The mission of the Roosevelt University Archives is to preserve and promote the institutional memory of Roosevelt University, its predecessor or related intuitions, the people associated with RU, and issues of social justice embodied by RU by collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and providing access to historical materials in a variety of formats. The RU Archives assists faculty, staff, students, alumni, and scholars by making these items available for research either on site or electronically and by promoting the historical collections through exhibits, special programs, and by assisting faculty to incorporate historical materials into their curricula.
The Roosevelt University Archives is located in the Murray-Green Library on the Downtown Campus and is available by appointment from 9:00am-4:00pm, Monday through Friday (except university holidays).
Please contact University Archivist Laura Mills at lmills@roosevelt.edu or 312-341-2280 for more information.
Although most of the collection is currently unprocessed, we are working to make the collection available online. Search our archives online database. You can also see a special collection of artifacts related to Franklin Roosevelt at Remembering FDR.
Roosevelt University is member of the following organizations. Please select from the links below for more information.
Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC)
Chicago Collection Consortium (CCC)
Some of the collections in the Archives include:
The Auditorium Theatre Collection – currently housed in the historic Auditorium Theatre, this collection contains records of the operations of the Auditorium Theatre and a large collection of playbills.
The Center for New Deal Studies Collection – this collection includes two accessions of artifacts and ephemera relating to Franklin Roosevelt (see Remembering FDR) and the papers of Albert Lepawsky relating to the New Deal.
The Chicago Musical College Collection – sheet music, recordings, and documents relating to the Chicago Musical College, founded in 1868, which later merged with the Chicago College of the Performing Arts.
The Roosevelt University Collection – which documents the founding and operations of Roosevelt University, its faculty, staff, alumni, and predecessor organizations.
The Chicago Auditorium Association (1886-1931) – documents the operations of the association which ran the Auditorium Hotel and Offices
Oral History Project in Labor History – In 1970, Elizabeth Balanoff received an NEH grant to conduct and transcribe a series of interviews with individuals in the Chicago area who were involved in the labor movement.
Speech Collection – containing texts of speeches delivered at Roosevelt University or by Roosevelt University staff or faculty
Biographical and Correspondence Collections – these two collections contain information about and correspondence of RU staff, faculty, founders, and trustees
Photo Collection – the RU Archives has thousands and photos of the Auditorium Building and of the people and events of Roosevelt University
Robert Morris University Illinois previous Academic Catalogs - please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@roosevelt.edu.