Faculty

A recently donated framed document revealed a hidden record of campus personnel and Civil War service. It is our practice in the archives to remove and dispose of frames/glass to lessen the chance of injuring people or damaging the artifacts … Continue reading →

In the last post, I announced that our work making a collection of Chinese art available was complete. I am pleased to announce that due primarily to efforts by current students we now have more information to share about these … Continue reading →

The expansive collection of musical compositions by retired professor R. Bedford Watkins is now catalogued and available for use at IWU’s Archives & Special Collections. R. Bedford Watkins, an exceptional keyboardist, composer, and educator, was a prominent faculty member of … Continue reading →

Several years ago I co-presented on IWU women’s history during a Council for IWU Women Summit with Claudia Brogan (’77), Stephanie Davis-Kahl. I gamified my findings on the topic up to that point by using PowerPoint. Recently I updated it … Continue reading →

In March, I sent out an open call to the IWU community, inviting reflections on their lives in this pandemic era and in May I created a collection of the responses to that call. I set a deadline for those … Continue reading →

Back in March, as life across the world and at IWU’s campus changed dramatically, I sent out an open call to the IWU community, inviting reflections on their lives in this pandemic era. An exhibit with contributions from 15 students … Continue reading →

Cultural heritage preservation may not seem like an important topic in the midst of a global pandemic but bear with me! The purpose of this post is to inform you about some positive, low- to no-cost actions you can take … Continue reading →

[August 25, 2020 Update: The forms used to collect stories prior to today’s date are now inactive. See the new call for stories at https://blogs.iwu.edu/asc/2020/08/25/new-story-initiative/.] Illinois Wesleyan University’s archives is creating a digital record of IWU community members’ (students, staff, … Continue reading →

Within The Ames Library’s 4th floor department called Tate Archives & Special Collections are thousands of unique materials and all are available to benefit people in the IWU and surrounding communities. This image shows selections of from the Schultz Collection … Continue reading →

This timeline of IWU Firsts brings together research compiled for a variety of purposes into one interactive place. Contact the archivist (archives@iwu.edu) for further details on these people and events.

IWU Athletics made history with a 1930 spring Baseball training trip to the South (See the 1932 Wesleyana p. 133). A brief mention in the 1950 Wesleyana says IWU was the first school to take a team on this kind … Continue reading →

This post provides a timeline for the student and faculty activism that led to the designation of an annual Teach-In day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. [N.B., Many governance records, like Faculty and Student Senate Meeting minutes, are … Continue reading →

In addition to legislative Illinois alumni, IWU has another connection to Illinois’ political history through the work of Political Science Professor John Wenum who compiled a collection about the fourth (and currently in effect) iteration of Illinois’ Constitution. John Wenum … Continue reading →

Within The Ames Library’s 4th floor department called Tate Archives & Special Collections are thousands of unique materials and all are available to benefit people in the IWU and surrounding communities. The Reverend Dr. Charles Merrill Smith was a Methodist … Continue reading →

Stevenson is the home of the School of Nursing and is currently IWU’s oldest building; when it was built in 1910 it received partial funding by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. It was originally called the Science Building and was renamed … Continue reading →

Tate Archives & Special Collections is pleased to announce that over 170 interviews, originally recorded on audio- and microcassette, are now available in digital form. Due to privacy concerns, researchers are required to use these sources in Tate Archives & … Continue reading →

From 1851-the early 1910s IWU offered diplomas in two liberal arts tracks resulting in degrees in of BA and BS. In the earliest years the essential differences were whether or not Classical languages were required. The first catalog (pictured below) … Continue reading →

During a recent visit by some wonderfully curious Gateway students, someone asked about the first African-American professor. Our first Black professor arrived in 1961 when John W. Martin joined the Sociology faculty. This is documented on p. 176 of the … Continue reading →

While researching her own Great Aunt Agnes Swift’s involvement with the American Expeditionary Forces WW1 hospitals in Contrexeville, France, Molly Daniel of Charleston, IL came across the diary of Maude Essig’s experiences, who worked with Swift in the same facility. … Continue reading →

Happy May Day! The Society of American Archivists promotes May 1 as a day for all cultural heritage institutions to take time to consider how well their collections are protected.This year there’s a twist: a call for support of the … Continue reading →