Research Services

Overview

I have over 35 years of historical research experience with 17 of those years conducting professional research for clients. I graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Business with a major in Marketing and a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies in 1992 after serving four years with the U.S. Army as a non-commissioned officer in “The Old Guard” at Fort Meyer, Virginia. Prior to founding Johnson Research Services in 2005, I was a criminal investigator in Du Page County and was a member of the Du Page County Major Crimes Task Force. I have written three books on Chicago history and am working on a fourth. I belong to the Association of Professional Genealogists and have been a past Chicago Area Representative.

Clients

I have had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of clients over the last couple of decades including:

  • Authors
  • Attorneys
  • Heir searchers
  • Family historians
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Museum curators
  • Television production companies and networks including Discovery ID, A&E, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, PBS, BBC, and others.

Repositories

Over the years I have enjoyed exploring a great many historical repositories in the Chicago area including:

National Archives Great Lakes Region
NorthWestern Special Collections
Art Institute Burnham Library
Cook County Circuit Court Archives
Harold Washington Library
Illinois Regional Archives NEU
Chicago History Museum
Newberry Library
University of Chicago

Lineage Societies

I have had many years of experience successfully navigating clients through the membership process for various lineage societies including:

  • Daughters of the American Revolution
  • Sons of the American Revolution
  • Jamestowne Society
  • Mayflower Society
  • Society of the Cincinnati
  • Holland Society
  • Associated Daughters of Early American Witches
  • and many others

Request a Quote

Every client is different and every project is different. I have worked on major projects that have taken years to complete such as documentaries or printed histories of families or organizations as well as a simple document lookups. I always quote a project at no cost to the client and will develop a research plan that the client approves before I undertake any assignments.

If you would like to discuss your project, please email me at:

chicagohistorydetective@gmail.com