CPL gave the GAR extensive rooms and signed a fifty year lease that expired in 1947. Ultimately, legal action determined the library could have the land, but it had to make room for the GAR, which wanted a memorial hall for its members. Because of this, many people believed the land was reserved for the GAR. At the time, the site was vacant and known as Dearborn Park, named for its proximity to the site of Fort Dearborn. In 1883, the Library Board chose the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street as the location for its future building. In Chicago, the GAR Memorial Hall Association shared space with Chicago Public Library (CPL). The GAR disbanded in 1956 when the last veteran died. Posts were established in different places, grouped under state-level departments, in turn grouped under a national commandery-in-chief. One of the longest-lasting was the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) for Union veterans, begun in April 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. Not long after the war ended, veterans began forming organizations. A few days later, on April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The war lasted nearly four years, ending on April 9, 1865, when the Confederacy surrendered.

Many military and political leaders trace their roots to Illinois.

Illinois participated on the Union side by sending hundreds of thousands of troops into battle. The American Civil War officially began April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Within a few months, ten more states had seceded. Near the end of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Events of note covered in the papers include the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The time period covered extends before and after the Civil War. The vast majority of the collection is comprised of issues of the Chicago Tribune, but papers from other cities also appear. These newspapers come from around the United States, with one item from Cuba. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Johanna Russ and Audrey Reed, 2021. Inventory assistance from Nancy Zalewski. When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: American Civil War Era Newspapers,, Special Collections, Chicago Public Library Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection. Those items with no accession number were found in the collection. Those papers marked вЂњCattonвЂќ were donated in 1979 by William Catton, son of Civil War historian Bruce Catton. The items with accession numbers beginning with a number other than вЂњ72вЂќ were either donated to or purchased by Chicago Public Library.

Those items with accession numbers beginning with вЂњ72вЂќ were originally part of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Collection. These newspapers were acquired through a variety of means over many years. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S.

Civil war hospital newspaper