Quick Links: Special Collections Research Center
- Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research CenterHome page for the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, where Chicago Jazz Archive materials are housed and used. Email Special Collections
- University of Chicago Library: Finding AidsSearch all Special Collections online finding aids.
- Chicago Jazz Archive Finding AidsSearchable contents listings of Chicago Jazz Archive collections.
- Contact Special Collections Reference StaffAsk Special Collections Reference Staff for assistance with CJA materials. They can help to arrange a research visit and answer questions about CJA collections and materials.
- Setting up a Special Collections reader accountReader accounts let researchers request materials materials prior to a visit.
- UChicago Maps | Parking: North CampusNorth Campus Parking map has links to Hyde Park and city maps.
Introduction
The Chicago Jazz Archive was founded in 1976 to preserve materials on the birth and early growth of Chicago jazz. Over time, and benefiting from a relationship with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the collections have grown to span more than eight decades of Chicago and general jazz history. The collections include recordings, publications, photographs, articles, posters, programs, ticket stubs, and other ephemera of musicians, clubs, record companies, and jazz organizations. In 2007-2008, the collections of the Chicago Jazz Archive were transferred to the Special Collections Research Center. These changes have made it possible for the Library to provide expanded access to the Chicago Jazz Archive, utilizing the facilities, services, and staff of the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center. The Chicago Jazz Archive collections are available for research in the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center. Collections are organized into logical groupings by the name of the original collector and in some cases by subject. You can search the collections by keyword using the archives and manuscripts online finding aid database or by browsing the Chicago Jazz Archive collection list.
Quick Links: Periodical and Dissertation Indexes
- ARSC Journal (Association for Recorded Sound Collections)Free full-text of ARSC Journal 1967-1994 (full text on IIMP from 1998). Free online index.
- Music Index Online This link opens in a new window
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses This link opens in a new window
- Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries This link opens in a new window
- Articles Plus This link opens in a new window
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Quick Links: Specialized Sources
- American Federation of Musicians Chicago Chapter Files - Chicago Public LibraryHeld at Harold Washington Library, Music Information Center. Useful for learning more about individual musicians and union history.
- ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
- DownBeat MagazineInformation on jazz artists from the Downbeat.com website.
- Sanborn Geography, 1867-1970 : Illinois This link opens in a new windowThese fire insurance maps can be helpful when researching jazz venues. See the index on the Library's Maps website Also available on-site at the Newberry Library, see the Libraries and Archives tab in the toolbar above.
- Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery RecordsUseful when researching individual musicians
- Jazz on the Screen: A Jazz and Blues Filmography by David Meeker (Performing Arts Encyclopedia, The Library of Congress)1,000 major jazz and blues figures in over 16,000 cinema, TV, and video productions. From the Library of Congress.
- Walter Henri Dyett Papers - Chicago Public LibraryMany of Chicago's most celebrated jazz musicians studied with Capt. Walter Henri Dyett at Wendell Phillips or Du Sable High School. The Dyett papers are held at the Vivian Harsh Collection of Afro-American History and Literature.
- NEJRC: Pronunciation GuideJazz pronunciation guide from the New England Jazz Radio Cooperative. Allow for regional variation.
- Jazz Discography This link opens in a new windowThe Lord jazz discography. Only 2 users at a time -- please keep sessions short, and remember to log out when you're done! Print discographies can be found in the library catalog and in the Chicago Jazz Archive collections in SCRC. The Jazz Discography covers all categories of jazz and other creative improvised music, including Traditional, Swing, Bop, Modern, Avant-Garde, Fusion, Third Stream, etc. It covers leaders from A to Z and as of January 2008 contains: 34,861 leaders; 181,392 recording sessions; 1,030,109 musician entries and 1,077,503 tune entries. The period covered by TJD Online is from 1896 to 2008 inclusive.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowThe Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Grove Onlline(which includes Grove Jazz) contain biographical information. Grove Online has info on jazz clubs in the Nightclubs section, which is arranged by city.
Quick Links: Chicago Jazz Images
- Chicago Postcard MuseumImages of Chicago buildings, including places of amusement. This online museum has NO PHYSICAL LOCATION. The museum's Information Kiosk contains info about dating postcards and conditions for downloading and use of its images.
- Curt Teich Postcard ArchivesThe Curt Teich Postcard Archives at the Newberry Library is the world's largest public collection of postcards and related materials.
- Chicago Reader Photographs: Performance Collection, Newberry LibrarySeries 1 covers Dance and Drama 1972-2006. Series 2 covers music, including jazz, 1960's-2006; bulk 1980-2000.
- Gottlieb Jazz Photos on Flickr from LCWilliam Gottlieb's photos are now in the public domain, though privacy and publicity rights may still need to be cleared before the images can be used.
- The Jazz Loft ProjectSeveral Chicago jazz musicians played at the Jazz Loft in NYC, including Wild Bill Davison, Eddie deHaas, Bud Freeman, John Gilmore, Johnny Griffin, Andrew Hill, Ira Sullivan, and Wilbur Ware.
Subject Guide
Hours and Location
Monday-Friday 9 AM - 4:45 PM
When classes at the University of Chicago are in session we are open until 5:45pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are not open Saturday or Sunday.
The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center is located on the first floor of Regenstein Library: 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.
Map and Directions to the Chicago Jazz Archive
Quick Links: Jazz dictionaries
- Dan Burley's jive / edited by Thomas Aiello; 2009.Contains two works by Dan Burley in one volume: Dan Burley's Original Harlem Jive (1944) and Diggeth Thou? (1959). Burley was a journalist and worked for several African-American publications 1920-1950, including the Chicago Defender, Ebony, and Jet.
Quick Links: Newspapers
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Atlanta Daily World (1931-2010) This link opens in a new window
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender (1910-2010) This link opens in a new window
- Chicago Reader | Articles & ArchivesFree access to Reader Archives goes back to 1987.
- Chicago Tribune Index Search [Free]Allows a free keyword index search of both the historical Chicago Tribune (12/1/1852 - 12/31/1984) and the period 1985-present. Previews are free, however there is a charge for full text of the articles.Useful for searching for citations to a particular person or venue for those who have limited or no access to the full text Historical Chicago Tribune.
- Historical Newspapers OnlineLinks to free newspapers from the library at the University of Pennsylvania. There are papers listed from several different states, including Illinois.
- Jazz Advertised, 1910-1967: a documentation/ Franz HoffmannIf the online Chicago Defender is down, this is the go-to source for advertisements featuring jazz in Chicago. The index to this 7-volume set contains listings of clubs and theaters. Vol. 1-3 New England Papers; Vol. 4-6 Chicago Defender; Vol. 7 NY Times. Index.