Scope and Contents:
This collection includes a range of historical studies, most of which were conducted by Karen Lang Kummer and Alice Edwards Novak under the auspices of the URBANA Group and ArchiSearch, Historic Preservation Consultants.
Most of the reports are nominations, in draft form, for the National Register of Historic Places. (These reports are designated with asterisks in the inventory.)
Lachlin F. Blair, professor of urban planning at the University of Illinois, was the principal of the URBANA Group. (For documentation of his many projects, see his papers in the University Archives, 12/8/25.)
The collection also includes a number of studies for the Illinois Historic American Building Survey that document University of Illinois buildings, especially on the South Farms.
In many cases, the reports include not only textual material but also copies of architectural drawings, maps, and photographs.
Karen Kummer gave the collection to the Library in 2011, and Alice Novak assisted in describing it.