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Pritzker Military Museum & Library | |
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42°38′24.63128″N87°56′8.05031″W / 42.6401753556°N 87.9355695306°W | |
Location | 10475 12th Street, Kenosha, WI 53144, United States |
Type | Non-profit |
Scope | Military history, military science |
Established | 2003 |
Collection | |
Size | 67,000 volumes, plus other material |
Other information | |
Budget | US$4,762,922 (2017) [1] |
Employees | 22 |
Website | www |
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its specialist collections include material relating to Winston Churchill and war-related sheet music.
The institution was founded in 2003 as the Pritzker Military Library to be a non-partisan institution for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of democracy" by Colonel (Hon.) (IL) Jennifer (at the time, James [2] ) Pritzker, who had just retired from the Illinois Army National Guard. Originally located in the Streeterville neighborhood at 610 N. Fairbanks Court, the library later moved to 104 S. Michigan Avenue [3] in the Loop. The museum & library is a non-profit, [4] supported by donations and membership.
In early 2019, Rob Havers was appointed president and CEO of the museum. [5] [6] In 2022, he was succeeded by Krewasky A. Salter. [7] [8]
The collection of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library comprises over 115,000 items and includes more than 70,000 books, as well as periodicals, videos, artwork, posters, rare military ephemera, over 9000 photographs and glass negatives from the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War to the present, letters and journals from American soldiers, and a sizable collection related to Winston Churchill. Sam Gevirtz, who served on board USS Bunker Hill during the Okinawa invasion, donated his two World War II diaries to the Museum & Library. [9]
The collection is open to the public, but membership is required to borrow circulating materials. [10] The Library participates in an interlibrary loan program with major public and university libraries in the continental United States. It is a member of several academic consortia, including the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) and Libraries Very Interested in Sharing (LVIS). [11] [12]
The library has a non-circulating collection of more than 3,000 rare books and periodicals, including the Famiano Strada's De Bello Belgico (London: 1650) and John Entick's The General History of the Late War: Containing It's Rise, Progress, and Event, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America (London: 1763). The collection also includes unit histories, such as Civil War regimentals, and cruise books, like those from USS Chicago. These materials must be read in the Rare Book Reading Room. [13]
The institution maintains named collections, which include the Parrish Collection on Soviet History, [14] the Dr. Charles E. Metz Collection (titles on World War II aviation), [15] James Wengert Military Medical Collection, Lt. Col. Robert C. Peithman Collection (titles on the United States Marine Corps), Henry J. Reilly Memorial Library (volumes collected by Brig. Gen. Reilly), [16] the Robert C. Baldridge Collection (volumes collected by Robert Connell Baldridge), Edward Jablonski Collection (books of historian Edward Jablonski), John V. Farwell Collection (books on the American and British navies), Robert G. Burkhardt Memorial Collection (books on submarines and leadership), Dr. Charles C. Moskos Collection (books on military sociology, LGBTQ and the military, women and the military), [17] Norman E. Harms Collection (books and papers on aviation, tanks, and ships), [18] Robin D. S. Higham Collection (books on aviation, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II unit histories), [19] and World War I and World War II Sheet Music and Song Books Collection.
The Museum & Library has produced and maintains multiple programs related to military history in the United States.
Pritzker Military Presents is a televised series covering various topics in military history, and features film screenings, author presentations, and panel discussions with military officers and specialists in military history. They have included interviews with Medal of Honor recipients such as Paul William Bucha and Gary L. Littrell, [20] retired military figures such as Gen. Anthony Zinni and NASA Capt. Jim Lovell, [21] as well as military authors such as Doris Kearns Goodwin, [22] Rick Atkinson, [23] and W.E.B. Griffin. [24] Retired CIA agent Sandra Grimes also paid a visit to the Museum & Library and introduced her book Circle of Treason. [25] Programs are webcast live on the library's website and archived for later viewing or listening in streaming media or as podcasts. This website has over 400 of these programs available as episodes of Pritzker Military Presents, or original programming produced by the Museum & Library. [26] The programs are downloaded at a rate of 2,000 per month per program. They are also broadcast on Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW Channel 11.
The Museum & Library also produces Citizen Soldier. Each episode is originally a panel, conversation or interview that takes place at Pritzker Military Museum & Library. [27] It is then edited into a 26-minute episode that is broadcast on Chicago Public TV station, WTTW Channel 11 and WTTW-Prime Channel 11–2. [28] Seasons one and two can be viewed on the Museum & Library's website. As of 2018 [update] the show is in its third season.
The Holt Oral History Program has collected stories from 71 US military veterans and posted a downloadable podcast. The full audio interviews and transcriptions are available on the Museum & Library's website. Kenneth Clarke, president and CEO of the library at the time, said one of the Library's goals is to provide a secure space for veterans to explore their experiences in war. [29]
The Museum & Library also serves as a community resource, hosting commissioning and citizenship ceremonies. [30]
The Museum & Library has also hosted exhibitions by artists such as Steve Mumford, James Dietz, Don Stivers, and members of the Midwest Air Force Association. [31] Other exhibitions have included Don't Be a Dope!: Training Comics from World War II and Korea [32] and She's a Wow!: Women's Service Organizations in World War II. [33] In May 2014, the Pritzker exhibited photography from Stephanie Freid-Perenchio: her work depicted Navy SEALs in training and during their service in Afghanistan; the exhibit also included independently loaned artifacts from the Navy SEAL Museum such as uniforms and equipment. [34] In June 2019, the Museum & Library opened the D-Day+75 exhibition, to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The exhibit featured images, letters and maps from the invasion in Normandy in addition to video and audio recording from D-Day veterans. [35] [36]
In 2007, the Museum & Library awarded its first annual Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing to Civil War historian James M. McPherson. The award includes a $100,000 honorarium. [37] It is given in the Museum & Library's name by the Tawani Foundation. [37]
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library was named one of 10 recipients of the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The annual award, made by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) since 1994, recognizes institutions for outstanding social, educational, environmental, or economic contributions to their communities. [30]
The Museum & Library's 2006 schedule was named an Official Honoree of the 2007 Webby Awards. [62] It was also named an Official Honoree in two categories, Live & Broadcast Events and Podcasts, in the 2008 Webby Awards. [63]
The museum publishes books, including:
James Munro McPherson is an American historian specializing in the American Civil War. He is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. McPherson was the president of the American Historical Association in 2003.
Sir Antony James Beevor, is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War.
Lawrence Rush "Rick" Atkinson IV is an American author, most recently of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777, the first volume in the Revolution Trilogy. He has won Pulitzer Prizes in history and journalism.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museum ranks as one of the most visited presidential libraries. Its library, in addition to housing an extensive collection on Lincoln, also houses the collection of the Illinois State Historical Library, founded by the state in 1889. The library and museum is located in the state capital of Springfield, Illinois, and is overseen as an agency of state government. It is not affiliated with the U.S. National Archives and its system of libraries.
Jill Morgenthaler was the 2008 Democratic nominee for Illinois' 6th congressional district, defeating Stan Jagla in the primary. Morgenthaler was defeated by Peter Roskam, a Wheaton, Illinois Republican, in the November 2008 general election, by a 16% margin.
Patrick K. O’Donnell is an American author of books on military history.
Neal Bascomb is an American journalist and author. He is known for his books on popular history.
The Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing is a literary award given annually by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. First awarded in 2007, it is a lifetime achievement award for military writing, sponsored by the Tawani Foundation of Chicago. The prize is valued at $100,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world.
Jennifer Natalya Pritzker is an American investor, philanthropist, and member of the Pritzker family. Pritzker retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Illinois Army National Guard (ILARNG) in 2001, and was later made an honorary Illinois colonel. Founder of the Tawani Foundation in 1995, Tawani Enterprises in 1996, and the Pritzker Military Library in 2003, Pritzker has been involved with civic applications of inherited and accrued wealth, including significant donations to broaden understanding and support for "citizen soldiers."
William P. Levine was a United States Army officer. During World War II, he served in the US Army as an intelligence officer. Levine was among the first Allied Forces to enter the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. He would eventually rise to the rank of major general. After the war, he was active in the Chicago Jewish community.
Charles H. Lipson is an American political scientist who is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago. His areas of specialization include international relations, international political economy and modern international history.
Ian W. Toll is an American author and military historian who lives in New York City. He wrote The Pacific War Trilogy, a three-volume history of the Pacific War.
Bob Drury is an American writer and journalist. He has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines, and other publications. He is the author of over twelve non-fiction books. Currently, he resides in Manasquan, New Jersey.
Cord A. Scott is an American academic who studies “war themed comics from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom”. Scott has published one book and a number of articles in academic journals that more closely examine the role of comic books in social history.
Noah Andre Trudeau is an American historian who has written books and produced programs for National Public Radio.
Kenneth A. Clarke serves as the executive director for Rescue Village, a humane society located in Geauga County, Ohio. He had previously served as the president and CEO of Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago. He has also authored, published, edited and produced works as Kenneth Clarke and KC Clarke.
Department of the Army Special Photographic Office (DASPO) was a unit of the United States Department of the Army from 1962 to 1974. The unit provided numerous images of the Vietnam War.
The United States World War I Centennial Commission was created by an Act of Congress in 2013. This Act was passed in order to honor and recognize the centennial of America's involvement with World War I. The Commission is in charge of planning, developing, and executing programs, projects, and activities to commemorate the centennial of World War I. The Commission also develops educational programs for a variety of audiences, organizes events to commemorate America's involvement in the War, and will establish a National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Pritzker Military Museum and Library is the founding sponsor of the Commission. The Starr Foundation is supporting sponsor of the Commission.
Russell S. Bonds is a corporate attorney and an author of military history, specializing in the Civil War.
Krewasky A. Salter is a retired United States Army Colonel, museum curator and military historian. He served as the executive director of the First Division Museum. In 2022, he was appointed president of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.