The collection contains bound materials related to urban planning and growth in the United States and abroad. Originally assembled by George E. Hooker between and in his capacity as Civic Secretary of the City Club of Chicago, materials in the collection explore aspects of urban growth and improvement pertinent to specific cities along with general information about city development.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Hooker, George Ellsworth. City Planning, Transportation and Housing. George Ellsworth Hooker was born in Peacham, Vermont in He attended Amherst College in Massachusetts and graduated in He then received an LL.
Hooker practiced law in New York, served as a Congregationalist minister in Washington State, and then traveled widely in the US and Europe investigating urban conditions. His frequent travel allowed him to combine that interest with his hobby of studying urban problems. After settling in Chicago, he wrote editorials for the Chicago Tribune and was an incorporator , secretary , and civic secretary after of the City Club of Chicago, an organization of Chicago business and civic leaders interested in urban development and reform.
As Civic Secretary, Hooker had access to all of the civic committees, and thus contributed to nearly all civic projects in Chicago during that time. In , the Chicago City Council passed a resolution commissioning Hooker to gather "such literature of general interest on Municipal Administration in Europe as he may find it practicable to obtain" and to investigate and report on "such methods and principles employed in such administration, particularly in dealing with housing, local transportation, open spaces and rapid city expansion, as shall seem to him especially pertinent to the prospective growth of Chicago.
Hooker served on a number of commissions on urban problems and civic improvements in Chicago, and he published several works based on these investigations, including Report on Street Railway Franchises of Chicago and Through Routes for Chicago Steam Railroads In a publication called "The Book of Chicagoans," Hooker listed his favorite recreations as bicycling, tramping, and sailing.
