Pritzker Military Museum and Library

United States Illinois  Cook  Archives and Libraries 

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:geneaology@pritzkermilitary.org geneaology@pritzkermilitary.org].

Address:


 * Pritzker Military Museum and Library 104 S. Michigan Ave. Ste. 400 Chicago, IL 60603 USA

Telephone: 312-374-9333 Fax:  312-374-9314.

Hours: Tue-Thu 10:00am–6:00pm; Fri-Sat 10:00am–4:00pm; Sun-Mon: Closed.

Map, directions, and public transportation


 * Map:  Google map: Pritzker Military Museum and Library


 * Directions:
 * from the north on I-94 (Milwaukee, WI):  Merge onto I-94 E/US-41 S toward US-41/Chicago (Crossing into Illinois). Merge onto US-41 S via EXIT 1B on the left toward Waukegan, 30 mi. Stay straight to go onto I-94 E/Edens Expy S. Continue to follow I-94 E, 17.1 mi. Take the Washington Blvd E exit, EXIT 51C, toward 100 North, 0.2 mi. Turn left onto W Washington Blvd, 0.1 mi. W Washington Blvd becomes W Washington St, 0.2 mi. Keep left at the fork to continue on W Washington St, 0.9 mi. Turn right onto N Michigan Ave, 0.2 mi. 104 S MICHIGAN AVE is on the right.
 * from the south on I-90/I-94 (Gary, IN):  Merge onto I-90 W toward Chicago (Portions toll) (Crossing into Illinois). Merge onto I-94 W via the exit on the left, 8.0 mi. Take the E Washington Blvd exit, EXIT 51C, toward 100 North, 0.2 mi. Turn right onto W Washington Blvd, 0.05 mi. W Washington Blvd becomes W Washington St, 0.2 mi. Keep left at the fork to continue on W Washington St, 0.9 mi. Turn right onto N Michigan Ave, 0.2 mi. 104 S MICHIGAN AVE is on the right.
 * from the west on I-88/I-290 (DeKalb, IL):  Merge onto I-88 E/Chicago-Kansas City Expressway E/Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway E toward Chicago (Portions toll). Keep left to take Chicago-Kansas City Expressway E toward I-290/Chicago/Rockford/I-294 N/TRI-STATE/O'Hare/Milwaukee (Portions toll), 16.4 mi. Chicago-Kansas City Expressway E becomes W Congress Pkwy, 0.3 mi. Turn left onto S State St, 0.4 mi. Turn right onto E Monroe St, 0.2 mi. Take the 2nd right onto S Michigan Ave, 0.04 mi. 104 S MICHIGAN AVE is on the right.


 * Parking: Closest garages are Millennium Park Garage, Grant Park North Garage, and Grant Park South Garage. Ask the Library Assistant on the main level for a validation.


 * Public transportation:  CTA has many stops on the downtown loop within three blocks the Pretzker Library. There are bus and train stops, and L train stops, and Metra stations.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Pritzker Military Museum and Library about, visit, explore, events, what's on, and visiting.
 * Library Catalog search online by keyword.
 * Genealogy Research collections and services for genealogists searching for deceased ancestors.

Collection Description
The research library has 45,000 books on military history including numerous unit histories, photos, uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships for many of the world's militaries. They help genealogists.

The Pritzker Military Museum and Library was established in 2003 by Colonel J.N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), who had assembled a major collection of books and related materials on military history, with a particular focus on the concept of the Citizen Soldier in America. A private museum and research library, the galleries and collections are accessible to the public for a $5 daily admission and are free to PMML members. The Museum and Library has over 45,000 books on military history including numerous unit histories with rosters and cruise books (similar to high school yearbooks) with lots of photographs. Additionally, the reference collection includes guides to uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships for many of the world's militaries. The librarians enjoy working with genealogists, and genealogists are encouraged to see the Genealogy Research web page before visiting.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, premier periodical collection, including Midwestern genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, and passenger lists.
 * National Archives Great Lakes Region (Chicago) old federal court and agency records for Illinois and Midwest U.S. federal censuses 1790–1940; military service and pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, Fold3.
 * Newberry Library, Chicago, a large repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, and the British Isles.

Similar Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service &amp; pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.
 * National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), St. Louis, MO, military and civil services personnel records. For servicemen and servicewomen discharged from 1912 to 1953.

Neighboring Collections


 * Cook County Clerk births, marriages, and deaths online
 * Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court recent probates, civil, criminal records.
 * Cook County Recorder of Deeds land records, military discharge DD-214s.
 * Cook County Medical Examiner suspicious or unusual deaths.
 * U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois recent civil and criminal court records.
 * Arlington Heights Memorial Library a huge collection, with printed genealogies, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, special aids, surname folders—a great overall genealogy collection.
 * Asher Library, Chicago, Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies 500,000 books, and films.
 * Chicago Public Library reference books, how-to-guides, histories, biographies.
 * Chicago Title and Trust  for a fee they will search property records prior to the Chicago fire.
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Archives parish records, priest biographies, sacramental, school, or orphanage records.
 * South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, Hazel Crest, a very good collection with local histories, genealogies, naturalizations, Pullman Car Works personnel, obituaries, church histories.
 * University of Chicago Library plentiful historical records, including Durrett Collection  of historical Kentucky and Ohio River Valley manuscripts of early people in the Ohio Valley.
 * University of Illinois at Chicago, biography, periodicals, newspapers, oral history, ethnic studies.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties:  in Illinois: DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will; and in Indiana: Lake.
 * Illinois Dept. of Health Vital Records, Springfield, birth, marriage, death, adoption, and divorces.
 * Illinois State Archives, Springfield, county/state records, pre-Chicago fire sources, indexed vital records, early land grants, military records, all fed/state censuses, surname card index.
 * Illinois State Library, Springfield, state/federal records, federal censuses to 1920, plat books, IL county histories, Sanborn fire insurance maps, Rev. War pensions and bounty land warrants.
 * Illinois State Genealogical Society, Springfield, research guidance, teaching via webinars and the ISGS blog for free, death certificates 1916-1947 for a fee. No research requests.
 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Springfield, HQ of 7 regional archives of local Illinois county/town records: birth, marriage, death, land, tax, voting reg., probate, naturalization, civil criminal court, coroner, poorhouse. For Cook County see IRAD-Northeastern Illinois University.
 * Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, genealogy, plat maps, atlases, oral and county history, cemeteries, census, vital records, naturalizations in many counties.
 * John A. Logan College Library, Carterville, this library is a focal point of Southern Illinois genealogy. Their collection is huge.
 * Lincoln Library, Springfield, indexed obituaries, city directories, the Sangamon Valley Collection  has photos, yearbooks, histories, and maps for studying Sangamon and surrounding counties.
 * Peoria Public Library enjoys a large genealogy and local history department, including many indexes, DAR files, and basic genealogy resources for the plains states.
 * Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Lovejoy Library best library in southern IL with a large genealogical collection of newspapers, biographies, county histories, family folders, and maps.
 * Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Rock Island, IL, Swedish church records, census, passenger lists, lodges, newspapers, directories.
 * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Main Library one of the best book collections in America, including county histories, and farmers registers. Think of it as another archives for Illinois.
 * Urbana Free Library their strength is Champaign County history, but they have good basic genealogy for the entire United States including printed genealogies, manuscripts, family folders.
 * Brethren Historical Library and Archives, Elgin, IL, cultural, socio-economic, theological, genealogical, and institutional history of the Brethren.
 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Elk Grove Village, IL, serves historians, congregations, synods, genealogists and others interested in Lutheran history.
 * Repositories in surrounding states:  Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin
 * Polish Genealogical Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, 60,000 books on Polish history, art, culture, reference.