Chicago Municipal Records Guide

This Chicago Public Library web page features biographies and inaugural speeches from Chicago's mayors, starting with William B. Ogden who served as Chicago's first mayor from 1837-1838.

Search results for digitized images of Chicago mayors hosted on the Chicago Collections Consortium site.

Michael A. Bilandic served as the 49th Mayor of Chicago from 1976-1979. This collection includes minutes and reports of the Chicago City Council, Bilandic's personal notes and information he gathered in preparation for City Council meetings and hearings, correspondence between Bilandic and fellow alderman, Mayor Daley, interested parties, and citizens. The collection also contains newspaper clippings and other published accounts regarding issues important to the city council and a number of materials and documents regarding his various political campaigns.

Frank J. Corr served as the 35th mayor of Chicago, 1933. He was the acting mayor of Chicago in 1933 following the assassination of Mayor Anton Cermak. The collection includes a disbound scrapbook (1933-1934) containing newspaper clippings about Frank J. Corr, a Chicago lawyer, and his terms as alderman of Chicago's 17th Ward (South Englewood, West Englewood and North Auburn Gresham neighborhoods) and, briefly, as acting mayor of Chicago after the assassination of Anton Cermak.

William E. Dever served as the 42nd mayor of Chicago, from 1923-1927. The collection includes correspondence, speeches and other materials related to Prohibition and the operation of Chicago government, including police and fire departments, Board of Education, civil service, finance, mass transit, public utilities, public welfare, and zoning, and Democratic Party strategies.

Carter Henry Harrison IV served as the 40th mayor of Chicago, from 1911-1915. The collection includes correspondence, writings, clippings, photographs, and memorabilia relating to Chicago Mayor Carter Henry Harrison IV (1860-1953), and his family, particularly his wife, Edith Ogden Harrison, and his father, Chicago Mayor Carter Henry Harrison III (1825-1893).

Edward J. Kelly served as the 46th mayor of Chicago, from 1933-1947. The Mayor Edward J. Kelly Collection consists of digitized fragments of newsreels depicting the construction of the State Street subway tunnel in 1939, the re-election of Kelly as mayor in 1939, the opening of a WWII service men's center in Chicago in 1942, and the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Thomas E. Dewey in 1944. The collection also includes a short campaign advertisement for Kelly's re-election in 1939.

Martin H. Kennelly served as the 47th mayor of Chicago, from 1947-1955. The papers consist primarily of speeches, correspondence, and newspaper clippings from Kennelly's three campaigns for the Chicago mayoralty and his eight years in office, from 1947-1955.

Public relations photographs of mayors Harold Washington and Eugene Sawyer.

Richard J. Daley served as the 48th mayor of Chicago, from 1955-1976. The collection contains a wide variety of formats including documents, publications, ephemera, memorabilia, artifacts, and photographs dating from 1870-2010.

Contains in-depth explanation of series and sub-series.

This collection contains materials that relate to Daley's life and career and is meant to supplement the Richard J. Daley Collection. The materials include speeches, ephemera, and other memorabilia.

This digitized collection contains transcripts from over 50 interviews from people who knew Richard J. Daley.

Earl Bush (1915-2006) served as Mayor Richard J. Daley's press secretary and speech writer from 1955 to 1973. These papers consist of items created during his tenure with Mayor Daley and later years. They include background materials, memoranda, newspaper clippings, press releases, reports, and speeches.

Richard L. Curry served as assistant corporation counsel (1956-1970) and corporation counsel (1970-1974) under Mayor Richard J. Daley. The collection contains office and work documents, as well as, press concerning Mayor Richard J. Daley’s career as collected by Curry throughout the years.

László Kondor was the official photographer for Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley from 1972 to 1976. This digitized collection includes Kondor's photographic prints, negatives, and contact sheets of people, places, and events connected with the mayor.

Richard M. Daley served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, from 1989-2011. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, news releases, newspaper clippings, speeches, reports, photographs, audiovisual recordings, digital media, artifacts and ephemera.

Contains in-depth description of series and sub-series.

This collection contains photographs, correspondence, posters, audio-visual material, and ephemera, such as campaign buttons, mailers, and political advertisements--all of which the University of Illinois at Chicago acquired from different sources.

This digitized collection contains oral history interviews from family, friends, coworkers, and critics of Richard M. Daley, who served as Chicago's mayor from 1989 to 2011. Peter Cunningham, a friend of Mayor Daley who worked for him as a speechwriter, conducted the interviews from around 2017 to 2019.

Eugene Sawyer served as the 53rd mayor of Chicago, from 1987-1989. The Eugene Sawyer Mayoral Records range from 1980 to 1989 and document the tenure of Eugene Sawyer as mayor of Chicago from December 1987 to April 1989. Some material appears from Harold Washington's tenure as well.

Public relations photographs of Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer with groups of people and individuals in his office or at other locations.

The photographs in this small collection were taken by Tony Rhoden and feature events attended and headlined by then Alderman Eugene Sawyer.

Harold Washington served as the 51st mayor of Chicago, from 1983-1987. The collections include his mayoral and congressional papers.

Steve Askin was Harold Washington's Communications Director during his unsuccessful run for mayor in 1977. In addition to information about Washington's positions on key issues, there is significant documentation of the immediate aftermath of the loss, including a report, written by Askin, assessing the situation and how to move forward. Of particular note are the files marked "Police Surveillance/Red Squad" which Harold Washington requested and obtained.

In 1982-1983, Pennick was a participant in the Women's Task Force created by the Committee to Elect Harold Washington. This working group generated a study that was incorporated into the Washington Transition Committee report and evolved into the Office of Women's Affairs during Mayor Harold Washington's administration. Mayor Washington appointed Pennick to the Chicago Police Board in 1983.

Jane Ramsey served in Mayor Harold Washington's cabinet as Director of Community Relations (1986-1988) and served as Executive Director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Her papers represent her work in Washington's administration and his campaigns for Mayor, with an emphasis on Jewish voters.

Mary Ella Smith, fiancée to Mayor Harold Washington, took over as head of the Harold Washington Foundation after his untimely death in 1987. Her papers include programs, flyers, newspaper clippings, photographs and memorabilia. [Partially processed]

The Loisteen Walker Collection contains materials acquired by Walker during her time working with, and for, Harold Washington's mayoral campaigns and administration.

Collection of video recordings and accompanying transcripts of interviews about Chicago Mayor Harold Washington that were conducted by Jeff Spitz at ABC Studios for the Chicago Historical Society.

Publicity photographs of Mayor Harold Washington of Chicago.