The films in this collection were made and collected by Chicago area film critic and filmmaker Bill Stamets. The bulk of the collection consists of Super 8 films and outtakes made by Stamets in the 1970s and 1980s. They depict political events primarily in the city of Chicago, including former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington's two election campaigns, inaugurations, and time in office; numerous street protests and marches; and cultural festivals around the city. Also in the collection are nine 16mm film prints consisting of 3 films made by Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo and 6 films by Stan Brakhage.

The Ferd Isserman collection consists of 16mm home movies shot primarily in Chicago from the early 1930s through the late 1960s. Documenting leisure time, trips and holidays, highlights from the collection include family visits to the Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress International Exposition) in 1933-34; a legion marching band and USO dedication in Chicago during WWII; the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1932; the 20th Miss America pageant held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ in 1946; a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1946-47; and Thanksgiving celebrations in the 1930s, 1940s and 1968.

The John and Marilyn Sanner collection contains 16mm, 8mm and Super 8mm amateur and home movie films. John and Marilyn Sanner were members of the Metro Movie Club, a local amateur filmmaking club (1940s-1980s), during the later years of the organization (1972-1987). John Sanner of Deerfield, Illinois shot the majority of the films in this collection. He shot both amateur films and home movies, including footage of Deerfield High School football games, the Chicago snow blizzard of 1979, a behind-the-scenes look at a Metro Movie Club production and a short documentary about the arrival of a Vietnamese family to Deerfield by way of a refuge camp in Hong Kong. The collection also includes films made by John's brother Richard Sanner, who taught at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and established the audiovisual department at the University of Hawaii in 1957. Richard's films include home movies from the Sanner home in Iowa, as well as footage depicting the eruption of Kilauea volcano in 1960.