See also the Shipwrecks reference page: http://wisewiki.org/tiki-index.php?page=Shipwrecks
Google Search:
1. "Jensen collection" shipwrecks >> 387 Many were of no value, but several of the first 10 results apparently referred to the Jensen collection I am trying to find, including the following Chicago Sun Times article in 1995. So I was not mistaken about the location or the name. The Runge Collection at the Milwaukee Public Library, also on handwritten cards is obviously as extensive, but a different collection. The Jensen Collection was about 10,000 4X6 cards at the Chicago Historical Library. I saw the stack of them, about two feet high or more when I went to that library many years ago, I think in the late 1980's or early 1990's.
... Scuba divers and others interested in Lake Michigan history can find a windfall of information about area shipwrecks at the Chicago Historical Society. The J. Norman Jensen Collection contains about 8,500 file cards on lake and river disasters from 1679 to 1947.
Here's a look at some shipwrecks that are most popular with divers in the Chicago area. One of the most famous wrecks, however, is not yet open to divers. The Lady Elgin, a recreational side-wheel steamship, sank near Winnetka 135 years ago, killing nearly 300 of 500 passengers. Although the ship was found in 1989 by Harry Zych, owner of American Diving & Salvage, a commercial service that repairs and salvages boats and …