Below is a photo of Glenn Dodds (Class of 1926) placing a time capsule in the building that bears his name. Dodds Hall opened in 1970 and is named for Dodds because his family owned the property that the dormitory was built on. Dodds is also shown in this photo. Information on other IWU time capsules is available in previous blog posts.
(click to enlarge)
Ticket stubs from several of Awadagin’s performances
The Pratt family’s influence has been felt all over the world and the Tate Archives holds many interesting materials related to this influential family. Music aficionados will enjoy perusing through concert programs, performance schedules, ticket stubs, and other ephemera related to world-renowned concert pianist Awadagin Pratt, whose career has spanned four decades. Awadagin began piano lessons when he was six years old and entered the University of Illinois to continue those studies at the age of 16. Awadagin was the first student to receive diplomas from the Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory of Music in three performance areas – piano, violin, and conducting. Appearing in People Magazine, Newsweek, and named one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony’s 50th anniversary issue, he has performed in both of Presidents Clinton’s and Obama’s White Houses, and showcased his talents as a performer and conductor in concert halls and symphonies on several continents. Our collection of materials associated with Awadagin will keep any music lover busy for hours; but, that’s not all there is to this collection!
Awadagin’s piano lesson practice log
Awadagin’s father, Dr. T.A.E.C. “Ted” Pratt (1936 – 1996), mother, Dr. Mildred Sirls Pratt (1928-2012), and his sister, Dr. Menah Pratt-Clark are highly admired professionals in their respective fields as well. A music enthusiast in his own right, Ted was born in Sierra Leone, and raised in a family where his sisters were taught the piano, and he and his brothers learned to play the organ. Ted grew up receiving his education from some of the world’s finest institutions, including the Prince of Wales School and Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone; Durham University in Durham, England; and, the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. After receiving his M.S. in Physics from the Carnegie-Mellon Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, he became the first person from Sierra Leone to earn his PhD in Nuclear Physics, also from the Carnegie-Mellon Institute. The Pratt Family Collection contains many of Ted’s published articles, research, teaching materials, family letters and personal ephemera from every period of his life.
Dr. Theodore Pratt’s lifetime membership award to the American Association for the Advancement of Science
As Professor of Sociology & Anthropology at Illinois State University, and co-founder and co-director of the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project, Dr. Mildred Pratt has been widely recognized for her dedication to making our local community a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds. She is a recipient of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s Citizen of the Year Award in 1987, as well as, the Town of Normal’s Human Relations Reward in 1989. After the death of her husband, Mildred founded the Pratt Music Foundation in honor of his love for classical music. The Foundation provides financial assistance to students in grades 2-12 pursuing instruction in piano or strings. Donations to the Foundation can be made at: The Pratt Music Foundation, c/o Illinois Wesleyan University, PO Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702.
Letter received from President Blill Clinton in 2000
Letter written by Dr. Mildred Pratt to President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1994
Dr. Menah Pratt-Clark, Awadagin’s sister, followed her parents’ footsteps into the world of academia. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Iowa, as well as, a M.A. and PhD. in Sociology from Vanderbilt University, and, is currently serving as the Vice Provost for Inclusion and Diversity and Vice President for Strategic Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to her most recent position with Virginia Tech, she has served as a university compliance officer at Vanderbilt University, and Associate Chancellor for Strategic Affairs at the University of Illinois, a position she held for ten years. Menah is also author of the book, Critical Race, Feminism, and Education: A Social Justice Model.
If you would like to learn more about the Pratt family, please visit the Tate Archives and Special Collections on the 4th floor of IWU’s Ames Library!
Sears was the first official president of Illinois Wesleyan University and served from 1855 until 1857. He was born in New York in 1820 but spent most of his life in Ohio. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1841. Before his presidency, he held the dual position of librarian and Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature.
According to the 1998-99 President’s Report*, one notable contribution Sears made was ensuring there was a “‘substantial sidewalk’ linking the school and town. Sears noted that when it rained, the roads became so muddy it was impossible to get into town from the school ‘out in the country.’ In fact, he was so determined to connect Illinois Wesleyan with the growing community of Bloomington that he spent $500 of his own money to build the sidewalk.”
*Quoted from “Part 1-The Beginning,” One Building, One Sidewalk: 1850-2000, Past is Prologue. 1998-99 President’s Report, A Sesquicentennial Preview (p. 5). University Archives Record Group 5-2/7.
Let’s all admit it, archivists may think they’re speaking English but a lot of our terminology sounds like gibberish (MPLP, anyone?) or is industry-specific (e.g., archival value vs. legal value) or can just be misunderstood due to other, non-industry usages (e.g., appraisal–it’s not always about monetary value or processing–we’re not using it in the psychotherapy sense!). Every profession has its unique vocabulary and this post is about an unusual twist to a word that’s used in my profession but not easily understood: recordness.
I subscribe to several professionally-oriented listservs, and one that just started a year or so ago is something the Society of American Archivists calls the “Word of the Week.” It’s all part of an effort by a team of SAA members to enhance professional understanding via standardized terminology. This will culminate in a dictionary of terms used in archives and builds on the amazing work of the original “Glossary of Archival Terms” which can be found at http://archivists.org/glossary.
“What kinds of records do you keep” is a common question, and even more “Why isn’t something like a database considered a record?” There seems to be a lot of confusion about the kinds of things that are official records. I created a blog post about them last year and used an image adapted from another archives to illustrate document lifecycles.
How to tell if something is a record in the archival sense of the word. [click to enlarge]
n. ~ the quality of being a record; the state of having the characteristics of a record
Related Term
record
Notes
The definition of “recordness,” just as the definition of “record,” changes according to purpose, law, and context, yet there are some features that most archivists agree are defining features of a record: a record preserves the content of some human action or activity, its content is fixed, and it encompasses at least some of the context needed to make it comprehensible beyond itself. However, meaning is pliable in both the content and the definition of a record. Especially with regard to electronic records, for example, fixity is more a property of ensuring that a record does not change over time after capture by an archives rather than the property that a record (say, in the form of a database or a webpage) does not change during its active use.
Cited In
Bearman, David, “The Implications of Armstrong v. Executive of the President for the Archival Management of Electronic Records,” The American Archivist 56 (Fall 1993): 679.
Gilliland, Anne J., Conceptualizing 21st-Century Archives (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2014): 170.
Williams, Caroline, “Chapter 1: Records and archives: concepts, roles and definitions,” in Caroline Williams, ed., Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into Practice (London: Facet Publishing, 2013): 14.
Guest posted by Melissa Mariotti
Photo taken by Melissa Mariotti, 2014
Photo taken by Melissa Mariotti
It is a small space filled with six chairs, an altar, several crosses (both big and small), a prayer kneeler, paper and note cards for writing notes and prayers, several Bibles, rosaries, and a large plaque dedicated to the Wesleyan students who died in combat during World War II. It is interesting to note that the Meditation Room was not part of the original plans for the Memorial Center. While the building was constructed in 1947, the Meditation Room was not added until about 10 years later during the 1957-1958 school year after students began requesting a space for quiet meditation. It is well-known that Illinois Wesleyan began as a Methodist institution, so it is somewhat surprising to see that students requested a non-denominational meditation room. It may have begun as nondenominational, but it is clear that after time that its purpose has shifted from a small war memorial to a small church. Many people have found a sanctuary in this room. On the door there is a sign-in sheet where you can see how often the room gets used. People, both students and alumni, have written notes on it, saying how thankful they were for the space.
It is unclear as to when most of the items in the room were added or by whom. The earliest evidence Wesleyan has is a photo taken during the 1960s of the altar and a cross. According to a 1954 Argus article, the room was “furnished by the Lee McClure family.” At that time, there was only the altar, a cross, and the chairs. As for the rest of the items, such as the large crosses, it is uncertain. There are six chairs placed against both sides of the room that were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Lee McClure in honor of their son, Bruce McClure, a student at Wesleyan, who died in combat in 1945.
“The Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lee McClure, in Memory of their Son, Bruce, 1924-1945.” Photo Taken by Melissa Mariotti
Each chair has a small plaque on them to commemorate him. Bruce came to Wesleyan in 1942 and was enlisted that following spring. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.
It is uncertain whether or not every item in the room was donated by the McClure family
There is a large plaque that is placed on the wall with the names of the students who fought and died in combat. The plaque is titled, “Illinois Wesleyan University Students Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice in World War Two.”
Plaque commemorating the students from IWU who gave their lives during WWII. Photo found in RG 18-1/17
Among those names is George Lansing Fox, whom the room is now dedicated to. There is small collage dedicated to him and “The Four Chaplains.” George L. Fox graduated from Illinois Wesleyan in 1932 and served in World War I, receiving many prestigious awards, such as the Silver Star, Purple Heart, the Croix de Guerre, and the Furaguerre. He enlisted in World War II as a chaplain and deployed on a ship called the USS Dorchester.
Plaque commemorating George L. Fox Photo taken by Melissa Mariotti, 2014
In 1943 the USS Dorchester was torpedoed by a German submarine. Fox was one of four chaplains on the ship. The others were Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish. After realizing that there were not enough life vests on the ship, the four chaplains gave up their own so others could survive. They were last seen kneeling on the deck of the ship in prayer as it sank.In 1951 president Truman dedicated a chapel at Temple University, Pennsylvania, The Chapel of the Four Chaplains, and made a commemorative postage stamp in their honor.
I subscribe to the Library of Congress’s blog named The Signal and saw a timely post I wanted to share…read on and remember that our ability to save your digital heritage begins with you!
Ten Tips for Preserving Your Holiday Digital Memories
(http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2013/11/10-tips-to-preserve-your-holiday-digital-memories/)
November 27, 2013 by Mike Ashenfelder
Treat your digital files responsibly, preserve those memorable moments and you can enjoy them again and again for years.
For more information on personal digital archiving, visit digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/.
Professor Kathleen O’Gorman’s Avant-Garde Fiction class began presenting the results of their investigations into this genre of literature yesterday in the archives’ reading room. Special Collections in The Ames Library holds dozens of other works by people who use artistic means to challenge our notions of what a book is.
In the following video, Troy Sennett, Class of 2014, shares his analysis of a particular text and concludes with a one-time-only event: the opening of a canned book called An Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. This rendition of a classic was created by Peter & Donna Thomas of Santa Cruz, CA in 2003.
You can become aware of what’s in your University’s Archives at the IWU Mini Museum Tent on the Quad during Homecoming! Stop by Saturday the 6th from 8-11:30 AM for a condensed view of IWU’s 162 year history. We’ll have artifacts, photos, Wesleyana yearbooks, event programs, Argus issues and more.
The tent is also hosting the contents of the time capsule that will be placed in the new classroom building at 10AM in a ceremony organized by Associate Dean of Students for Campus Life & Director of Residential Life Matthew Damschroder. See it before it’s sealed and then let your descendents know so they can keep an eye out for it!
Visit Tate Archives & Special Collections on The Ames Library’s 4th floor or click on the leaf to visit us online!
Transcripts, recordings and photographs of oral history participants are now publicly available. All interviews from 2009-present were recorded digitally. Earlier recordings were digitized from other media types held in the University’s Archives and contain both interviews and recorded events that provide insights into IWU’s life and culture.
The project goals are below. Alumni past their 50th anniversary and faculty, staff and administrators with more than 30 years of service at IWU have priority for participation. We need interviewers to make this project sustainable! If you are interested in conducting interviews, contact archives@iwu.edu.
The purpose of this oral history project is to record memories of people’s experiences at IWU. In addition to basic biographical information interviewers will be prepared to ask questions based on the subjects’ affiliation (alumni, staff, faculty, administrator) with the University. Subjects should feel free to share reflections on any part of their IWU experiences that they would like.
Personal anecdotes of administrators, staff and faculty are welcome in addition to comments directly related to their role on campus and their opinion about the changes that took place during their tenure.
All interview subjects will be asked to sign an interview agreement form permitting the University to use all or part of their recordings and/or transcriptions for exhibitions online or in physical formats. After the transcription is complete, the subject may review and correct it as needed. Permission for us to use this interview may be revoked until this final review time.
The archives will gladly accept historical photographs of the interviewees or of the campus from the time they were involved with it. We will make scans and return originals only on request. Permission to exhibit loaned material digitally over the Web or printed and displayed in-house must be given at the time of the loan. Outright donations are quite welcome and will be accepted after the standard archives’ donor agreement is signed.
Contact archives@iwu.edu to schedule an interview or for details on donations.
As part of a presentation titled “Gems from IWU History” given during the 2010 Homecoming Back to College program last Friday, a research guide devoted to sources people could consult on their own from off campus was created. Links for descriptions we’ve prepared on IWU’s physical collections are also provided. At the bottom right of the guide is a copy of the powerpoint and notes for the presentation; links into our digital collections are in both of these documents and were used to illustrate collection content as well as the many ways archives staff search for answers when working on research questions.
If you have a question about IWU history, explore the research guide but feel free to contact the University Archivist, too! (309-556-1538 and archives{@}iwu.edu)