Congressman Frank Annunzio, Pat Nixon and Richard J. Daley in parade - CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

In some ways this image of Congressman Frank Annunzio, Richard J. Daley and Pat Nixon marching in a 1972 parade in Chicago is iconographic political history (Daley and Annunzio are to Pat's left and right). These politicians and political dignitaries are enjoying the day, looking confident and secure with their roles at the head of the parade and, quite possibly, in life. Pat Nixon looks striking and elegant, even walking in this parade--what a lovely suit!

The Congressman Frank Annunzio Photo Collection from the University of Illinois at Chicago has over 300 images, mostly of Annunzio and his associates. Annunzio marched in many, many parades and attended many groundbreaking and other civic events in and around Chicago in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Annunzio was everywhere, and his habit of being everywhere probably insured his longevity (28 years) in Congress. Looking at the collection's images all together evokes a bit of nostalgia for politics as it once was practiced. That is, politics connected physically, on the ground, to communities and the people in them, rather than politics practiced through email, web sites, Twitter and Facebook. These photographs leave me with a sense of nostalgia, a sense of something we had once but can't quite experience today.

Written by Laurie Sauer, Information Technologies Librarian, Knox College.

For more information about this and other CARLI Digital Collections, visit http://collections.carli.illinois.edu

To learn more about becoming part of CARLI Digital Collections and using CONTENTdm, see http://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/contentdm and http://wiki.carli.illinois.edu/index.php/Portal:CONTENTdm.