June and William Eben Schultz Collection of Juvenile Literature in Special Collections

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.

Selections from the Schultz Juvenile Literature Collection (Click to enlarge)

This image shows selections of from the Schultz Collection of Juvenile Literature. The link opens a pdf that lists the titles comprised in this uncataloged collection of magazines, textbooks, fiction, and non-fiction works published from the late-19th to the early-20th Centuries (24 linear feet).

The books pictured are, from left to right: “Frank Merriwell’s Frolics or Fun and Rivalry at Fardale”, “Science in Your Life”, “Tip Top Weekly, The ideal publication for the American Youth”, and “Frank Merriwell in Europe.”

The collection is named for two people:
1) W.E. Schultz, who was Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University from 1934-1964. He is the author of the “Alma Wesleyana,” written in 1935, and sung at every major campus convocation. Schultz also donated his collection of 18th and 19th century British plays, including several editions of The Beggar’s Opera. (All of the books in this collection are cataloged.)
2) Professor Schultz’s daughter, June E. Schultz, Class of 1944 and Alpha Gamma Delta member, who taught in Bloomington, Illinois and received IWU’s Loyalty Award in 1995. She also donated an autograph collection.

The items displayed in these posts are just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!

 

Illinois political history in Special Collections

John Wenum

John Wenum, 1974 Wesleyana

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 was a delegate to the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention (Con-Con). The work at this Con-Con resulted in a first-ever state Constitution that explicitly guaranteed citizens the right to a healthy environment. Wenum joined IWU’s faculty in 1971 and received the Award for Teaching Excellence in 1992.

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The Con-Con items in the display pictured here are a Farm Bureau handbook, the Constitutional Convention Newsletter, and correspondence between Wenum and the State Chamber of Commerce. These are just a few selections from the 14 linear feet (unprocessed) collection of materials Wenum gathered during his campaign to become a delegate and his work at the Con-Con itself.

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 items displayed in these posts about Special Collections holdings are just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!

Rev. Dr. (and author) Charles Smith records in Special Collections

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.

Charles Merrill Smith

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The Reverend Dr. Charles Merrill Smith was a Methodist minister, a prolific mystery writer (whose detective was another Methodist minister), and a member of the IWU Board of Trustees from 1958-1968. Smith is best known for his Reverend Randolph mystery series, starring Reverend “Con” Randolph, a former professional football player turned clergyman and detective in Chicago.

 

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The display pictured here shows selections from his collection (6 linear feet, unprocessed) comprised of manuscript and typescript works, correspondence, photographs, and all of the works he published in English plus four of the same that were translated into Dutch, German and Japanese.

The items displayed in these posts about Special Collections holdings are just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!

 

 

Ecology Action Center records in Special Collections

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.

Ecology Attention Center (EAC) Collection

Materials from the Ecology Action Center (EAC) Collection (click to enlarge).

This image shows selections from the Ecology Action Center Collection, one of a group of records about local and IWU environmental organizations. The EAC collection is comprised of 8 linear feet of administrative and non-for-profit business development information as well as historical information and publications pertaining to Operation Recycle (estab. 1971 by ISU Professor Derek McCracken) and the Ecology Action Center (EAC, estab. 1994).

The Ecology Action Center, created in and based out of Normal, Illinois, continues the education efforts of Operation Recycle which was officially disbanded in 1998, by providing the community with tours, workshops, classes, earth-camps, fairs, and many other events.

The items displayed in these posts are just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!

 

 

 

Medieval (and other) manuscripts in Special Collections

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.

Our collections include 12 medieval manuscript leaves and three manuscript books from the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries. A two volume set of the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus, the first bound facsimile edition of the Old and New Testaments, is also available.

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[Pictured] A Buddhist manuscript in Pali (shown here in two parts), dating from the 19th century, is at the back of the shelf. The matted leaves are from
(L) a Bible in Latin, on vellum, with contemporary glossing. England, ca. 1220.
(R) a Bible in Latin, on vellum, with decorated initials and marginal penwork, including a scribe’s use of the pointing finger. The text is from Zachariah. Italy, Bologna, ca. 1280.

This display holds just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!

Beat Writers Collection in Special Collections

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.

Click to enlarge

This image contains parts of a collection consisting of books and periodicals (24 linear feet) published by members of the avant-garde literary movement known as “Beat Writers,” whose counter cultural and non-conformist attitudes helped shape the hippie culture of the 60’s. Some of the writers represented in this collection are Diane diPrima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, LeRoi Jones, and Jack Kerouac. There are approximately eighty others.

The items displayed in these posts are just a small portion of the kinds of materials found in Tate Archives & Special Collections. These collections are in a variety of languages and formats (artifact, book, manuscript, and media) and creation dates range from the 11th-21st centuries. Some collections are completely described and identified and some have yet to be thoroughly organized or examined.

Although many holdings do have a direct connection to the University, many are distinct and unrelated to the others such as the supporting materials for research on the people who created and collected the pottery and basketry items displayed in the entry level rotunda.

Curious minds seeking inspiration for creative works and original research are welcome to stop by and explore the possibilities!