RHC/RC. Regional Collections
Record Group Term
Identifier: RHC/RC
The Regional Collections include original manuscripts and records generated by private individuals, institutions, and organizations from throughout the eighteen northern Illinois counties. The collections span the period from 1800 to the present and focus on several major themes in the region's history: agriculture, politics, ethnic heritage, commerce and industry, the role of women, and urban expansion. To provide documentation in these areas of interest the Center actively collects the historical records of farmers and their organizations, businesses and retail stores, state and local politicians, churches, cemeteries, civic agencies, individuals, women's organizations, and labor unions. In addition, the Center holds vertical file manuscripts, county and local histories, atlases and plat books, city directories, maps, broadsides, posters, photographs, oral histories, genealogical journals, and core reference printed materials on the history of northern Illinois that complement the manuscript collections.
Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:
Bertha G. Bradt Collection (DeKalb)
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: RHC-RC-046
Scope and Contents
The Bertha Glidden Bradt Collection contains textual and pictorial records relating to Bradt family genealogy and history dating 1830-1954, the Glidden family manuscripts, and materials from S.E. Bradt’s role in the development of Illinois highways. More than 1,000 volumes are included with the collection and are located in the reading room. A complete listing of the volumes can be found in the Shelflist.
The Bradt family records contain personal items belonging to Mrs. S.E. Bradt and the...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1830-1954; Other: Date acquired: 10/19/1978
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Congregational Church of Batavia Records
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-082
Scope and Contents
Recording an important aspect of Batavia history, the records of the Congregational Church document the establishment and history of one of the oldest churches in Kane County. Church/Congregational Society minutes (1835-1966) comprise the major series of the collection detailing church business concerns such as acceptance of members, committee appointments, church repairs, and reports from the church treasurer and various church organizations. Trustee meeting minutes (1933-1990) supplement...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1835-2017; Other: Date acquired: 01/27/1981
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb County Historical Society Records
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-003
Scope and Contents
The records in this collection document the activities of the DeKalb County Historical Society from 1972 to 1986.
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1865+; Other: Date acquired: 03/17/1978
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Ella Hume Taylor Collection (Geneseo)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-034
Scope and Contents
The Ella Hume Taylor Collection is made up of materials collected by Mrs. Taylor from the Henry County area.
The major portion of the collection is made up of letters, reminiscences, town and township histories obtained by Ella Hume Taylor in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among these are autobiographical and biographical sketches of the ‘Old Settlers of Henry County’ Theodore Davenport, George Brandenburg, and others. Also included are programs and by-laws of the Old...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1881-1940
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Frances W. Shimer College Collection (Mt. Carroll)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-077
Scope and Contents
The Shimer College Collection documents the founding and development of an important higher educational institution in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. Materials in this collection range from original manuscripts pre-dating Shimer's origin in 1853 to publications printed in 1978. There are six major record series in the Shimer College Collection: (1) original documents, historical, and biographical files; (2) files from the Office of the President; (3) alumnae and public relations records; (4)...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1838-1980; Other: Date acquired: 10/10/1979
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Giles P. Ransom Family Collection (Roscoe)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-275
Scope and Contents
Records in the Dr. Giles Paddock Ransom Family collection date from 1789 to 2009 with the majority of the records from the 1850 through 1930 time period. They document the personal and business aspects of individuals living in Rockford and Roscoe, Illinois. There are four main families represented in the collection–Jenks, Sherman, Leland, and Ransom; the Ransom family is most predominant. The other families are associated by marriage or settled near the Ransoms or both. Documents include...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1839-2009; Other: Majority of material found in 1850s-1930s; Other: Date acquired: 06/22/2006
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Harry A. Joslyn Collection (DeKalb County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-183
Scope and Contents
The Harry A. Joslyn Collection (1860-1905) provides excellent documentation for the study of rural life in DeKalb County, Illinois during the second half of the nineteenth century. The bulk of the collection consists of a series of 39 diaries (1865-1905) written by Harry A. Joslyn of Cortland and Sycamore. Diaries for 1890 and 1891 are missing. Daily entries vary in length but generally include information on family life work activities, politics, weather, and social life.
Two additional...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1860-1905; Other: Date acquired: 08/08/1986
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Johnson Family Diaries (Stephenson County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-305
Scope and Contents
The Johnson Family Diaries consist of five diaries and one typed transcript of the first four diaries. The 1843 diary of William Wright recounts the journey from Union County, Pennsylvania to Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois. The 1882-1909 Margaret Heise Wright Johnson diaries chronicle the life of then 16 year-old Margaret as she comes of age in Illinois at the end of the 19th century. A photograph of Margaret (undated) was found behind the cover of the first diary volume along with...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1842-1990; Other: Date acquired: 10/20/2010
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Norris Family Collection (Kane County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-074
Scope and Contents
The Norris family collection partially documents life on the Norris family farm in Blackberry Township, Kane County, Illinois, from 1864-1932. The earliest record contained in the collection is a copy of the diary of Hiram Norris’ wife and son, Hannah Marcella Norris and Frank Young Norris (1864). The bulk of the remaining manuscript material pertains to the last quarter of the nineteenth century; two printed books were published in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
In addition to the diary, there...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1864-1932; Other: Date acquired: 08/01/1979
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Rockford First Lutheran Church Records
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-083
Scope and Contents
The materials in this collection provide extensive documentation of the origins and growth of First Lutheran Church and of Rockford’s Swedish community from 1853 to 1970. The collection is arranged in six series which provide fairly complete information on all aspects of the history of the church. Researchers should note that although much of the pre-1930 material is in the Swedish language, translations of some of the core records are included.
The first series contains the church’s...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1853-2005; Other: Date acquired: 11/21/1979
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
