|
Calumet
Heritage Partnership
Collections and Donations Policy for the Calumet Industrial
Heritage Project
STATEMENT
OF PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE COLLECTION
The Calumet
Heritage Partnership (CHP)
CHP is incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
and is a diverse, bi-state partnership of environmental,
cultural, and historical organizations; as well as individuals,
libraries, educational institutions, municipalities, and
governmental agencies. Each partner within the organization
is committed to celebrating, preserving, and protecting
the unique heritage of the Calumet region in Illinois and
Indiana.
Purpose of
the Calumet Industrial Heritage Project (CIHP, or the Project)
CIHP, located at the Pullman State Historic Site (PSHS),
is a cooperative effort between CHP <http://www.calumetheritage.org/>
and the PSHS <http://www.pullman-museum.org/>.
Its goals are to cooperatively preserve the industrial heritage,
celebrate the labor history, highlight the industrial archeology,
and demonstrate and interpret the industrial technology
of Chicago's Calumet Region.
The development
of the United States' position as the world's leading economic
power can be attributed directly to its nineteenth century
business leaders, inventors, entrepreneurs, founding families,
and industrial workers whose contributions gave birth to
the American Industrial Revolution. It is the story of industry's
role in building our nation, defending it in war, and transporting
its people that have led to a consistently higher standard
of living and safer lives. The industrial history of Chicago's
Calumet Region plays prominently in the story.
In the current
context of America's post-industrial economy, evidence and
records of this historical industrial history is disappearing
at an alarming pace. Many of the sites long ago passed into
obsolescence, while others hang on to a thread of viability
through adaptive reuses but often in a marginal ways-whatever
the precise history, most have been threatened by neglect
or the scrapper's torch, and many have succumbed and have
been completely lost. As these historic industries vanish
from the national landscape, it is critical to promote and
provide an easily-accessible means for the public to understand
our country's industrial growth, the evolution of industrial
history, and the reasons for its evaporation in today's
technological world and global economy.
CIHP represents
the only local project currently dedicated to interpreting
the history of steel making in the Illinois Calumet region.
The intent of the Project is to preserve the historic images,
maps, plans, and artifacts of the Illinois Calumet Region's
factories, structures, equipment, and workers in order to
educate future generations about the development of regional
transportation and the heavy industries of communities such
as South Chicago, South Deering, Riverdale, the East Side,
Roseland, Pullman, and Hegewisch. The collection, preservation,
documentation, and interpretation of these materials form
a priceless link between our past, present, and future.
An initial effort
involves the creation of the Industrial Heritage Archive
of Chicago's Calumet Region, for which the two partners
have received a grant (with the additional participation
of the Southeast Chicago Historical Society <http://www.neiu.edu/~reseller/sehsintro>)
from the Illinois State Library to begin digitizing photos
and other materials related to the industries that operated
in this region. When completed, a "virtual museum"
of online images and drawings will be accessible via the
Internet.
The Calumet
Heritage Partnership Collection
The current CHP collection primarily consists of artifacts,
blueprints, drawings, photographic resources, and approximately
125 linear feet of records acquired through fieldwork rescue
from the ACME Steel Coke Plant (11236 Torrence Avenue, currently
under demolition), the ACME Steel Furnace Plant (10730 S.
Burley Avenue, demolished), and the ACME MiniGrated Steel
Plant, Riverdale, IL (still in operation under the ownership
of Mittal Steel USA). CHP materials are currently under
an annually renewable Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
(IHPA) museum loan for the Project via a formal letter of
agreement with the Pullman State Historic Site. Inventory
and cataloging of the collection is currently underway,
as is the acquisition of several major pieces of equipment
from Chicago's steel industry.
In addition
to this existing collection, it is the intention of CHP
to continue to collect materials specifically relating to
the Illinois Calumet Region's heavy industry for the Calumet
Industrial Heritage Project, with a special emphasis on
all aspects of steel production. To further this goal, the
following policies and procedures shall serve as guidelines
for the public and CHP for the appropriate acquisition of
materials for the Project. Formal accessioning of acquired
materials shall be under the direction of the CHP Board
of Directors in consultation with its Project partners and
relevant industry professionals.
Continue
to Collection Policies
FINAL
as passed 6/21/2007
|
Everyone
who lives, works, and/or plays in the Calumet region
can be a member of the Calumet Heritage Partnership.
Members are encouraged to attend the regular partnership
meetings and are entitled to vote on important regional
issues. Working together we can make a difference.
For
information contact the Calumet Heritage Partnership
at 773-646-0436, or email: info@calumetheritage.org
|
|
