Collections
CFA's collections contain professional and amateur films of all genres, including documentaries, experimental films, and home movies, depicting histories of Chicago, the Midwest and the world. Our online catalog contains thousands of digitized items from our collections along with descriptive catalog records.
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The Chicago Public Library film collection is Chicago Film Archives' (CFA) founding collection. CFA formed in order to care for this collection of about 5,000 16mm films that the library no longer could keep. The collection contains a broad sweep of genres. A large number of films are educational and travel films, but there are also silent films, foreign and American-made theatrical films, documentaries, industrials, newsreels, sports events and children's films. Together these films comprise a rich snapshot of an educational and cultural pathway the City of Chicago built for its citizens during the mid twentieth century.
1980
The Bernie Fry collection consists of a short claymation film shot on 16mm film as part of his senior Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis in 1980. It illustrates his views on how political and religious differences separate peoples into tribes who build walls to divide themselves from each other.
1942 – 1980
Morton & Millie Goldsholl ran Goldsholl Design & Film Associates, one of Chicago’s leading graphic design studios in the 1950s through 1970s. The studio became recognized for their animations, progressive hiring practices and developing corporate branding packages for various companies. Their collection, donated to CFA in 2006 and 2010, contains commercials and industrial films that Goldsholl Associates made for their clients, experimental films and animations made by both Morton and Millie, unedited travel films shot by Morton and Millie and films (primarily animated) that the two collected over the years.
1961 – 1992
The Byron Grush Collection contains experimental and animation films made by Chicago filmmaker and animator, Byron Grush. Byron has ties to numerous local universities and organizations including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Academy of Fine Art, Goldsholl Design Associates, and Center Cinema Coop. This collection’s experimental films consist of hand drawn animated works and abstract short films, made primarily between the years 1961 and 1976. Films by other local filmmakers and artists are included in this collection. Also found in this collection are: an original drawing from Byron's film Why We Fight, a signed copy of The Shoestring Animator, newspaper clippings of Byron’s work, and other ephemera.
1960 – 1999
The Larry Janiak Collection contains experimental films and documentaries made by Chicago filmmaker, animator, and designer, Larry Janiak. The experimental films in the collection consist of direct animated works (DL1, DL2) and a handful of abstract short films, or "sketches," made by Janiak between the years 1960 and 1970. Also included in the collection are three documentary works. Two of these documentaries depict structures and ceremonies of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago (Hale House, Vedanta Temple Dedication Ceremony), while the third documents Janiak's time as an animation instructor at the Institute of Design (Animation Film Making: A Teaching Method at the Institute of Design in Chicago 1968 to 1980). The collection also contains two boxes of books, personal papers and various ephemera, including two Chicago International Film Festival Hugo awards, various books on underground film & animation, graphic design samples by Janiak and three Center Cinema Co-op distribution catalogs designed by Janiak.
1965 – 1998
The Franklin McMahon collection consists primarily of audio recordings of significant political and social events from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. These recordings include interviews, political speeches, and environmental audio captured on location at Democratic and Republican National Conventions in the 1960s and 70s. McMahon’s subjects include Richard and Pat Nixon, Walter Cronkite, Jane Fonda, Abby Hoffman, Studs Terkel, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy and Edmund Muskie. Capturing reflections on the major political events and socio-cultural issues of the time, including the Vietnam War and Women’s Liberation Movement, McMahon’s audio recordings provide a rich, acoustic record of a tumultuous period in American history. The collection also contains a few films, including one on the “Chicago Seven” conspiracy trial.
This collection, donated by Northwestern University's Radio/Television/Film Department, is mainly comprised of 16mm films. These include prints of feature film classics formerly used in film studies instruction at Northwestern, a collection of film elements shot by Swiss nature photographer Helene Fischer, and a collection of films made by Wilding Picture Productions (a Chicago-based maker of industrial films).
1973 – 1991
The Somersaulter-Moats and Somersaulter collection consists of 16mm films produced by Chicago filmmakers JP Somersaulter and Lillian Somersaulter Moats. The films in this collection are predominantly short, animated films that were written, directed and illustrated by Lillian and JP. These include experimental films for adults as well as adapted and original fairytales for children.
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Collections in Progress
Our staff is always working to expand CFA's catalog by researching, describing, and digitizing new collections. Here are the collections that are currently in progress.
Five 8mm home movies shot in Chicago between 1958 and 1962.
A collection of 129 16mm films, mainly educational titles.
Materials related to the work of experimental filmmaker and Chicago high school teacher Eleanor Binstock.
13 reels of 16mm adult films rescued from the Oak Theater in Chicago, at Armitage Ave and Western Ave, as it was being cleared out for renovation.
52 reels of 16mm home movies and collected films from the Beverly and South Shore areas of Chicago, shot and collected by Chester Faust.
Two 16mm films about Fred Flom, of Menasha, Wisconsin, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1966 to 1973.
circa 1963 – 1967
The Leon P. Granacki Family Collection consists of twelve 8mm home movies taken by Leon P. Granacki. The films capture the life of a Polish American family living in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. The footage features vacations, trips to the Squaw Lake (Minnesota), Channel Lake and Long Lake (Illinois), and travel to St. Louis. Other films document Easter and the Graduation of Leon’s daughter, Victoria Granacki.
Collection of films produced by Guzik as part of his work for various companies during the late 1970s.
Collection of 13 home movies from the mid-1950s, most of which were shot by Judith Hembree's father.
Films made by, worked on, or collected by documentary filmmaker Judy Hoffman.
3 reels of family outings; 1 reel, Bar Mitzvah party, Albany Park, 1956; 1 reel, Carnival, 1956 at the University of Illinois, Champaign.
38 reels of 8mm home movies shot by Sydney Katz, primarily of family birthday parties, weddings, holidays, and vacations.
Collection of 71 8mm home movies.
36 reels of 8mm and Super 8 home movies shot in the Chicago, Albuquerque, and Milwaukee areas.
Collection of predominantly industrial films worked on by Charles S. C. Lee, who worked in film production in Chicago from the 1960s – 1980s.
About a dozen rolls of 16mm film, mainly comprising unedited footage shot during the 1966 football season, as well as 16mm kinescopes of the Vince Lombardi Show and the George Halas Show.
Home movies on 8mm and Super 8 film.
A collection of independent/student films made in the late 1960s and early 1970s in and around Chicago, Park Ridge, and Niles, Illinois.
Collection consisting mainly of 16mm elements of films made by or in collaboration with Robert Orr, both during his high school years and his professional career.
Collection of 4 16mm home movies.
47 reels of 8mm home movies found in a dumpster and donated to CFA. Reel labels indicate that the films depict visits to Europe as well as to Crivitz, Wisconsin.
13 reels of 16mm film from Dr. Herbert Ratner, who was health commissioner of Oak Park, IL, from 1949 to 1974.
This collection of 8mm and 16mm films, and some audio tapes, belonged to Dr. Martin Ross of Lincolnwood, IL. He was an avid traveler and photographer, and often shot 8mm and 16mm film on his trips in addition to slides and snapshots. He shot all of the films which are home movies and travelogues.
2 reels of 16mm film about urban planning in Chicago, produced by the City of Chicago Department of Urban Renewal.
circa 1955 – 1974
Multiple 8mm and Super 8 films taken by Caroline Wenz Rubin in the 1950s-'70s in Chicago, lL; Perrysburg, OH; Yellow Springs, OH; Newton, MA; Washington, DC; and various other locations. Collection includes one or more short movies filmed by Betsy Rubin, then a high school student. Most films are family or travel documentary in nature; a few are filmed stories or plays, including one stop-action short film.
circa 1955 – 1964
The Sanetra Family Collection consists of 27 home movies (including thirteen of 8mm and fourteen of Super 8mm) taken by Charles Sanetra. The films capture family holidays and celebrations – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, communions, church picnics, parades, and neighborhood sporting events. Among them are documentation of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła’s (Wojtyła) visit to Chicago in 1976 and the 1964 Alaskan earthquake in Anchorage.
Collection of over 200 16mm films, predominantly home movies shot by Arthur Senior of Homewood, Illinois.
The Jerzy “George” Skwarek collection consists of 80 films (including one 16mm, thirteen Regular 8mm, and sixty-five Super-8mm) taken by Jerzy “George” Skwarek. The films document travels with friends and clients of Polish travel agencies, mainly in the United States, including Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, North and South Carolina, and Peru. Among Skwarek’s captured friends is the famous Polish actress and singer Kalina Jędrusik. The Midwest is portrayed in films from Chicago and Wisconsin, as well as in documentation of his visits with friends to the Ponderosa Sun Club and Naked City in Roselawn, Indiana.
The collection also includes home movies from the early 1950s of an unknown moviemaker and family. These include trips to Saugatuck in Michigan, Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, Florida, Bermuda, and Mexico. Additionally, Skwarek’s collection consists of short commercial pornographic films, including Wet & Wild, which was likely directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1973.
The collection also includes home movies from the early 1950s of an unknown moviemaker and family. These include trips to Saugatuck in Michigan, Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, Florida, Bermuda, and Mexico. Additionally, Skwarek’s collection consists of short commercial pornographic films, including Wet & Wild, which was likely directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1973.
Collection of 31 reels of 16mm home movies from a Michigan family.
Three reels of film found in the church when they were clearing out old things.
A collection of educational films, newsreels, and student films.
12 cans of 35mm negatives in cans from National Film Archives - Public Archives Canada.
Films, videos, and audio tapes related to the organization's activities.
1973 – 1974
The Vince Waldron Collection consists of 13 black & white Super-8 films and one 1/4" magnetic audio tape. The films were shot and edited by Vince Waldron as a student in and around the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio and in downtown Chicago from 1973 to 1974.
Materials documenting street cars in Chicago, including films, mini DV tapes, and paper materials.
1983 – 1986
Collection of 8mm home movies.