Category Archives: Campus units

Named places: Shirk Center

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Shirk_Horenberger_1999

Russell Shirk and Jack Horenberger at the dedication of Horenberger Field, 1999.

Russell O. Shirk was a member of the Class of 1943. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1989 and was the Distinguished Alumnus in 1971. The Shirk Center opened in 1994 and is named in honor of him and his wife and Betty J. Shirk. Shirk is pictured here (on left) with his friend Jack Horenberger, who the Shirk Foundation honored through funding the improvement and expansion of IWU’s baseball field.

“The Shirks wanted a center for use by the students and faculty and also something they could be proud of. They were very pleased that the community was able to enjoy the facility as well, and that it has been such an asset to the community,” Ben Rhodes, then- director of development said in 1999.

ShirkCenterOpening_1994

Shirk Family at ribbon cutting ceremony in 1994. Also pictured are Athletic Director Dennie Bridges (L) and BOT Chair Hugh Henning (R).

Named places: Gulick Hall

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Anna Gulick

Anna Gulick

The building we know today as Gulick Hall was called the “Southwest Hall” when it opened in October of 1956. According to the front page story in the 1956 IWU Bulletin, it was also home to “The Sarepta Bane Whipp Department of Home Economics,” located on the ground floor of the West wing, at the time of opening. The last official account of a benefactor group called the Women’s University Guild was the transfer of funds in 1955 in the amount of $2000 (which they previously designated for a women’s dorm fund) and the placement of a plaque commemorating their founding members in Southwest Hall.

The building was renamed for Anna Gulick in 1964 when the University received her bequest. Then President Bertholf said of her gift, “the major part will be added to our permanent endowment funds where the income will serve to bolster up our current budget and upgrade the quality of the University for centuries to come….”.

There was an earlier Gulick Hall—a house located at 1314 Fell Avenue—which the University sold to Alpha Omicron Pi.

Photo from July 1942 IWU Bulletin (p. 9)

Named places: Blackstock Hall

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MaryBlackstock

Mary Blackstock

Blackstock Hall is named in memory of a long-time benefactress, Mary Hardtner Blackstock. In June 1937, IWU purchased the Benson residence, what we know now as Blackstock, to use as a women’s residence with housing for 24. It also held the Printmaking Studio for the School of Art in one wing.

At Commencement 1947 Dean Malcolm A. Love, presented Mrs. Blackstock for the degree of Doctor of Letters of Humanity by saying, “your … loyalty to the ideals of the church has passed over into the fields of education. You have been deeply concerned with the proper training of American youth and especially with the program of the Christian college…our institution acknowledges you as one of its most earnest and staunchest friends….”

More information on Mrs. Blackstock is available in the tributes published about her in the September 1954 IWU Bulletin (p. ).

Departmental History: Classical Languages

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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) shows students in the Scientific track did not have to take “Ancient Languages” and would receive a “Bachelor of Science and English Literature.” The Collegiate track resulted in a Bachelor of Arts.

There is a bit of variation as time goes on but for our first 75 years, the Courses of Study fall into these tracks: Classical (meaning Greek), Latin Scientific (Latin) and English (with Modern languages being required). In about the 1920s there is a transition to referring to language offerings by courses rather than courses of study but overall, between 1851-1954, there are
29 catalogs that contain the phrase Ancient Languages (sometimes describes courses, sometimes departments)
21 catalogs that contain the phrase Department of Latin
19 catalogs that contain the phrase Department of Greek

Page 17 of IWU's first Catalogue of Courses, 1851-52
Degrees available in 1852 (click to enlarge)

Medieval manuscripts in IWU’s Special Collections

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The Ames Library is pleased to participate in IWU’s “A Year with The Saint John’s Bible”! The first volume completed for The Saint John’s Bible project, Gospels & Acts, will be a featured part of many campus activities and presentations in Spring 2018. From June – December 2018, we will have the Pentateuch Heritage Edition.

Illuminated initial letter Q

16th Century illuminated Q

The original is on vellum and was created in using traditional medieval techniques of calligraphy and illumination. Illinois Wesleyan’s Special Collections holds 11 vellum leaves of medieval manuscripts (see more images below) and one bound folio of liturgical music created in that same era.

Manuscripts, meaning documents created by hand, are part of the historical evolution of books and one of the many book arts traditions used to enhance the way we convey information. Some manuscripts like The Saint John’s Bible are illuminated, or decorated, also by hand and hand bound.

The Special Collections vault in Tate Archives & Special Collections on the library’s 4th floor holds these and thousands of other unique items that curious minds are welcome to explore.

Centennial of Advising

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Here’s a serendipitous find: While looking through the 1916-1918 Faculty Meeting Minutes I came across the entry below that indicates this year could be the centennial of academic advising at IWU! (I haven’t read every meeting’s minutes back to 1850…any volunteers?)

October 29, 1917 p. 1

October 29, 1917 Faculty Meeting Minutes (click to enlarge)

About midway down on the page number 61 it says,
“The committee on Advisers made a report and the faculty passed the following points. 1. That advisers be appointed for students in the Freshman year to serve until the student has elected his major. These advisers are to be appointed by a committee of which the President is a member.”

October 29, 1917 p. 2

(click to enlarge)

The minutes go on to state, “2. The duty of the adviser is to k [sic]
(a) To know as much about the student as possible, such as his previous training[?], special talents or inclinations etc.
(b) To help him select his major.
(c) To receive reports of the work of the student in his charge.
“The following action was taken.
No student shall be permitted to change a study without the consent of the adviser.”

The recording Secretary that day was Pearl Cliffe Somerville, Professor of English Literature.

Here are the Advising Center’s services today

Advising Center homepage

Advising services today

Visit them at http://www.iwu.edu/advising and wish them a Happy Birthday!

Maude Essig in World War I

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Maude Essig

undated Maude Essig portrait

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. Maude Essig was Brokaw School of Nursing Director (ca 1923-56). The Brokaw Hospital School was the forerunner of IWU’s School of Nursing.

In writing to ask about using a photo of Essig on her website, Daniel shared comments about her research process that others may find instructive as well: “I have especially appreciated having access to Maude’s journal as well as the academic article about her published by her former student [and former IWU School of Nursing Director], Alma Woolsey. Her journal helped me put into better context the information in my great aunt’s letters to family members.”

Daniel shared the biographical sketch of Essig she compiled and that will be included with Daniel’s submissions for the U.S. Centennial website commemorating the Army Nurse Corps.

Daniel also discovered a picture in the National Library of Medicine’s Digital Collections that has a caption indicating it is from Base Hospital No.32, Vittel, France but she is “confident that it comes from the Contrexeville hospital” based on her research. Daniel also believes Essig may be the second nurse from the left–the only one shown with glasses. Additional photos of Essig from the University’s archival collections are below.

For information about the School of Nursing program’s development, see “Nursing Education at Illinois Wesleyan University: 1923 to 1976” by Lori Ann Musser, Class of 1992.

Maude Essig, ca. 1925

Maude Essig, ca. 1925

Essig in mock hospital room

Maude Essig with students, ca. 1928

 

Maude Essig in 1933

This photo is identical to the composite she is in with the Brokaw Hospital Class of 1933 http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm/ref/collection/iwu_histph/id/2786

 

Remember Ozymandias

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Ramses II

Image from http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com

If worries about the future life of your past weigh heavily on your mind, read on!

An 1818 poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley recently inspired me to think of a way to communicate the services available through archives. The poem contains the lines
“‘My name is Ozymandias*, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'”

The irony is that Shelley was reflecting on the ruins of a great civilization. The lines beg the question: What  will remain of the work we do?

The programs and services of the University’s archives include research assistance with IWU’s collections. We advise on what among the works we produce are important to retain and how these works, whether physical or digital, can be preserved. We also have an Oral History program that allows us to go beyond just the products of our daily lives and helps preserve the context they were created in.

The way people view their experiences at IWU add dimensions to our historical records that statuary never will. Meg Miner, your archivist, stands ready to help preserve your legacy today!

*Ozymandias was an Anglicized version of the Greek’s name for Pharaoh Ramesses II.

Visit the Mini Museum on the Quad this Saturday!

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Visit Tate Archives & Special Collections on the Ames Library's 4th floor or online at https://www.iwu.edu/library/archives

Visit Tate Archives & Special Collections on the Ames Library’s 4th floor or online at https://www.iwu.edu/library/archives

Help kick off the Society of American Archivists’ archives awareness month by stopping by the Mini Museum Tent on the Quad during Homecoming! On Saturday, October 1st from 8-11:30 AM, I’ll be out in the tent with a condensed view of IWU’s 166 year history.

So stop by for a glimpse of what’s in your University’s Archives: artifacts, photos, yearbooks, event programs, Argus issues and more!