02 Oct sizable collection of photographic prints documenting construction of cook county hospital recently unearthed

while working at the ryerson and burnham archives the other day, i stumbled across several folders containing silver gelatin prints documenting the construction of cook county hospital from beginning to end. i quickly realized , this set of prints haven’t been circulated in the public domain since the time they were taken (1912-1913), so i’m pleased these have been digitized and made available. 

after carefully studying the images – looking closely at the methods and materials used to construct the hospital building, i’m truly amazed at how quickly the building was erected, given its size and the amount of ornament used to dress the facade.

the photographic prints were made by the chicago architectural photo company, beginning in nov 1912 and ending in dec 1913. images are courtesy of the ryerson and burnham library, art institute of chicago.

note: although i scanned the entire series, i’m only posting a small selection that highlight progress made from beginning to end.