This interview with Patricia Laughlin, Illinois Tech's outgoing Vice President for Finance and Administration, was conducted on March 7, 2017... Show moreThis interview with Patricia Laughlin, Illinois Tech's outgoing Vice President for Finance and Administration, was conducted on March 7, 2017 by Ralph Pugh, and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Leroy Kennedy, Illinois Tech's outgoing Vice President, Community Affairs and Outreach Programs, was conducted on... Show moreThis interview with Leroy Kennedy, Illinois Tech's outgoing Vice President, Community Affairs and Outreach Programs, was conducted on September 20, 2016 by Ralph Pugh, and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Frances Bronet, outgoing Provost at Illinois Institute of Technology, was conducted in her office on December 12, 2017 by... Show moreThis interview with Frances Bronet, outgoing Provost at Illinois Institute of Technology, was conducted in her office on December 12, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with David Baker, Illinois Tech's Vice President for External Affairs, was conducted on September 14, 2016 by Ralph Pugh, and... Show moreThis interview with David Baker, Illinois Tech's Vice President for External Affairs, was conducted on September 14, 2016 by Ralph Pugh, and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with George Langlois, faculty member in Illinois Tech's Department of Psychology and Executive Director of the Center for... Show moreThis interview with George Langlois, faculty member in Illinois Tech's Department of Psychology and Executive Director of the Center for Research and Service, Center for Leadership Studies, and Leadership Academy, was conducted on September 7, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Sander Marcus, longtime faculty and staff member in Illinois Tech's Department of Psychology, the IIT Counseling Center,... Show moreThis interview with Sander Marcus, longtime faculty and staff member in Illinois Tech's Department of Psychology, the IIT Counseling Center, as well as a staff member in the associated for-profit Institute for Psychological Services, was conducted on August 22, 2018 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Ruth Sweetser, then Director of Corporate Relations at Illinois Tech, was conducted on March 3, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and... Show moreThis interview with Ruth Sweetser, then Director of Corporate Relations at Illinois Tech, was conducted on March 3, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Howard LeVant, photographer and graduate of the Institute of Design, was conducted on November 13, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and... Show moreThis interview with Howard LeVant, photographer and graduate of the Institute of Design, was conducted on November 13, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Judith Mader, widow of Institute of Design alumnus Bob Mader, was conducted on October 25, 2018 by Ralph Pugh and Adam... Show moreThis interview with Judith Mader, widow of Institute of Design alumnus Bob Mader, was conducted on October 25, 2018 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Robert Gordon, Illinois Tech architecture alumnus, architect, planner, artist, and author, was conducted on June 6, 2017... Show moreThis interview with Robert Gordon, Illinois Tech architecture alumnus, architect, planner, artist, and author, was conducted on June 6, 2017 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
This interview with Dr. M. Ellen Mitchell, professor of Psychology and former Dean of the College of Human Sciences and College of Psychology,... Show moreThis interview with Dr. M. Ellen Mitchell, professor of Psychology and former Dean of the College of Human Sciences and College of Psychology, was conducted on May 1, 2018 by Ralph Pugh and Adam Strohm. A short addendum to the interview was recorded on September 17, 2019, and is found at the end of the recording. Show less
This interview with Richard Laurent, designer, cartoonist, artist, and alumnus of the Institute of Design, was conducted on November 15, 2019... Show moreThis interview with Richard Laurent, designer, cartoonist, artist, and alumnus of the Institute of Design, was conducted on November 15, 2019 by Mindy Pugh and Adam Strohm. Show less
A house museum is a former residence converted into a publicly accessible structure, which preserves an identity of its original domestic... Show moreA house museum is a former residence converted into a publicly accessible structure, which preserves an identity of its original domestic history. These houses shelter a wide variety of institutions with a diverse range of imperatives and services. With a focus on Chicago house museums, this dissertation seeks an overarching pattern underlying this conversion and reuse of residential buildings. This dissertation focuses on six house museums in Chicago: the Palmer Castle, the Harding Castle, the Clarke House, the Glessner House, the Madlener House and the Robie House. The Palmer and Harding Castles ceased to exist as house museums and are no longer standing.Conventional archival research conducted during the initial phases yielded historiographies that corroborate as well as contradict popular stories about the process by which the houses were preserved, salvaged and converted. Key primary-source research includes interviews with persons involved in—and observant of—motivations and forces in play upon these six case studies. Texts of the interviews are included in appendices. The dissertation reveals how select individuals (acting variously as architects, historians, concerned citizens, and leaders of institutions) influenced the creation of the six house museums. This dissertation contains a chronicle and an evaluation of the values which informed and influenced the house museum condition in Chicago in an environment which largely pre-dated the historic building preservation movement in America. The case studies show that the persons and parties involved in saving various houses for reuse did not generally execute definitive plans, in full, with a clear ultimate goal. Instead, in all cases, individuals and small groups of people fought an array of idiosyncratic battles, often yielding short-term victories. Economic pressures, political conditions, and societal values evolve, ushering in new opportunities and new dangers for nascent institutions inhabiting former residences. As each generation of directors, curators and governing boards mature and matriculate, the goals and objectives which influenced the reuse of their house museums changed. The very notion of attaining some sort of permanent statis has been found, through this research, to be elusive. Dynamism in both the people and the institution reusing these house museums can yield positive outcomes ensuring preservation of the institution of the house museum. Show less
