Descriptive inventory for the John Gutknecht papers, 1906-1972 (bulk 1920-1960)

Provenance statement:

Gift of Mrs. John Gutknecht (accession #: M1972.0048).

Terms governing use:

Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Restriction(s):

This collection is open for research use.

Please cite this collection as:

John Gutknecht papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

Related material:

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the John Gutknecht photograph collection (1980.0135).

Biographical materials, correspondence, travel diaries (17 v.; 1934-1965), scrapbooks (11 v.; 1911-1960), transcripts, certificates, photocopies of newspaper clippings, and other papers of John Gutknecht, a Chicago lawyer and judge. Present are transcripts of radio broadcasts pertaining to traffic court (1930s) and the Chicago Boys' Court (ca. 1932-1943), and transcripts of speeches from Gutknecht's successful campaign for Cook County State's Attorney (1951-1952). A large portion of the collection consists of travel diaries and transcripts of radio broadcasts of Gutknecht's commentaries on the political situation in Europe and the rise of Fascism (1936-1945), as well as customs, social and economic conditions, and political problems in Latin and South America (1943-1944). The scrapbooks contain clippings related to Gutknecht's education and career.

John Gutknecht (1889-1972) was a Chicago lawyer and judge, and a professor of law at DePaul University and John Marshall Law School. Gutknecht served as a judge for the Municipal Court of Chicago (1932-1950), Cook County State's Attorney (1952-1956), and as a judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County (1958-1968). As a municipal court judge, Gutknecht was known for his work with the Chicago Boys' Court and the traffic court. Gutknecht also traveled extensively in Europe, Latin America, South America, Asia, and the Middle East, and gave many public addresses, reports, and radio broadcasts on his travel experiences, including commentaries on the rise of fascism in Europe.