Pritzker Military Museum & Library

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]

The collection of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library comprises over 115,000 items and includes more than 67,000 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.[7]

The collection is open to the public, but membership is required to borrow circulating materials.[8] 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).[9][10]

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.[11]

The institution maintains named collections, which include the Parrish Collection on Soviet History,[12] the Dr. Charles E. Metz Collection (titles on World War II aviation),[13] 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),[14] 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),[15] Norman E. Harms Collection (books and papers on aviation, tanks, and ships),[16] Robin D. S. Higham Collection (books on aviation, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II unit histories),[17] 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 Museum & Library seal, commissioned from James Dietz

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.[29] Other exhibitions have included Don't Be a Dope!: Training Comics from World War II and Korea[30] and She's a Wow!: Women's Service Organizations in World War II.[31] 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.[32] 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.[33][34]

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.[35] It is given in the Museum & Library's name by the Tawani Foundation.[35]

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.[28]

The Museum & Library's 2006 schedule was named an Official Honoree of the 2007 Webby Awards.[58] It was also named an Official Honoree in two categories, Live & Broadcast Events and Podcasts, in the 2008 Webby Awards.[59]

The museum publishes books, including:

• Lynch, Allen J. (2019). Zero to Hero: From Bullied Kid to Warrior. ISBN 978-0998968926.[60][61]
• Robbins, Michael W. (2018). Lest We Forget: The Great War — World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. ISBN 978-0998968902.[62][63]

• C. C. Beall – some works in collection
• Bill Mauldin – many of his works in collection

• Official website
• Front & Center with John Callaway archive at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library pdf
• John Callaway discusses The Politics of War with Bruce DuMont at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
• Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)