Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1975-1979 (Creation)
Extent
5.00
Name of creator
Biographical history
Gayle Kenney Dompke (June 15, 1937-November 19, 2012) graduated from Northwestern University in 1958, and in 1968 graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also earned her law degree from John Marshall Law School in 1984. She married Richard Dompke, Northhwestern Class of 1955, in 1956.
Mrs. Dompke was an early and active member of the 1972-founded Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, after moving to Lake Forest in 1973, and serving on the Historic Sites Committee. She served as a board member and as the second president, 1978-80. During her two-year presidency, again folllowing Mr. Dompke's account, "the process of preparing a Historic Preservation Ordinance began, along with identifying historic properties and districts, which were considered eligible for historic designation."
Mrs. Dompke's Kirscht ancestors, original settlers of Niles Center just east of Evanston and Lake Michigan, led to her active work with the Skokie Historical Society, as well. She served as secretary of the Society, and she organized and prepared to be transferred to the State Archives Niles Township records.
This photo archive stems from her work documenting photographically significant Lake Forest structures, estates and their houses, Market Square and the business district, and the College's campus.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The collection documents Lake Forest estates and major features as they appeared prior to 1980. At the heart of the collection are almost four hundred 8 x 10 black and white photographic prints by Paul Whiting, an architectural photographer who completed work for the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, Susan Dart, and Gayle Dompke. There are also 38 prints (23 separate images) by James M. Karales, a New York based photographer for Look (1960-1971) until it ceased publication, and then a free-lance photographer after that.
The collection also includes files Mrs. Dompke created by Lake Forest address with many clippings, etc. and some photographs, as well, along with her records of the early days of the LF Preservation Foundation.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Donation of material gathered by his late spouse, Gayle, who arranged for the photography of local historic structures and paid for the work, prints, negatives, etc.