After the German Newspaper Eintracht, published over 95 years in the Chicago area, has incorporated its publication with the New York Staatszeitung in February, 2016, we were fortunate to turn over our vast collection to the University of Illinois and DANK Nord, Chicago.
While the New York Staatszeitung graciously consented to continue publishing reports and up-coming events about the German American Community, Clubs, Choruses and Organizations, the University of Illinois and DANK Nord will catalog and archive a large part of the collection. The following states the intentions of the Archive and Collection Departments of the University of Illinois:
Special Collections at the University of Illinois at Chicago is pleased to add the Eintracht Newspaper Records to our rich collections of local and ethnic Chicago history. The collection will be an important complement to our existing collections documenting the experience of German Americans in the Chicago area.
The run of newspapers will be cataloged and placed in our Rare Periodicals collection. The catalog records will be viewable in the library’s catalog as well as to the larger academic community through WorldCat. The business records of the newspaper will be organized by archivists and an online finding aid (guide to the records) created. The finding aid will be available on the library website (http://library.uic.edu/collections/special-collections-university-archives/finding-aids) and on Explore Chicago Collections (http://explore.chicagocollections.org/). All of the material will be rehoused into archival containers and permanently stored in our secure and climate-controlled library storage area. Students, scholars, and the general public will be able to use the collection in our onsite reading room at the Richard J. Daley library. We are confident this collection will become a valued and much consulted resource.
From the DANK Nord Museum and Preservation Department, we have learned the following intentions:
The purpose of this project is to conduct a general assessment for a recently-acquired newspaper collection which was donated by the editors of the Eintracht, a family-run, German-language newspaper that was published in Chicago for the last 95 years. The collections consists of four major categories: past editions of the newspaper itself, a large number of photographs, booklets and pamphlets by local German clubs, and obituaries. Given this unique combination of mutually complementary media, the Eintracht collection is an invaluable resource of documenting the development of the German-American common city in the Chicago area after the Second World War. The collection is currently housed in a temporary space in non-archival boxes. On the basis of his preservation assessment, our consultant Mr. Leith will provide a detailed recommendation which will enable us to transfer the collection to an adequate storage space.
We are indeed, very fortunate, to have found such receptive and professional preservationists for the Eintracht materials, collected over many decades. We look forward to the process of implementation of the collection and supporting this encompassing work for posterity. Thank you!
Annerose Goerge
Eintracht