Tag: Des Plaines Public Library

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New IDHH Collections from Des Plaines Public Library

With our most recent harvest, the IDHH has added nine new collections! Today we’re highlighting two collections from the Des Plaines Public Library: City of Destiny and Greetings from Des Plaines.

City of Destiny features items that tell the story of Des Plaines’s governmental growth from a nineteenth-century village to a modern city. These items include governmental and public buildings, portraits of elected officials, newspaper clippings, events such as planting trees for Arbor Day, and even sheet music with fifty reasons that “You Will Like Des Plaines!”

Printed title page of the Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines that were passed on December 7, 1885.
Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines [page 2]. 1886. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Second page of sheet music for the song You Will Like Des Plaines that includes a list of 50 reason why people like Des Plaines.
You Will Like Des Plaines, Sheet Music [page 2]. 1924. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Greetings from Des Plaines is a collection of postcards, featuring buildings and scenic views in Des Plaines as well as Chicago. Though some postcards are unsent and blank, many are postmarked with stories of the people who sent and received them.

Postcard image of storefronts on historic Main Street in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Main Street W. from Pearson Street. c. 1900. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.

Postcard image of the Des Plaines Public Library in 1916.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [front]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Postmarked postcard with handwritten note.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [back]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library. The postcard sender hopes to see the recipient soon, to share some “pretty useful” crochet patterns.

Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view more postcards from the Greetings from Des Plaines collection, or to browse all items from Des Plaines Public Library.

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The IDHH Welcomes Back the Des Plaines Public Library!

We are so excited to welcome the Des Plaines Public Library back to the IDHH! The Des Plaines Public Library has added five new collections to Des Plaines Memory: Life During COVID-19; On the Streets of Des Plaines, 1915; Life During Wartime; We Mean Business; and Sports & Recreation. Des Plaines Memory is an online archive of locally sourced photographs, documents, and memorabilia related to the City of Des Plaines, with contributions from the Des Plaines History Center, the Des Plaines Park District, and individuals in the community. 

Although all of these collections are amazing, my favorite is On the Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Contributed by the Des Plaines History Center, this is a stunning collection of candid photographs made from glass plate negatives that were taken in downtown Des Plaines, circa 1915, by an unidentified photographer. My favorite part about this collection is the lack of formally posed photographs. I feel like it gives us a valuable insight into what daily life actually looked like, rather than what a select few people wanted the world to believe it looked like.  

Here are a few of our favorite images from the full On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915 collection: 

black and white photo yellowed with age of three women entering a post office.
Des Plaines Post Office, circa 1915. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo close-up of two women in front of a brick wall.
Two women in Des Plaines. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo yellowed with age of a woman in the distant background standing in front of laundry hanging on a line.
Woman hanging laundry. Circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo yellowed with age of a toddler on a wheeled contraption with an adult holding the pull-along bar.
Child on wheeled contraption. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo yellowed with age of two men walking down the street on a sidewalk currently in front of a delicatessen.
Men walking on Ellinwood Street. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo yellowed with age of four men standing in the doorway of a barber shop.
Barber shop on Miner Street. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 
black and white photo yellowed with age of a woman and young girl standing outside of a tobacco shop.
Shops on Ellinwood Street. circa 1915. Des Plaines Public Library. On The Streets of Des Plaines, 1915. Courtesy of Des Plaines Public Library. 

View the full On the Streets of Des Plaines, 1915 collection on the IDHH. 

View more items from the Des Plaines Public Library on the IDHH. 

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Welcome Des Plaines Memory!

The IDHH welcomes the Des Plaines Public Library as a new stand-alone contributor. For years, the Des Plaines Public Library has contributed content through the Illinois Digital Archives. Now, Des Plaines provides over 1200 additional items through their own digital library, Des Plaines Memory, including hundreds of photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, and more that document the diverse history, people, and cultures of the city.
Des Plaines Memory includes a range of artifacts documenting life, history, and culture in the town of Des Plaines. This includes a big arts scene, local musicians, painters, writers, dancers, and many others. Many artists celebrate rich, multicultural heritage.

Des Plaines’ collection boast a rich record of the distant past as well, including diaries from the Civil War.¹ This collection boasts several objects, including journals and images and is growing, and is a truly remarkable addition to the many Civil War artifacts available in IDHH collections.

Black and white photograph of Charles E. Bennett, bearded, wearing a dark overcoat.
Portrait of Chester E. Bennett. 1890. Des Plaines Public Library. Des Plaines Memory. Permission to display was given by Des Plaines Public Library.

In addition to the Civil War diaries, Des Plaines Memory holds a host of content related to wartime in the U.S. The collection includes images and documents from both World Wars, the Korean War, Vietnam, and more recent conflicts and commemorations. There are also numerous images and documents pertaining to the McDonnell Douglas factory once located in Des Plaines. The images below depict men and women who served in World War I and World War II.

Finally, Des Plaines memory includes selected works of local artist, Edward Dougal (1937-2016).¹ Dougal was a versatile artist with expertise in several forms and a host of media. He was a painter, sculptor, wood worker, and a writer and illustrator of children’s books. His pieces incorporating mirrors are among the most interesting, some of which are featured below.

¹Editor’s Note, 09/2024: These items no longer exist in the IDHH.