Clerk's office demonstrates how to find Evanston historical records on city website
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Summary
A City Clerk's Office staff member walked meeting attendees through the City of Evanston's online archives, showing where scanned council minutes, historical codes and other public records are posted and explaining how to request additional documents or file a public-records request.
A staff member in the City Clerk's Office explained how to navigate the City of Evanston's website to find historical codes, council minutes and other public records.
The staff member told the meeting attendees to go to the city's website and follow Government → Clerk's Office → Historical Records to reach the scanned archives. "So we're gonna quickly, show you how to navigate the website so you can access, our historical codes," the staff member said, adding that the City Council records link leads to scanned action agendas and books dating back to the 1960s.
Why it matters: the online archives make original council minutes and other department records available for researchers, journalists and residents seeking historical or administrative documentation.
The staff member demonstrated that the city posts scanned copies of historical books and minutes — including council records from the 1960s — in the city's Document Center. "So this is scanned exactly how the books looked, so you will need to scroll a bit," the staff member said, describing the scanned-image format. The presentation noted the archives include items such as Forest Commission and committee amendment records, clerk's office contracts and the city council's records.
Beyond the historical minutes, the clerk's office representative listed other resources available on the site: current election information, the city seal and fees for certified documents, tenant- and landlord-resources, instructions for making public comment, temporary access placements, vital records and information on how to request that a marriage be officiated. The staff member noted, "We're consistently adding records into our, online, doc center," and invited attendees to email the office with suggestions for additional records to post. The staff member also said that if a record is not available online, residents may file a FOIA/public-records request.
The presentation named Mayor Bess and former City Clerk Green as officials who may perform marriages, but did not indicate any action or policy change tied to the website demonstration. No formal motions or votes were taken during this agenda item.
The clerk's office encouraged attendees with specific questions or records requests to contact the office directly or submit a public-records request for documents not yet posted online.
