Open Lands Project records, 1960-1999

Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Gift of the Open Lands Project, 1970s and 1999 (accession #: M1976.0009, M1977.0016, M1977.0045, 1999.0086).

Open Lands Project records (Chicago History Museum), plus a detailed description, date, and series/box/folder/call number of a specific item.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, news releases, and other records of the Open Lands Project (OLP) concerning the conservation of land for public purposes in the Chicago area and other parts of Illinois. Contains information on conservation, recreation, and other environmental issues impacting lakeshore, dunes, prairies, bogs, trails, parks, and water resources. Includes materials from other organizations and from city, state, and federal governments. Includes indexed files relating to OLP projects, research and studies (alphabetized A-N; O-Z not donated to CHS); board meeting minutes (1970s-early 1990s); meeting minutes and documentation from Corlands, the land purchasing arm of OLP (late 1970s-early 1990s); miscellaneous administrative and project files and financial information; Gunnar Peterson and Jeffrey Short files.

The Open Lands Project (OLP) started in 1963 as a committee of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago. By 1968, the project had grown to the point where it was incorporated as an independent, not-for-profit organization. From the beginning, the major concern of the organization has been the “preservation and protection of open and natural land for conservation, recreational and scientific purposes.” Toward this end, Open Lands has served as a coordinating agency for conservation efforts in the greater Chicago area. Open Lands formed a separate entity, Corlands, in 1978 to provide technical assistance on land acquisition and preservation to governments and private groups. Corlands is also able to purchase lands to ensure their preservation.

The Open Lands Project has been instrumental in the success of many conservation projects in Illinois, including the preservation of the 3000 acre Goose Lake Prairie, Illinois’ largest remaining tract of wild prairie land; acquisition of the 680-acre Beall Woods in Southern Illinois by the State Department of Conservation; restoration of the abandoned Illinois and Michigan Canal and Towpath as a recreation site; and establishment of a 27-mile Prairie Path in DuPage County. Open Lands was also active in supporting the preservation of Thorn Creek Woods, the Peacock Prairie, and the Gensburg-Markham Prairie, and in the campaign to make the Indiana Dunes a National Lakeshore.

The Open Lands Project has often taken a stand on controversial issues related to land use in the city of Chicago. The Project opposed the enlargement and rebuilding of McCormick Place after a fire in 1966. Also out of concern for Chicago’s lakefront, the Project published an analysis in 1968 which was highly critical of the proposed construction of an airport in Lake Michigan. The Project has also spoken out against building public schools on Chicago Park District lands.

In 1969, the Open Lands Project formed its Environmental Education Program in order to make conservation information procedures available to interested citizens. Through this program, the OLP cooperated with the Chicago Board of Education in developing environment-oriented instruction in the public schools by providing materials and training sessions for teachers and volunteers.

Also in 1969 the Open Lands Project began a formal Land Advocacy Program designed to provide legal advice and planning expertise to citizen groups, public agencies, and individual property owners. It continues, however, to serve more as an advisor than as an initiator of activities concerned with land conservation.

Instrumental in directing the OLP’s activities and policies were Jeffrey R. Short, Jr., who served as chairman of the OLP committee of the Welfare Council and later as President of the independent organization until 1972, and Gunnar Peterson, the Executive Director of OLP from 1963 until his retirement in 1975. Rutherford Platt, a staff attorney with the OLP, served as Program Director for the Land Advocacy Program. His publication, Open Land in Urban Illinois: Roles of the Citizen Advocate (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1971), described some of the experiences as well as the techniques of the program. Mrs. Lee Botts, the first Director of the Environmental Education Program, became director of the Lake Michigan Federation when it was organized as a division of the Open Lands Project in 1970; in 1971, the Federation became a separate entity. (The records of the Lake Michigan Federation are located at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Special Collections and University Archives.)

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the Open Lands Project records from Gunnar Peterson's office, the Open Lands Project photograph collection (1985.0393), the Open Lands Project photographs from Gunnar Peterson's collection (2007.0066.2-50), and various publications by/about the organization, later known as the Openlands Project.

The 1999.0086 materials were processed separately from the rest of the collection in 2018 and are primarily contained in boxes 81-96; a small amount of materials were incorporated into existing folders.

• Names
  • Open Lands Project (Chicago, Ill.)--Archives
  • Openlands Project (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Illinois. Department of Conservation.
  • Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago
  • Corlands, Inc.
  • Peterson, Gunnar A.--(Gunnar Arthur)--1915-1976
  • Short, Jeffery R., Jr.
• Subject
  • Conservation of natural resources--Illinois
  • Land use--Illinois
  • Open spaces--Illinois
  • Parks--Illinois
  • Public lands--Illinois
  • Shorelines--Illinois
  • Water--Illinois
  • National parks and preserves--Indiana
  • National parks and preserves--Illinois
• Geographic Coverage
  • Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--20th century
  • Chicago Metropolitan Area (Ill.)--20th century
  • Chicago Suburban Area (Ill.)--20th century
  • Goose Lake Prairie State Park (Ill.)
  • Illinois--Politics and government--20th century
  • Illinois and Michigan Canal (Ill.)
  • Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (Ind.)
  • Lincoln Heritage Canoe Trail (Ill.)
  • Prairie Path (Ill.)

The collection is arranged in six series.

Series I. Administration Files, 1964-1995 (boxes 1-7, 76-81)

Series I consists of material generated by the Board of Directors and the principal staff members of the Open Lands Project as well as their incoming correspondence. It includes an incomplete run of copies of minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors, 1968-75. Weekly summaries of activities by the staff, 1964-71, provide detailed information about the status of the organization’s various projects. The series also includes the Board of Director’s correspondence, 1968-76, and individual staff members’ files, 1964-75, which contain business and personal correspondence, biographical information, and other material related to their activities.

Series II. General Operating Files, 1960-1994 (Boxes 8-17, 81-96)

Series II contains records of the internal operations of the Open Lands Project. The correspondence included here deals mostly with requests for information and publications, while a small amount pertains to specific problems the Project handled as part of the Welfare Council. Also found here are budget records, 1968-1974, arranged chronologically; membership records, 1969-1972 (including correspondence, lists, and statistical information); fundraising records, 1968-1975; file-keeping information; and personnel records by individual name. This series also contains public relations files, 1965-1974, with news releases and official position statements on various issues, including many which originated during the time when Open Lands was under the direction of the Welfare Council.

Series III. Project Files, 1961-1987 (Boxes 18-59, 96-117)

Series III contains records which document the substantive activities of the Open Lands Project. The series consists of six subseries which reflect the areas of the Project’s concerns, and includes correspondence, memos, reports, and newsclippings.

Subseries 1. Environmental Education, 1963-1987 (Boxes 18-26, 96)

Subseries 1, Environmental Education, 1963-1987, consists of correspondence documenting the program’s origin and activities, with a great amount of the correspondence being carbon copies of letters sent by two of the program’s directors, Lee Botts and Wayne Schimpff. Also included are research and instructional materials, and conference, seminar, and workshop files with information on environmental issues of concern to the education program.

Subseries 2. Land Advocacy and Conservation Projects, 1963-1974 (Boxes 27-40)

Subseries 2, Land Advocacy and Conservation Projects, 1963-1974, contains material about the specific environmental sites which the Project worked on, such as Beall Woods, Goose Lake Prairie, the Prairie Path, and the Indiana Dunes. These files, arranged alphabetically by name of the project or site, include both incoming and outgoing letters to state officials and representatives, individual property owners, and other interested conservationists about efforts to preserve these sites. Memos, reports, testimony by Open Lands staff, newclippings, and other publicity document the progress of these projects.

Subseries 3. Topical Files, 1961-1985 (Boxes 41-53, 97-117)

Subseries 3, Topical Files, 1961-1985, also contains important material documenting the Open Lands’ concern and activity with regard to key environmental issues. Found here is material on specific issues such as the proposed construction of an airport in Lake Michigan, and the building of schools on Chicago park property. Files on general environmental topics such as highways, pollution, and water resources also appear in this subseries. The files are arranged alphabetically by topic and include correspondence, news releases, reports, and newsclippings.

Subseries 4. Legislation and Legal Action, 1963-1980 (Box 54, 117)

Subseries 4, Legislation and Legal Action, 1963-1980, is arranged alphabetically primarily by subject of the legislation. While the organization’s nonprofit status precluded lobbying for or against any particular legislation, these files of correspondence, bill synopses, and clippings are informative about environmental legislation in which the Project took particular interest. Also included here is the 1963 policy on litigation which guided the project when it was under the direction of the Welfare Council.

Subseries 5. Counties, 1963-1976 (Boxes 55-57)

Subseries 5, Counties, 1963-1976, contains correspondence and reports about environmental issues and activities in selected counties, mainly in northeastern Illinois.

Subseries 6. Cities and Towns, 1966-1974 (Boxes 58-59)

Subseries 6, Cities and Towns, 1966-1974, contains similar correspondence and reports about activities in which the Open Lands Project was involved in various Illinois cities and towns, particularly in northeastern Illinois. The files are arranged alphabetically.

Series IV. Related Organizations, 1963-1974 (Boxes 60-70)

This series consists of files which document the involvement of Open Lands Project and its individual staff members with other organizations and demonstrate the interrelatedness of the Project’s activities with those of other area organizations. The files include correspondence, minutes, reports, and memos.

Subseries 1. Illinois Organizations (Boxes 60-68)

Subseries 1, Illinois Organizations, is arranged alphabetically by agency name. Included here are some records of the Lake Michigan Federation and the Welfare Council.

Subseries 2. Non-Illinois Organizations (Boxes 69-70)

Subseries 2, Non-Illinois Organizations, is also arranged alphabetically. The material also documents the wide and varied involvement of the Open Lands Project in confronting environmental issues.

Series V. Newsclippings, ca. 1963-1989 (Boxes 71-75, 118, volume 1)

This series contains newspaper articles arranged alphabetically by topic, except for Box 118. They pertain mostly to the specific projects on which Open Lands worked.

Series VI. Corlands (Corporation for Public Lands), 1978-1995 (boxes 119-121)

Series VI consists of records of Corlands, created by the Open Lands Project in 1978 to provide technical assistance to local governments and private groups on land acquisition and preservation. The series includes correspondence and minutes of the Corlands Board of Directors meetings.