• Identification00066584
  • TitleDescriptive inventory for the Near Northwest Side Planning Commission records, 1956-1964
  • PublisherChicago Historical Society
  • RepositoryChicago History Museum Research Center 1601 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60614-6038
  • OriginationNear Northwest Side Planning Commission
  • Date1956-1964
  • Physical Description7 linear ft. (15 boxes)
  • LocationMSS Lot N
  • LanguageEnglish

This collection is open for research use.

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 Near Northwest Side Planning Commission (accession #: X.3506.2010).

Near Northwest Side Planning Commission records (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

Correspondence, financial and legal records, meeting agendas and minutes, code violation complaints, contact lists, publications, maps, architectural drawings, materials collected from other local organizations, and other administrative records of the Near Northwest Side Planning Commission, a non-profit organization aimed at revitalizing the West Town community of Chicago (Ill.). Materials relate to the commission's membership, board meetings, zoning issues, other Chicago neighborhood and government organizations, and community events.

The Near Northwest Side Planning Commission (NNSPC) was formed in the mid-1950s and operated under the leadership of executive director Kurt H. Berg. The NNSPC was a non-profit neighborhood organization whose activities centered on the revitalization of the Chicago neighborhood bounded by the I-94 expressway, Augusta Boulevard, California Avenue, and Kinzie Street. The commission's primary goals were to eliminate blight, to improve and modernize housing, to attract private investment to the Near Northwest Side, and to be recognized as a certified conservation area by the Community Conservation Board of Chicago. The commission was active during the mid-1950s and 1960s.

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the Near Northwest Side Planning Commission photograph collection (1980.0168).

  • Names
    • Near Northwest Side Planning Commission (Chicago, Ill.)--Archives
    • Chicago (Ill.) Commission on Human Relations
    • Chicago Housing Authority
    • Community Conservation Board of Chicago (Ill.)
    • Berg, Kurt H
  • Subject
    • Community development, Urban--Illinois--Chicago--1950-1969
    • Community organization--Illinois--Chicago--1950-1969
    • Discrimination in housing--Illinois--Chicago--1950-1969
    • Urban renewal--Illinois--Chicago--1950-1969
  • Geographic Coverage
    • Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--1950-1969
    • West Town (Chicago, Ill.)
    • United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago

The collection is arranged in eight series

Series 1. Correspondence, 1956-1962 (box 1-4)

Series 1 consists of correspondence, primarily between Kurt H. Berg, executive director of the NNSPC, and various commission members, local business owners, community leaders, and government officials.

Series 2. Other organizational records, 1957-1962 (box 4-6)

Series 2 contains publications, reports, surveys, correspondence, and press materials from other community, neighborhood, and government organizations, including the Chicago Housing Authority, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and neighborhood conservation groups. Materials are grouped by organization.

Series 3. Events, 1957-1962 (box 6)

Series 3 consists of publications, correspondence, receipts, photographs, and newspaper clippings about events organized by or related to the NNSPC. Events include talent shows, bingos, giveaways, and a public hearing.

Series 4. Financial and legal records, 1956-1962 (box 6-9)

Series 4 contains financial reports, contribution records, requests for membership dues, receipts, salary and rent records, bills, by-laws, resolutions, and rules for hearings of the NNSPC.

Series 5. Office files, 1956-1964 (box 9-13, 15)

Series 5 contains zoning code violations and complaints to the Mayor's Office of Inquiry and Information, committee and subcommittee meeting agendas and minutes, address and contact lists, master copies of notices, and information concerning vacant city lots.

Series 6. Press and publications, 1956-1961 (box 13-14)

Series 6 consists of press releases, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and pamphlets related to the NNSPC, and other neighborhood and government organizations such as the West Central Association, the Chicago Housing Authority, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Chicago Commission on Youth Welfare, and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

Series 7. Architectural files and maps, 1959-1961 (box 14)

Series 7 contains maps of Chicago and the Near Northwest Side, architectural drawings of a house, and the Chicago Plan Commission proposal for the "Central South Area Plan" (1960).

Series 8. General files, 1958-1960 (box 14)

Series 8 contains a summary of the Near Northwest Side Conservation Program; an essay by Norman Ross entitled "The Population Explosion;" a paper by William H. Brueckner, executive director of the Chicago Commons Association, entitled "The Corner Group Worker as a Change Agent in the Life of the Group and its Members;" and other miscellaneous records.