Jan. 24--Longtime University of Illinois at Chicago history professor Melvin G. Holli specialized in Chicago history and mayoral history in particular.
Among the 18 books that Holli either wrote or edited was "The Making of the Mayor, Chicago 1983," a look at the contentious mayoral election from that year that ultimately saw Harold Washington take office. Also an archivist, Holli spent a considerable amount of time creating and promoting a collection of primary research sources about the social, political and cultural history of Chicago.
"He was an outstanding scholar," said Roosevelt University professor of public administration Paul Green, who collaborated with Holli on several books.
Holli, 82, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease on Jan. 7 at the Belmont Village assisted-living facility in Carol Stream, said his son, Steven. He had been a Wheaton resident for the past 10 years and a longtime resident of River Forest before that.
Born and raised in Ishpeming, Mich., Holli graduated from Ishpeming High School. He attended Suomi College -- now Finlandia University -- and then transferred to Northern Michigan University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1957.
Holli then attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he earned a master's degree in American history and then a doctorate in the subject in 1965. While at Michigan, Holli met his future wife, Betsy. They married in 1961.
During graduate school, Holli worked as a curator of manuscripts for Michigan-themed historical collections, which spurred his interest in collecting and cataloging historic documents and also in becoming certified as an archivist.
Holli's wife said her husband was drawn to history as an area of study because of his personal interest in his family background, including his ancestors' lives in Finland, and his keen memory.
"He had a mind where he could remember things easily," Betsy Holli said. "He had one of those photographic memories, and when he was in his PhD program, if he'd read a book three years earlier, he could recall the book and the date he'd read it. So he found studying history interesting."
In 1965, Holli joined the faculty at UIC. In addition to teaching history courses, Holli established an urban historical collection at UIC containing manuscripts, historical documents and primary resources for researchers, including the speeches of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and the correspondence of pioneering social worker and reformer Jane Addams.
The collection initially was housed in UIC's history department, under Holli's care.
"Mel took this mission very seriously and cultivated relationships with a number of key political figures, community activists and ethnic organizations, in order to give them the confidence to turn over their papers to this collection," said Ronald Legon, former UIC history department chairman and former dean of the graduate college. "He built an extraordinary collection, which today is one of the main sources of information about the growth of Chicago and its ethnic communities and political leaders."
Today, the collection that Holli established is held in the Special Collections and University Archives Department at UIC's Richard J. Daley Library.
"Mel was a model for the ethics of the history profession and a model for archivists," Legon said. "When it comes to the wishes of families of descendants (donating materials) ... and the use of their material, the confidentiality for a specified use of time, it took a lot of trust, and Mel was a master at cultivating donors and giving them the proper assurances. He modeled the kind of ethical behavior that historians espouse but don't always live up to."
Holli served as chairman of UIC's history department from 1991 until 1994 and was a Fulbright research professor in 1989. He helped develop the academic interests of many graduate students and "budding historians," Legon said.
In his own scholarship, Holli wrote frequently about urban history. Early in his career, he published work on Detroit. After coming to UIC, he wrote four books about Chicago's mayors. In addition to "The Making of the Mayor, Chicago 1983," Holli wrote books about the successful campaign of former mayor Richard M. Daley.
"His knowledge of urban history was unique because not only did he know Chicago, he also knew Detroit, so he had the ability to compare and contrast," Green said.
Holli also authored books about UIC and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His 1981 book "Ethnic Chicago," which he authored with Peter d'A. Jones, focused on the various ethnic groups in Chicago.
Holli enjoyed Finnish culture, traveling, fishing, hunting, swimming and time at his cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He skied into his late 60s.
"To know him personally was a great pleasure," Legon said. "Mel was something of a polymath who would continually surprise those who knew him and worked with him with knowledge on arcane subjects of all kinds that you wouldn't expect and that went far beyond scholarship and history. He really was an entertaining and insightful conversationalist."
In addition to his wife and son, Holli is survived by a daughter, Susan Swinford; two grandchildren; a brother, David; and a sister, Marilyn Savolainen.
A celebration of Holli's life is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at Wyndemere Senior Living Community, 200 Wyndemere Circle, Wheaton.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
