Credit Bureau

The records in this collection document the activities of the Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce from 1910 to the present.  The original collection is arranged in seven series.  The  addendum donated in April 2006 adds an eighth series, Council of 100 Records. Series I and its five subseries contains many of the core organizational records of the Rockford Chamber including Board of Directors' records, Executive Committee records, Financial Statements, Annual Meeting Records and Annual Reports, and Credit Bureau records.  A later addendum adds Awards to the Annual Meeting Records and Annual Reports subseries. The second series is comprised of Correspondence.  It should be noted that a considerable amount of committee information is contained in this series. Newsletters contained in Series III are especially valuable since they often provide documentation of Chamber activities for years not covered by Board records.  A later addendum adds Membership/Development to this series. Series IV, Subject Files, is arranged alphabetically and provide information on most of the major issues that confronted the Rockford community during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century. The fifth series is the Industry File.  These files span the years 1940-1975 and are arranged alphabetically by company name.  An index for the series is contained in Box 15, Folder 27.  The amount of information for each company varies widely.  Also included in this series is  general information on Rockford industry including statistics, strike information, and some correspondence. More than 400 photographs make up Series VI.  Photographs are arranged alphabetically by subject with the number of prints and negatives listed for each folder. Series VII, Oversize, includes newsclippings, one photograph, an 1889 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated containing an article on Rockford, and a 1921 membership roster (photocopy in Box 1, Folder 1).  The addendum includes award certificates, publications, 16mm films, an album, and several artifacts. The Council of 100 records comprise series VIII.  These files contain information on the activities of the Council.  Of special interest are the VHS Tapes that consist of business properties that the Council was promoting for future use, local business highlights, and several tapes promoting development in Rockford.