Created in 2003, the Pritzker Military Museum is located on Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park. This museum strives to acquire and maintain an accessible collection of materials and to develop appropriate programs focusing on the Citizen Soldiers in presence of democracy. Colonel JN Pritzker is the founder of this library and museum combo, the person behind the assembling the major collection of books and related material on military history. In making this museum Pritzker partially focused on the concept of the citizen soldier to increase the understanding of the sacrifices made by the men and women who served, and of military history in general.
Inside the museum you will see a wide range of programs and collections that provide a forum for discussion, as well as location for preservation for the future. The Museum itself contains an extensive collection of prints, posters, photos, negatives, realia, and other artifacts. There are over 70,000 items within the museum, and it hosts over 400 events annually, featuring the best authors, historians, journalists, and scholars from across the nation. The library is also quite impressive, containing over 45,000 books, periodicals, videos, artwork, rare military ephemera, and over 9,000 photos from the American Civil War and Spanish American War to today. There are titles spanning all periods of history, countries, cultures, and branches of military within. Be sure to check out the current attractions such as SEAL Unspoken Sacrifices, Dignity of Duty, Faces of War, Medal of Honor, and the Holt Oral History program which contains stories and interviews from over 71 veterans!
