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''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'' is a historical reference work covering
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
and the entire
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...
published by the
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
. Released in October 2004, the work is the result of a ten-year collaboration between the
Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rel ...
and the Chicago Historical Society. It exists in both a
hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or o ...
print edition and an online format, known as the ''Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago''. The print edition is 1117 pages and includes 1400 entries, 2000 biographical sketches, 250 significant business enterprise descriptions, and hundreds of maps. Initially, the internet edition included 1766 entries, 1000 more images and sources. The concept was fueled by other regional encyclopedias that had met with commercial success in 1980s and 1990s. Eventually, the vision to create the book found initial financing from the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
. The book was well received and became a
bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, co ...
during the 2004 Christmas season following its October 2004 release. The following May the ''Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago'' was released.
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
joined the Newberry Library/Chicago Historical Society collaboration to publish the internet edition. The internet edition was the second of its kind for a U.S. city.


Details

Individual entries were compiled by
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
s, graduate assistants and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
s. Most contributors were
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
s. About 600 people contributed entries at a rate of $.10/per word. The contributors consulted reliable secondary sources, such as
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
s, to compile historical accounts. The book was edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff. At the time, Grossman was the vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library and visiting professor of history at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. Keating was a professor of history at North Central College. Reiff was an associate professor of history at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
. Unlike resource compilation efforts for the cities that inspired this encyclopedia, the work was not bounded by the
city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate li ...
. Instead, every suburb was provided an entry, as were each of Chicago's 77 official community areas. Entries ranged from 50 to 4000 words long. Eventually, the coverage of the subject matter expanded to include Southwest
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
and Northwest Indiana. Newberry Library describes the work as "one of the most significant historical projects undertaken in the last twenty years".


History

Inspired by encyclopedia compilation efforts of cities such as New York City, Indianapolis and Cleveland, Keating approached the Newberry Library in 1991 to strategize on how to best to study and teach Chicago history. Eventually she and Grossman agreed to prepare a funding request from the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
(NEH). Their initial proposal was declined, but after working with Grossman to refine the specifics of their proposal, the NEH accepted their idea. The book venture was originally announced in 1994 as a project funded by a NEH US$200,000 ($ today) grant. The grant also included a $300,000 challenge grant to be met by Newberry Library for the first three years of work. The original plan was to publish a hardcover book by 2001 and then to follow with what at the time was referred to vaguely as "hypermedia" in reference to possible internet and
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...
auxiliary products. After Grossman and Keating obtained the initial grant, Reiff, a computer technology expert, and encyclopedia veteran Carol J. Summerfield all became part of the team. The editors sought the advice of Chicago-area librarians who were organized into focus groups to determine the proper components for the planned publication. The editors also organized into task forces of experts in dozens of specialized fields. Early on they sought the expertise of
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
cartographer Michael P. Conzen, who helped develop 56 original maps. Conzen is credited as the cartographic editor. By 1997, the text had taken shape and the plan was that the average biographical entry would be 150 words. The longest biographical entries, about 450 words, were written for former Chicago Mayors Harold Washington and Richard J. Daley. Neither
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
nor Michael Jordan had entries because only notable deceased persons were included. By 1998, the editors had settled on the table of contents and begun the job of assigning, editing, fact-checking and re-editing the hundreds of entries, some of them as long as 4000 words. By March 2000, 1100 of the targeted 1400 entries were completed. Also, the growth of the internet had clarified the vision of an online version of the print edition. In 2000, the final volume was expected to be 1300 pages set for release in fall 2002. The internet version was expected the following year. By June 2001, nearly 1300 of the entries had been submitted and a third had been edited and reviewed for accuracy. The effort had become a $2.5 million effort and was aspiring towards the success of earlier encyclopedic efforts projecting a fall 2003 publication of a 1.3-million-word 1300-page edition. At this time, the final electronic form available through the Chicago Historical Society had been conceptualized.


Public release

By 2001, two editions of ''The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History'' (1987) had sold 24,000 copies; ''The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis'' (1994) had sold 9000 copies and '' The Encyclopedia of New York City'' (1995) had sold 70,000 (50,000 in its first year). Hardcover versions of these works had sold for $59.95 and up. The commercial success of these other regional encyclopedias made it clear that there is a market for such products. Several university presses released regional encyclopedic publications in 2004. In April, Rutgers University Press published '' The Encyclopedia of New Jersey''. In September, the University of Nebraska Press published ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains''. In October, the University of Chicago Press released ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago''. Additionally,
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...
was scheduled to publish both ''Encyclopedia of New England'' and the second edition of ''The Encyclopedia of New York City''. Using press releases from the Copley News Service, the book was widely publicized throughout the state of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
, and it was even reviewed by ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. When first published in 2004, the book was on the ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' recommended Christmas gifts list. That year it was at the top of the Chicago area
bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, co ...
lists at bookstores during the
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
holiday season. Major funding for the $65 list price four-color print version of the publication, which cost $1.7 million in the end, was provided by the NEH, the MacArthur Foundation, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.


Electronic edition

At the time of the print release, the online version, known as the ''Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago'', was being developed to include additional features, which relied on
hyperlink In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text w ...
s, that were not available in the print edition. At the time, it was expected to be released by the Chicago Historical Society in April 2005. On May 11, the Electronic edition, which cost nearly $1 million to create and is continuously available for free to the public, was released. It included hundreds of additional entries (bringing the total to 1766), more than 1000 additional images, video of historic figures and events, and extensive primary source material. The online version includes 1000 more sources than the print edition. The Web site includes many tables and maps that date to the 19th Century.
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
media specialists developed the Web architecture for the electronic version. The electronic edition made Chicago the second major U.S. city (following Cleveland) with an extensive Internet encyclopedia dedicated to its history and its release was covered by newspapers throughout the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
. The extra features of the online edition would have required 10,000 pages to produce in print-edition format. Initially, the online edition was a static version, but updates and adjustments were planned.


Critical review

''USA Today'' referred to it as a good coffee table book. ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' journalist Rick Kogan describes this as a massive undertaking with the natural foibles of the human element in it selections and accuracy, and by nature of its attempt to serve as a historical compilation an immediately dated product due to the dynamic nature of the city. However, he feels it is sure to amaze its audience. A ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' reviewer describes it as a scholarly product that is "easily the most comprehensive reference book on the Chicago region ever published". '' The State Journal-Register'', the Springfield, Illinois newspaper, reviewers complain that downstate cities and regions are neglected in the book. A '' Daily Herald'' review describes it as a book accurately "billed as the city's most definitive historical reference book". The '' Peoria Journal Star'' notes that although there are complaints about omissions and underserved topics, the online version should quell the demands for further knowledge. The online version was noted for its "large number of tables and maps that date to the 19th Century" by the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
''.
Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a ...
, Iowa's '' Telegraph Herald'' newspaper and
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
's '' Post-Tribune'' referenced an
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
press release that described the online version as a compilation assembled "with more than Chicagoans in mind". The ''Chicago Tribune'' described the online version as an extension of "the most comprehensive reference book on the Chicago region ever published" that is unlimited by physical bounds. ''
Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the official jo ...
'' along with the website History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web published a review by
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
professor Philip J. Ethington that spoke glowingly about both versions of the encyclopedia describing it as "one of the finest collective works (with 633 listed authors) of North American historical scholarship of our era". They praised it for its breadth and coherence. The online version was noted for its meticulous
hyperlink In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text w ...
ing. The online review was cursory in the sense that it did not realize the expansion of the online version. However, the review notes that the online version provides "powerful and substantive" interactive resources that are not possible in the print edition. The review is especially respectful of the cartographic contributions, which it describes in detail. It dismisses the alphabetical structure of the online version as an unnecessary complication. The review also complains about biographical omissions that necessitate extensive navigation to related articles. The review felt some of the online foibles left open the possibility that the production might get overshadowed by future ventures that leverage the electronic possibilities more fully. ''
The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to re ...
'' reviewed the ''Encyclopedia'' along with several of its peers and mentioned early in the review that the advent of online encyclopedias makes the works much easier to correct and update. However, the availability of online encyclopedias diminished the significance of the print editions according to the review because it made gifting them less significant and it reduced sales at libraries. The review also noted that the online approach is becoming so successful that the state of Georgia has produced the online-only '' New Georgia Encyclopedia'', which started as a 300-article venture and has blossomed to a 1300-article work. However, they noted that when the ''Encyclopedia of Chicago'' was first released that the local media supported the book; some Chicago
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...
s read passages from it on air. It enjoyed successful marketing as both a popular gift item and a must-have for local historians.


Content

The encyclopedia is composed of 1117 pages that feature over 1400 entries by more than 600 contributors. Additionally, it includes 442 maps, more than 400 vintage photographs, over 250 sketches of "historically significant business enterprises", a dictionary of Chicago-area businesses, a biographical dictionary and a 21-page
timeline A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale represen ...
that traces the history of Chicago from 1630 to 2000. The 1400-entry main alphabetical section of the ''Encyclopedia'' covers all Chicago neighborhoods, suburbs, and ethnic groups as well as the major cultural institutions. Topics covered include technology and science, architecture, religions, immigration, transportation, business history, labor, music, health and medicine. It is considered the most geographical diverse city encyclopedia of its kind because it fully encompasses the
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
s in eight of the region's counties. 386 thumbnail maps of neighborhoods and municipalities are complemented by 400 black-and-white photographs plus hundreds of color photographs and thematic maps. There are separate lengthy interpretive essays woven into the alphabetical section on topics such as the built environment, literary images of Chicago, and the city's sports culture. The Encyclopedia includes a 2000-entry comprehensive biographical dictionary and a detailed listing of approximately 250 of the city's historically significant business enterprises. A color insert features a timeline of Chicago history and photo essays exploring nine pivotal years in this history. The photo essays feature the city’s urban art and artifacts.


Notes


External links


Online edition''Encyclopedia of Chicago''
at Amazon.com
''Encyclopedia of Chicago'' tutorial
at Chicago History Museum {{Good article 2004 non-fiction books English-language encyclopedias History of Chicago Northwestern University
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
University of Chicago Press books
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...