The title of this blog post is as much hopeful as it is descriptive. I intend to finish up and graduate this spring, and I’m currently writing the fourth chapter of my dissertation. In brief, my dissertation explores programs for and policies targeting pregnant girls in the public schools in Chicago and Washington, D.C. from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. I was in the midst of writing a chapter about the treatment of pregnant girls in the Chicago Public Schools [CPS] in the 1950s and early 1960s when I realized that I needed to return to Chicago to get some information about the Illinois School Code. At that point, I had already spent five full weeks in the archives over a period of more than two years. With naïve optimism, I had convinced myself that I was done with the data collection phase of the dissertation. Realizing that I needed to take one more research trip was something of a bitter pill, but one that I came to accept. At the end of August, I packed my bags and flew to Chicago to spend the week of August 29th through September 2nd in the archives.

My experience, admittedly limited, is that research trips are like novels with unique narrative arcs. This trip, like the ones that preceded it, delivered unexpected twists and turns, highs and lows. On Monday morning, I took the Metra train from my friend’s apartment in Western Springs to Union Station and then walked the five or six blocks to the Chicago Public Schools building at Clark and Adams. On previous visits to Chicago, I spent many hours on the sixth floor of this building, where the Board of Education maintains a small collection of historical documents and artifacts. On my last visit, in April of 2010, the archivist mentioned that the Board held transcripts of its meetings in an off-site facility. He thought it might be possible to request a small number of transcripts for transfer to the Board office. Although my primary target for this trip was the Illinois School Code, I was intrigued by the possibility of getting my hands on relevant Board meeting transcripts. In early August, I e-mailed the archivist a request for a dozen or so transcripts. He didn’t give me any assurances, but said that he would do what he could. I arrived at the Board office on the morning of August 29th, eager to dig into the transcripts. Much to my disappointment, the archivist informed me that the transcripts he ordered for me hadn’t materialized. My original plan was to devote Monday and Wednesday to the transcripts. Without them, I was able to wrap up my work at CPS in a matter of hours.   

Fortunately for me, I had a number of other objectives for the week. I needed to research the Illinois School Code at the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library. I also wanted to search the library’s collection of digitized articles from the Chicago Defender. And I planned to return to the Chicago History Museum to finish searching through their extensive collection of materials from the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago. So I simply went about my work for the week. And now for a surprising plot twist: On Wednesday, I received an e-mail from the archivist at CPS, telling me that my transcripts would be delivered to the Board office by the end of the day. If I was still in Chicago and could rearrange my schedule, I was welcome to come in on Thursday and search through the materials. I happily changed my plans. When I arrived at the Board office on Thursday morning, I found several stacks of office-sized packing boxes. The binding around the boxes and the condition of the materials inside (i.e. crumbling rubber bands and discolored paper clips) told me that these transcripts hadn’t been touched – let alone viewed – since they were packed up in the 1960s and 1970s. How exciting! After getting a general sense of how the transcripts were organized, I began a targeted search for discussion of pregnancy and pregnant girls. I’m pleased to report that I uncovered some real gems, including a lengthy and heated debate about whether or not pregnant girls should be allowed to attend one of the district’s vocational high schools in the early 1970s. I also gained insight into why, at around the same time, Board members repeatedly deferred a proposed policy that would allow pregnant girls to remain in their regular schools. What tremendous finds!

As my trip to Chicago came to a close, I kept thinking to myself that a week in the archives feels like seven weeks anywhere else. Maintaining enough focus to search through thousands of pages of documents and to skim each document to assess its significance is downright exhausting. But, it’s also very rewarding. And I’m one step closer to crossing the dissertation finish line.

One final thought: I’m an advocate of finding ways – however small – of injecting diversion into research trips. On this trip, I was lucky enough to stumble on a fantastic coffee shop on my walk from Union Station to the CPS building. The place is called Intelligentsia and it’s located in downtown Chicago at Jackson and Federal. Think marble counters and tabletops, fantastic coffee, and a hip crew of baristas. I stopped in for coffee in the mornings before heading to the archives. It was the perfect way to gear up for the day’s work.