About 33,000 of the images relate to sporting events. Two card indexes created by the Chicago Daily News are located in the Prints and Photographs reference room. For nearly a century, the Chicago Historical Society has been collecting Civil War-era artifacts. The core of the collection was acquired in 1920 from Charles F. Gunther, Chicago candy manufacturer, city alderman, and collector extraordinaire, who had begun to amass Civil War materials in the 1870s. When Gunther died in 1920, the Chicago Historical Society purchased his holdings, which included a significant photograph collection, by photographers such as Alexander Gardner, George Barnard, and Timothy O'Sullivan.
Some views show ships, steamboats, and other vessels.
The collection also includes scenes portraying interpersonal relations, such as love and remembrance. The photographic archive of the first 40 years of work produced by Hedrich-Blessing, a Chicago studio that specializes in architectural photography, comprises this collection. Images primarily show interior and exterior views of buildings and structures, including office and industrial buildings, houses, schools, stores, theaters, and restaurants. The portrait collection focuses primarily on portraits of people who resided in, or are associated with, Chicago, Illinois. Some portraits show family groups and members of wealthy Chicago families.