Abstract Square dance historian and collector Donna Rodgers is the daughter and the wife of professional square dance callers, and a lifelong enthusiast. Formerly a part of the Crossing Trails Square Dance Heritage Society, an organization created by Donna and Duane Rodgers, the collection includes correspondence, organizational documents, books, magazines, photographs, recordings, videotapes, art work, and artifacts.

Abstract Scrapbook, loose pamphlets, and a pin owned by Rose Gartner (Mrs. George W.) Payson (1876-1946). Payson was active in several Chicago women's clubs, including being the treasurer of the Associated Clubs of Woodlawn and chairman of the public welfare department of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs in the 1910s. Women's suffrage and temperance were two of her causes, and the pin is her local chairman pin and ribbon from the 8th annual National Convention of the League of Women Voters in...

Abstract Two manuscript sketchbooks created by artists, commentators, poets, newspapermen, and other writers who were members of a small and informal Chicago club, the Round Table, documenting the social and political climates in Chicago and the United States during the Great Depression. In addition to Renier Wyers, club members included James A. Barnes, Finney Briggs, William L. Griffin, Henry Hammer, Edmond Hayes, Eugene Murdock, Edwin Prehm, Kurt Stein, Lowell H. Truettner, and E. C. Woodward.

Abstract Two journals by Mrs. Jane Rowley of the Chicago area, including descriptions of family and farming life, and various trips to Chicago and elsewhere.

Abstract Ruth Ann Koesun was born in Chicago and studied dance with Chicago teachers Edna Lucile Baum and Bentley Stone and Walter Camryn. She joined American Ballet Theatre in 1946, and retired from ABT as principal dancer in 1969. Papers include programs, publicity, and films highlighting Koesun's dance career.

Abstract Correspondence, clippings, and calligraphic works by Ruth Justus, an American calligrapher who taught at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. The bulk of incoming correspondence from 1958 to 1962 relates to a book calligraphed by Justus titled “This is Minnesota” and reader responses to newspaper articles about learning calligraphy.

Abstract Small collection of memorabilia, photographs and performance programs and announcements of Ruth Kilbourn, who ran a dance studio in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1940s. Includes a pair of toe shoes

Abstract Ruth Levy, who performed as a dancer with the Pavley/Oukrainsky Junior Ballet, received a master’s degree in photography at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1972. This collection includes her slides, negatives, proof sheets, and prints of dancers in several companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the American Ballet Theatre, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Joffrey Ballet, the New York City Ballet, and the Ruth Page Chicago Ballet among others. Some of these photographs were...

Abstract Family histories of the Dahlgren and Redstrom families, correspondence, photographs, Greek menus and travelogues, and newspaper clippings of Ruth Nelson Redstrom's "One Woman's View" column. All materials relating to Ruth Nelson Redstrom, teacher and writer, from 1930 to transcriptions and reproductions from 2011.

Abstract Records of the Ruth Page Foundation, a cultural non-profit organization committed to the education, promotion, and presentation of dance in Chicago. Founded by Ruth Page in 1970, the Foundation continues to support a number of dance initiatives. Includes administrative, personnel, financial, and publicity materials for both the Foundation and the Ruth Page School of Dance.

Abstract Personal papers of dancer and choreographer Ruth Page. Materials include correspondence, choreographic and technical notes, address books, programs, press clippings and scrapbooks, journals writings, photographs, business records, audio recordings, and musical scores. Featured dance works include The Bells, Carmen, Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Frankie and Johnny, and Billy Sunday.

Abstract Scrapbook of Ballet dancer Ruth Pryor, born in Chicago in 1906, who began her career in vaudeville as half of the team of "Gardel and Pryor." By 1929 she had become the premier danseuse of the Chicago Civic Opera, and appeared as the first American ballerina to be the Swan Queen in a special production of Swan Lake. The scrapbook includes many newspaper clippings, and a few articles and programs.

Abstract Biographical material, clippings, and two videotapes documenting the career of Sandra Zuckerman Pesmen, journalist and author. Pesmen started out as a reporter and features writer for Lerner Newspapers in the 1950s, then joined the Chicago Daily News and later became the first features editor for Crain's Chicago Business, spanning 1978-1990. She wrote the monthly "Executive Woman" column for North Shore magazine for many years.

Abstract Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, clippings, publicity, and published books of the author of Chicago-based detective novels featuring V. I. Warshawski, a female private investigator.

Abstract Papers of attorney and activist Scott Kayla Morrison mostly pertaining to Mississippi Choctaw Indians, and including Constitutions, legal documents, and Morrison's MA thesis.

Abstract Correspondence, writing, photographs, and mementos of a Chicago working woman and poet, Selma Walden. Also writings by family members, including extensive biographical writings by and about those family members.

Abstract Malkind, a Chicago photojournalist, worked for the Ruth Page Foundation from 1981 to 1992. Her photographs primarily feature cultural life in Chicago, dance and performing arts events, as well as her personal life. The collection also includes clippings, correspondence, publicity materials, written work by Malkind and Ruth Page, and audio recordings.

Abstract Sister Romana Hertel, born Gertrude Hertel, entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in 1933, working as a music instructor in various Catholic schools. She earned her doctorate in musicology and became head of the music department at Cardinal Stritch University.

Abstract Genealogies, publications, photographs, armories, letters, and documents pertaining to the family histories and forebears of Edward Byron Smith, former chairman of the Northern Trust Corporation of Chicago, and of his wife, Louise Dewey Smith. Papers also include documents pertaining to Northern Trust's founding by Smith's grandfather, Byron Laflin Smith, and the family's ongoing relationship to the corporation.

Abstract Collection of materials from Amy and Fitch Stacy of Stacyville, Iowa, including two friendship autograph albums, one journal, one pocket diary, and other materials from the family. The bulk of the materials date from the 1860s and document life in Iowa, family, and motherhood. Amy Stacy would later become one of the founding leaders of the Washington State women’s movement.

Abstract Correspondence, estate papers, family records, farm related accounts, diaries, cards, scrapbooks, yearbooks, oral histories, and photographs of the Steele and Winters families. Both families were early homesteaders and farmers in rural northwestern Illinois, settling in and around Bureau, Sangamon, and Winnebago Counties in Illinois in the early 1800s. Their extended families continue to live and farm in these areas to the present day.

Abstract Stella Roberts (1899-1988) was a professor of music theory and composition at the American Conservatory of Music for 55 years. She was a student of famed musical pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, and co-wrote "A Handbook of Modal Counterpoint" (New York: Free Press, 1967) with Irwin Fischer. Along with classes in Harmony, Theory, and Musicology, Roberts also taught extensively on Contemporary Music. Papers include course outlines, lesson plans, musical examples for teaching, and speeches. Four...

Abstract Three disbound scrapbooks compiled by Stella Skiff Jannotta for her youngest son, Joseph Edwin Jannotta, in the early 1930s. Titled, “The Evolution of a Man: Joseph Edwin Jannotta, His Story in Pictures,” the volumes contain a variety of materials including photographs, correspondence, clippings, programs, and family histories along with Stella Jannotta’s extensive handwritten annotations. Also includes separated materials related to the family and the founding of Jewel Tea Company by the Skiff...

Abstract Letters, World War II-era memorabilia, journals, clippings, manuscripts and photographs pertaining to Marguerite Deville Chabrol Storrs (1881-1959), a successful fiction and non-fiction writer who used the pseudonym "Marc Debrol." Also included are letters and materials related to the Deville Chabrol family, including correspondence between family members present during the Franco-Prussian War and the colonization of Algeria. Additionally, collection includes genealogical information about the...

Abstract Letters, illustration samples, telegram, and photograph, dated between July 21, 1939 and Jan. 28, 1965, concerning the illustration work done by Susanne Suba of New York, for William A. Kittredge, of R.R. Donnelley's Lakeside Press, and the Chicago book design and publishing scene in general during the 1940s.