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Costume Collection

With more than 20,000 garments, textiles, and accessories dating from the early nineteenth century to the present, the EHC’s Costume Collection is one of the largest in the state of Illinois. The Collection spans the breadth of Evanston’s history, including garments and accessories for men, women, and children. Collection materials focus on clothing and accessories worn by Evanston residents from all walks of life.

The Collection includes objects from significant designers, such as Dior, Callot Soeurs, Lucien Lelong, House of Worth, Jon Weston, Pucci, and Liberty’s of London. However, as befits the sensibilities of Evanstontians, the majority of the Collection includes objects from other sources. These include the works of lesser-known European designers, the works of American designers including Evanston designers, the products of local department stores and businesses, and clothing made at home by Evanston residents for themselves and their families.

EHC regularly displays objects from the Costume Collection in exhibitions and also makes loans to local institutions.

In-person access to the Costume Collection is available by appointment only.

Due to the extensive resources required to handle and retrieve Costume holdings, access to these materials is limited to researchers and designers who are able to demonstrate that in-person access is required to support substantive research.  To request access, send an email with details of the request including specifics about the type of object, the date parameters, and the purpose of the research to the Costume Curator.  Please also note that not all objects are available for researcher access due to condition, location, staff availability, and/or other factors.  Scheduling an appointment to view available material requires 6 weeks advance notice due to staff availability and activities in the collection.

  • Contact the Costume Curator at costumecurator@evanstonhistorycenter.org to learn more about viewing the costume collection.
  • Families of past donors may also request a viewing of items donated by their families.
  • To request access, send an email to the Costume Curator with the name of the donor, the name of the wearer, the approximate date of the object, and the type of garment or accessory. Please also note that not all objects are available for access due to condition, location, staff availability, and/or other factors.
  • Scheduling an appointment to view available material requires 6 weeks advance notice due to staff availability and activities in the collection.

View the Evanston History Center’s digital collections.

The History Center requires ongoing resources to maintain its collections of objects and documents.  This work includes cataloging, storing, and preserving the artifacts, and the specialized activity necessary to make this unique resource available for use in exhibitions, publications, public programs, scholarly research, and loans to other institutions.  We encourage you to consider making a financial contribution to help support this important work.

Some collections can be viewed on our digital resources site >

Interested in donating an item to the Evanston History Center's collection?

The Evanston History Center’s collections are always growing!

The EHC maintains collections that interpret the rich history of the City of Evanston and all its people.

Before an item is accepted into the collection, it is reviewed by curators. Not everything is accepted. Please review our donation criteria. If you think that you have materials to donate to the collection, please contact the EHC about making a donation.

  • The Evanston History Center collection is dedicated to Evanston-associated artifacts. Each item contributes to the multi-faceted story of our community and its people.
  • We carefully screen and curate our incoming donations before accepting the responsibility of their care. Each of the three collection divisions has a distinct curator. Please contact the appropriate person directly.
  • To offer a donation to the artifact collection, or for general questions, please contact Kris Hartzell, Director of Collections.
  • To offer a donation to the archives, please contact Grace Lehner, Director of Archives.
  • To offer a donation to the costume collection, please contact Rachel Jennens, Costume Curator.
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