Local history

Skokie Public Library is built on the homeland and trading ground of many Native American people and tribes, including the Council of Three Fires (the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa), and many other nations. 

A diverse suburb today, Skokie has a rich and varied history. Explore Skokie’s past using the library’s digital collections or visit in person to use print resources and get help from staff.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SKOKIE HISTORY

By 1836, Native Americans in what is now Niles Township had been forcibly removed to other areas of the country. Though European American settlers had lived near Skokie in the early 1830s, the first wood-frame house was built by Prussian immigrants Henry and Louisa Harms in 1854. 

The growing community was known as Niles Center because it was located in the middle of Niles Township, and from the late 19th to early 20th century, it consisted largely of small farms and greenhouses. The village changed its name from Niles Center to Skokie in 1940. 

A transition from farming to real estate development began in the 1920s, which was cut short during the Depression, but which revived after World War II. For more information on these periods, look through our At Home in Skokie digital collection

In the second half of the 20thcentury, the racial and ethnic diversity of Skokie expanded as a result of specific policy, including the passage of one of Illinois' first fair housing ordinances. The annual Festival of Cultures celebrated this increasing diversity.

Research Overview

Here are some places to start learning more about local history:

RESEARCHING PEOPLE

There are many ways to learn about our community members, whether they’re people you know, prominent people in our history, or simply people who lived and worked in the same places you do now:

If you’re doing genealogical research or looking for a specific person, look through our digitized newspapers. You can also search Ancestry Library Edition, a huge genealogical database of historical records (only available inside the library). We also have digitized yearbooks from Niles East, Niles North, and Niles West, as well as the NileHiLite, a student publication from Niles East from 1939 to 1980.

Newspapers and Obituaries

One of the best ways to research local history is by looking at local news. Skokie has had several newspapers throughout the years and you can access them through the library. From articles to classifieds ads to advertisements for the latest gadget, the newspapers will give you a unique look into Skokie’s history.

Newspapers

We have digitized historical newspapers from the 1930s through present day, including the Niles Center Herald, the Skokie Review, the Skokie Life, and the News. These are only available to view inside the library. If you’d like to explore headlines from outside the library, try our Skokie Newspaper Index. If you find an article you’d like to read, come to the library or contact us for a copy.

Obituaries

For local obituaries, start with the Skokie Newspaper Obituary Index, which will give you an exact citation. You can come to the library to view that obituary in our Historical Skokie Newspapers database or contact us for a copy.
If you’re looking for an obituary from somewhere else, try searching Ancestry Library Edition (only available inside the library) or Heritage Hub, both of which collect records from many sources.

RESEARCHING HOMES AND BUSINESSES

If you’re interested in the history of your home or another building in Skokie, a good place to start is our At Home in Skokie collection, which describes early 20th century real estate development.  The Skokie History Project includes photos of early Skokie homes and businesses.

For more recent records, search our public records database or the Cook County Clerk’s Office. The Niles Township Assessor has current maps.

Discrimination and Fair Housing

Like many mid-sized American communities, Skokie has a history both of housing discrimination and of increasing diversity. In Skokie and elsewhere in Chicagoland official policies went beyond individual prejudice. For instance, racial restrictive covenants limited the sale of property in an area to certain races. The practice of redlining assigned risk levels to certain areas, giving white residents better chances of getting a mortgage than others. For more information, Lake Forest College has a digital collection that includes an interactive mapUnvarnished is an online exhibit looking at housing discrimination in the northern and western United States.

Things slowly began to change in Skokie during the mid-20th century. In 1961, a Black couple from Hyde Park purchased a home in Skokie, despite significant difficulties and pushback from the community. These difficulties ultimately led to the passage of a fair housing ordinance

Maps and Directories

For overviews of the geography and changing boundaries of Skokie, Skokie: A Community History Using Old Maps covers 1830 to 1984. Geographical Growth of Skokie covers 1888 to 1983. View the changing landscape from a bird's-eye view through aerial photographs in our digital collections in addition to those in the Illinois Historical Aerial Photography database.

A number of individual maps and other resources are available from the library and elsewhere online:

ATTEMPTED NAZI MARCH IN SKOKIE 

In the late 1970s, a Chicago-based neo-Nazi group attempted to hold a rally in Skokie, resulting in pushback from the community, counterrallies, and several court cases, one of which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have an online archive of newspaper coverage, audio recordings, a timeline, and other artifacts documenting what happened.