Downtown Development Council: S.S. Kresge, 1973-1974

The records in this collection document the activities of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1917 to 1979. The collection is arranged in two series. Series I consists of bound volumes containing the records of the Chamber’s board of directors including agendas, minutes of meetings, special reports, and correspondence for the years 1917-1977. Also included in many of the volumes are financial records, committee files and reports, annual meeting reports, pamphlets and press releases. Volumes for the years 1914-1916 and 1930-1933 have not been located. Researchers should note that the contents and arrangement within each volume varies. The collections also contain miscellaneous special reports, surveys, studies, and city budgets (1920-1972). The Board of Director’s Meeting Minutes from 1972 to 1977 are restricted without the prior written approval of the President and Executive Director of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce. The second series, subseries A contains the Chamber’s alphabetical subject files, 1950-1979, documenting virtually every aspect of the organization’s activities. Committee files found in this subseries complement the committee records located in Series I. Subseries B consists of another group of subject files but they are arranged according to the Chamber’s numerical filing system. The files in this subseries are similar in content to the alphabetical file, and document the period from 1965-1975. Subseries C covers the years 1976-1979 and is arranged according to the same numerical system as the previous group of files. The collection as a whole provides excellent documentation of the activities of a Chamber of Commerce located in a heavily industrialized urban area. Almost every major urban issue of the twentieth century is touched upon in the collection, some in considerable detail. The greatest strength of the collection is the extensive documentation of the Chamber’s activities during the post World War II era. Unfortunately the records of the Joliet Chamber’s earliest years, 1914-1916, have not been located and correspondence and subject files for the years l9l7-l945 are sparse.