DeKalb Streetscapes Collection

Collection

Identifier: RHC-RC-276

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The images in this collection are a complement to the Embree Collection [RC 2] held by the Regional History Center. The Embree Collection offers approximately 10,000 images of life in DeKalb, Illinois from the mid 1890's through the 1965. Both the Embree and Streetscapes Collections are especially strong on documenting the built environment in the central city area. While virtually all of the Embree Collection is black and white, two thirds of the Streetscapes Collection is color: there are about 900 color and 600 black and white images in the Streetscapes Collection. Over time other photographers will be adding images to the Streetscapes Collection to give it more breadth of coverage and to provide updates as the years pass. The collection is organized roughly by type of image and the photographer. Every image bears a unique number and the inititals of the creator on the back. Joan Metzger created a subject index to the collection.

Dates

created: 2006
Other: Date acquired: 00/00/2006

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights to the materials belong to the Regional History Center; literary rights in the collection are dedicated to the public.

Biographical or Historical Information

In the summer of 2005 DeKalb Mayor Frank van Buer asked Glen Gildemeister, Director of the Regional History Center at NIU, to chair the DeKalb Sesquicentennial Program Committee. During the following year the DeKalb Sesquicentennial Celebration staged over forty concerts, exhibits, and special events. To create a more permanent legacy the DeKalb Streetscapes Project came to life. The goal was to create a collection of images that depicted life in DeKalb at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Three judges, all professionals, selected about sixty of the images in this collection for display during the summer of the Sesquicentennial Celebration. The Nehring Gallery in downtown DeKalb hosted the exhibit alongside an exhibit of one hundred historical photographs. The winning images may be found together on CD 1 in Box 1. Glen Gildemeister curated both exhibits. The collection represents the views of the fifteen people who created the images and, over time, we hope more photographers will be adding their views of life in DeKalb. With enough time and volunteers the DeKalb Streetscapes Collection will document the twenty-first century as well as Embree does the twentieth.

Note written by

Extent

2.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Other Descriptive Information

Glen A. Gildemeister initiated the DeKalb Streetscapes Collection in the spring of 2006 as part of his work on the DeKalb Sesquicentennial Committee. Fifteen photographers created the 1,500 images found in the collection: Steve Anderson, Mark Baldin, Robert Banke, Anna Marie Coveny, Elizabeth Fenwick, Glen Gildemeister, David Groat, Dan Grych, Aracely Hernandez, Francisco Solares Larrave, Holly Lundh, Joan Metzger, Rod Neace, Ivan Shils M.D., and Joe Thorn. These photographers are identified by initials on the back of each print in the collection. As the City of DeKalb celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary in 2006 the photographers sought to preserve what they saw as representative views of life in DeKalb at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Some shot black and white film, some color film, some only digital images, and some a combination of the above. The negatives and proof prints created for those who shot film are also preserved in the collection though there are full sized prints for the negatives at hand.