Abstract Correspondence, personal and career related materials, photographs, and audiovisual materials of Chicago actress, television and radio personality, and wife of critic Ashton Stevens, Kay Ashton-Stevens.

Abstract This Madison, Wisconsin dance school was founded by dancer Frederick W. Kehl in 1880. Kehl's Dancing Academy introduced thousands to the art of dance throughout Wisconsin, and the school is currently in its 4th generation of dancers and dance teachers from the Kehl family. Records include dance routines created by Leo Kehl and others, programs, photographs, school records, and information about Leo Kehl and Edna Christensen's involvement with the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters.

Abstract Documents, photographs and artifacts reflecting the history of the dance and theater schools founded and run by the Chicago Krassner sisters, both in Illinois and California, from 1924 to 1978. Includes letters, announcements, clippings, cue cards, instruction sheets and scripts, programs, miscellaneous memorabilia and a large collection of photographs. Also, a history of the Krassner schools by the son of Blossom Krassner, Paul J. Hartman, and artifacts consisting of a videocassette, two...

Abstract Collection of papers pertaining to the Iowa League of Women Voters and one of its members, Mrs. Lanche Wolf, of Charles City, Iowa. Included are the constitution and by-laws of the Iowa League of Women Voters; correspondence, membership cards, programs, and financial plans.

Abstract Published and mimeographed ballet, tap and novelty dance routines, probably belonging to the LaRayne School of Dancing and/or choreographers and teachers Marion Freeman, Jack Manning and the Del-Wrights. Includes catalogs for the yearly conventions of the Chicago Association of Dancing Masters, 1930-1936, and for summer sessions at the Chicago Teachers College, 1939-1947. Also, the script for a children’s musical play.

Abstract Original artwork for eight children’s books by Chicago illustrator and author Laura Bannon.

Abstract Journalism, research materials, and personal papers of Chicago journalist Lily Pagratis Venson, who wrote for Lerner Newspapers from 1963 to 1973. The papers include feature stories and editorials written by Venson as well as feature stories and editorials about her and her journalism. The papers also contain her research materials for ongoing stories she covered during her time at Lerner Newspapers: the Edgewater Golf Club land crusade and the demolition of the Edgewater Beach Hotel. She...

Abstract Lois Wille was a pioneering Chicago woman journalist, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Material includes framed original cartoons from cartoonists John Fischetti, Nicole Hollander, Morrie Brickman, and Jeff MacNelly.

Abstract Correspondence, clippings, programs, photographs, and memorabilia of a Chicago pianist and poet. Robuck was active in many arts clubs in Chicago and, later, in Los Angeles, including the Chicago Musical Arts Club (which she founded), the Chicago Women's Club, the Poets Forum, the Women's Club of Hollywood, and others. Programs, documents, and correspondence regarding these organizations are included in the collection. Also included are memorabilia and sheet music of Chicago composers B. Bristow...

Abstract Family letters in Swedish to Lotten Augusta Lenander (1884-1968) who emigrated from Sweden to Boston, Massachusetts in 1910, and married Redington Decormis in 1944. Variously identified as a physician, an electrotherapist, and a physiotherapist, Lotten received letters from her Swedish family throughout her life.

Abstract Works (books, reviews, and articles), correspondence (including fan mail), teaching materials, scrapbooks, photographs, and memorabilia documenting the dance, theater, arts writing, interview, broadcast and teaching work of Lucia Mauro. Also contains items documenting her childhood and youth, including her early dance career and coursework in high school and college.

Abstract Six letters by Lucy Monroe Calhoun and three by her husband, William J. Calhoun (U.S. Minister to China, 1909-1913), regarding their experiences in China during the last years of the Qing Dynasty, which includes a description of the December 1922 wedding of Emperor Puyi. Another letter relates Monroe’s visit to Le Mans, France, the American Red Cross embarkation camp at the end of World War I. Also, a newspaper clipping and a photograph of Emperor Puyi as a child.

Abstract Tear sheets and full copies of magazines and articles written and/or edited by journalist Madelin Wexler, who worked for Chicago-based trade magazines Institutions, and Hotels & Restaurants International, through various name and design style changes. Also includes correspondence and information about "The Bombay Bicycle Club," a dinner club that began as a fictional club but actually came into being in New York, California, and Arizona in the early 1960s.

Abstract Published articles, clippings, correspondence, and manuscript drafts written by Chicago freelance journalist Marcia Slater Johnston. Dating from the 1970s, Johnston’s work covers issues such as immigration, gangs, sex trafficking, women’s justice, medicine, and consumer issues. Also includes audiocassettes of radio shows featuring Johnston and her articles.

Abstract Letters of Margaret “Maggie” Hampton Steele to her cousin and future husband Silas W. Hampton, primarily from 1859 and 1860. They are written from Terre Haute, Indiana, where she attended the Female College (1859), and from her family's residences in Grandview, Illinois, and later Topeka, Kansas. Steele’s minister father moved his family to Kansas in support of the free-state faction, settling in Topeka as minister of the First Presbyterian Church. Letters discuss her courtship with Silas, her...

Abstract Issues of Chicago Daily News's magazine "Chicago Life" from 1960-1962, the tenure of Margaret (Marge) Silsbee Herguth, staff writer, assistant editor, and editor of the magazine.

Abstract Typewritten essays presented at meetings of the Winnetka Fortnightly, 1930s-1950s, an essay presented to the Mary Noble Club in Kenwood, ca. 1905, plus a scrapbook of childhood poetry and a literary newspaper dating from 1894, some collected early poetry (collected in 1914), volumes of verse written during the 1920s, copies of her poetry published in the Chicago Daily News and the Ladies' Home Journal.

Abstract Material relating to the career of Chicago dancer Margot Grimmer, including clippings, advertising items, programs, a few miscellaneous incoming letters, and numerous photographs.

Abstract Papers of Marion Cummings (1876-1926), a teacher, philosopher, and poet, which include both her works and a collection of letters and works of American poet Sara Teasdale.

Abstract Letters from Martha Friedberg to illustrator and book artist Caryl Seidenberg. Most letters concern their Vixen Press collaboration "Water poem and others" and about 10 poems by Friedberg. Poems include: Hans, Writing the poem, Ritual in the meadow, Old photograph, The grandparent poem, For Alice Wormser Asher 1884-1920, and The long boat; also includes untitled poems and an additional copy of Ritual in the meadow.

Abstract Material relating to the friendship between Clarence Darrow and journalist Mary Field Parton, which includes sixty-one of his letters to her, several other letters, short articles by Darrow, clippings, and photographs. Included are numerous transcripts of Darrow's letters, a biographical sketch of Parton, and excerpts from her journal that refer to Darrow, all done by Parton's daughter Margaret Parton (Hussey).

Abstract Original work, reproductions of work, correspondence and subject files of Chicago artist Mary Gehr.

Abstract Correspondence, diaries, notes and works of writer Mary Hartwell Catherwood. Also, a few photographs, clippings and articles relating to Catherwood.

Abstract A journal kept by Mary Sackett when she and her family emigrated from New York state to Laona, Winnebago County, Illinois, 1841-1842, three numbers of a manuscript pioneer newspaper with original work done by members of an Illinois reading circle in 1849, a recipe for taffy, some penmanship exercises and two colored drawings. Also, photocopies of genealogical material relating to the Sackett family collected in 1945.

Abstract Ephemera collection related to the college and music career of soprano Maude Maury Lawrence, an Illinois signer and performer who formed a traveling troupe during the World War I era. Includes correspondence, travel itineraries and ephemera, programs, state fair passes, tickets, and business cards.