The Ryerson & Burnham Archives collect artists' and architects' papers that complement and extend the permanent collections of the museum's curatorial departments. The collections contain a wide range of media, including correspondence, published and unpublished writings, scrapbooks, architectural drawings and prints, business papers, photographs, slides, audio recordings, films, video, and ephemera.

The Archives' collections are notably strong in late 19th- and 20th-century American architecture, with particular depth in Midwest architecture. Architects such as Edward Bennett, Daniel Burnham, Bruce Goff, Bertrand Goldberg, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Mies van der Rohe, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright are represented in a broad range of papers. As well, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago is documented through photographs by C.D. Arnold and through a small collection of ephemera. The Century of Progress International Exposition of 1933-1934 in Chicago and the World's Fair of 1939 in New York are also each represented in an individual archive. The Historic Architecture and Landscape Image Collection (HALIC), a large collection of mounted photographic prints and lantern slides, provides valuable historic records of American architecture, landscape design, and urban planning.

The Archives also collect the papers of artists and designers. Of particular note are the archives of such figures as Ivan Albright, Irving Penn, and Richard Ten Eyck, each of whom played a key role in recent exhibitions organized by The Art Institute of Chicago.

Other significant collections include materials gathered by noted researchers such as André Mellerio, friend and biographer of artist Odilon Redon; William B. Fagg, an expert in West African art and architecture; and George Collins, scholar of Catalan art and architecture.

Send questions or comments regarding this information to Ryerson & Burnham Archives, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries.