West Side Historical Society (Chicago, Ill.)

The exact founding date of the West Side Historical Society (hereafter referred to as the WSHS) is unclear. It is recorded by Miss Pearl L. Field, librarian at the Legler branch of The Chicago Public Library and honorary life president of the WSHS, that the Society was organized sometime in either 1929 or 1930. The WSHS took as its mission to search our the west side's pioneer families, the boundaries of its settlements, and the story of the west side's development as a neighborhood. The WSHS was closely associated with the Legler Library for almost twenty-five years. Its meetings were held there, the Society's exhibits were displayed there, and the library provided storage space and staff expertise for the Society's historical collections. Sometime in the late 1950s (again, the exact date is not available), the WSHS disbanded; more accurately, it dissolved as community interest waned. The reasons for this lack of community enthusiasm are unclear, although a strong factor may be the dramatic demographic shifts on the west side which occurred in the 1950s.