In December 2016, the Newberry received 2.5 million postcards as a gift from the Lake County Forest Preserve District. The collection, previously located at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, IL, consists of the corporate archive of the Curt Teich Company, which printed postcards in Chicago for nearly a century (1898-1978); and several remarkable collections donated by private individuals. It is generally considered the largest public collection of postcards and related materials in the United States. The Curt Teich Company Collection connects with and provides rich visual resources for many of the Newberry's strongest collections: Chicago and the Midwest; local and family history; travel and tourism; fairs and expositions; the growth of cities; printing, graphic design, and advertising. Martha Briggs, Will Hansen, Matt Krc, and Alice Schreyer will talk about the history of the company and the collection; how the library is storing, processing, and providing access to this massive addition; and why postcards have been designated the 11th Newberry "core collection".
Event—Public Programming