HISTORY MANUSCRIPTS IN THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

The article lists the labor history holdings contained in the Archives and Manuscripts Department of the Chicago Historical Society. Established in 1856, the city's oldest cultural institution, the Chicago Historical Society, collects, preserves, and interprets the history of Chicago and selected aspects of American history through exhibitions, research collections, educational programs, and publications. Some 200,000 people view the Society's exhibitions and attend its programs annually, 10000 more use its library and various archival research collections. The Archives and Manuscripts Department holds about 14,000 linear feet of records on the city's history from its earliest days to the present, along with selected materials on the American Civil War, the American Revolution, Illinois prior to the Civil War, and other aspects of American history. Materials of and about labor unions and working people are an important segment of the Society's holdings and an active area of collecting efforts. Labor history holdings include large archival collections from major American trade unions along with scattered individual items and small collections, the great majority of them emanating from the Chicago area.