Departmental History: German

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The evolution of the German Department as seen in the Catalogue of Courses. Course catalogs from 1851-1954 are available online; the rest are available in print in the University Archives.

Tutoring in German was available on request in IWU’s first course catalog of 1851-52 and then show a dedicated faculty member starting in the second catalog which was published five years later.

1857-65: German and French listed as electives in the “Classical” degree track (the only other track available was “Scientific”) for Junior year.

1892-1893: German and French languages taught together, but a more in-depth time and practice are spent on German even briefly letting students “in which the instructor uses the German language in order the better to familiarize the pupils with ordinary idioms, not necessarily met with in their reading” (16). Also includes an advanced class that studies the works like Goethe’s Hermann und Dorothea and Sesenheim; Freytag’s Journalisten, and Scheffel’s Ekkehard (30).

Focus still on ancient languages of Greek and Latin

1895: First year as a major. Separate listing of German as Course C of language after Greek and Latin. It is also described as adding a third year compared to the previous two year policy and a detailed description of this third year of study consists of reading of historical prose and the study of German Literature. The catalogue says that “German will be largely the language of the classroom throughout the year, and the student will be encouraged to continue in private the study of a most valuable language, which these three years of training ought to make easy and attractive” (28).

1900: Classified as a Modern Language (rather than Ancient language) and has 12 classes of study listed.

1910: Still offered as a three year program, but is more specifically divided into three sections of work. First Year: Mastery of the essentials of grammar, composition, conversation and pronunciation, and 150 pages of easy prose.

Second Year: Advanced grammar and syntax when writing German. Reading of more difficult authors covering 250 to 300 pages.

Third Year: Reading of selected poetical and historical prose works.

1920: German classes increase from general study of the language to more specific categorical classes such as The German Novel of the Nineteenth Century, The Drama of the Nineteenth Century, Goethe and Schiller, History of the German Language, Scientific German.

1930: Direct Listing of Major and Minor Status-Major 24 semester hours and Minor 12 semester hours-Same listing of classes.

German Club Present in 1930 catalogue-Described as “The German Club meets the needs of students of this language in providing extra-curricular opportunity for personal contacts and for attaining proficiency in conversation”(112). Club helped by Professor Ferguson-see next page

1940: Additional classes of Survey of German Literature and German Conference added to German course of classes and it is also in this catalog that Spanish appears as an additional modern language of study.

1950: Only listing of German as a foreign language and only First and Second Year German taught-So only 4 sections of basic language study and small compared to French and Spanish department.

1960: Return of 100 to 400 level German Language classes-Additions of German Composition and Conversation, Goethe’s Faust, Senior Review, and History of German Literature. Ferguson not listed-Emeritus- died on May 9, 1944.

1970: German interestingly is now placed before either Greek or Latin in the catalogue listing. Also a few more classes included such as Survey of German Literature Before 1700, Survey of German Literature After 1700, Contemporary German Literature, Independent Study in German Literature, The German Novelle, German Classicism, German Romanticism-obviously close ties to English department studies

1980: German major alongside the other languages of French and Spanish are divided into three major tracks of major sequence in Applied Modern Language, Modern Literature, and Foreign Language Education. With these divisions the courses expand to carter to these areas, but what is interesting is for the first time the mentions of Travel/Study Abroad classes and internships are listed in the catalogue.

1990: Relatively the same set-up of classes, but looks like there is an increase in studying the effect of translation to language studies, etc.

2000: German Department listing and courses offered officially takes up two full pages of content in the 2000 catalogue showing its serious growth and number of classes for students. The same format is still carried in the modern day, 2014.

Further research of the descriptions and images of the German study/club in the past Wesleyana yearbooks and past Argus issues might also be of interest.

Wesleyana digital collection homepage http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_iwu_yearb.php?CISOROOT=/iwu_yearb

Argus and earlier digitized news sources homepage http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_iwu_argus.php?CISOROOT=/iwu_argus

Here are a few interesting facts: According to Argus perusals, etc. enrollment in the German Programs nationwide definitely decreased during the years of World War II, but also most likely during the years of World War I as well. This is due to obvious reasons of conflict, but at least after the official end of WWII, German departments everywhere, including at IWU, did begin to resurface and, even, flourish only 3 or so years after the war ended (see March 10, 1948 Argus article, p4, on German Professor expressing these thoughts).

Another interesting focus was looking at the progression of the professorship of Wilbert Ferguson. He is listed as Professor of Greek, but also began teaching German on campus in 1895. He continued teaching both but isn’t listed with the title of Instructor of German until the 1907/08 catalogue. Ferguson eventually became the head of the German program and remained so until his death in 1944. The University Archives holds a large scrapbook of Professor Ferguson, but I have also featured here a 1941 Wesleyana picture (picture present in earlier editions as well) of Ferguson.

Research files: From GAW to Tommy

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Any time a student or any member of the community attends an IWU sporting event a constant image and cheerful presence is the IWU mascot of Tommy Titan. Tommy Titan is undoubtedly one of the important symbols of Illinois Wesleyan University, but when did Tommy become the official IWU mascot?

The IWU Titan name was first mentioned in October 27,1927 issue of the Argus. The IWU football team previously had no specific name and they were the first to acquire the nickname Titans. Soon all IWU sports teams chose to use the name of the Titans, but the first name of Tommy did not appear until much later and we can thank a man named Lee Short!

Tommy being pulled onto the field in a chariot.

Click on the image to go to the Argus issue containing Tommy’s debut!

Class of 1944 alumnus Lee Short earned the credit of creating the gladiator-like image of our beloved mascot and giving him the first name of Tommy in 1951.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Tommy’s appearance evolved even more, but you can read the story about Tommy’s origins in the November 2, 2007 Argus. The first image we have of Tommy is at this football game against ISU on September 25, 1965. The student portraying him is Steve Reeser, Class of 1969.

Long before Tommy Titan, the IWU colors of green and white were documented as our school colors in an 1898 report by the Daily Pantagraph. It is interesting to think that before adopting the name of the Titans the sports teams of the past (pre-1927) simply referred to themselves as the GAW (for Green and White) and continued to do so for some time until the Titan name decidedly became the commonplace term.

Be sure to look at the Argus issues linked in this post and all the other resources for IWU history! And check out our campus traditions page for pep songs and more. Lee Short has a long and interesting association with IWU, and he contributed an oral history recording in 2010 that is also available online.

A note about Records — NOT the Olympic or turntable kind!

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Some people find it odd to learn that archivists spend a lot of time thinking about what to throw away. It’s true, though, not everything needs to be saved forever. In fact, if we aren’t consciously making decisions it can actually cost more–in terms of staff time and resources to preserve objects–to take care of things we don’t truly need compared to the cost of caring for what we truly value.

The graphic below is part of a page I created to help IWU offices identify what types of records they create and to determine how long they should keep them. The page also contains terminology to help people think through record keeping decisions.

records flowchartThis does not have to be a solo effort! Questions are welcome and you can contact me to talk these decisions through.

Research files: Famous Commencement quote

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President Myers at the 1993 Commencement

President Minor Myers, jr., 1993 Commencement

“Go forth and do well, but even more go forth and do good.” — noted in the 1993 Commencement files (RG 6-1/2)

People often remember the parting advice former President Minor Myers, jr. made at Commencement each year, and we were recently asked to find out when he first said it and if it had any other origin.

President Myers didn’t read from complete scripts during speeches; the above quote was in the brief, typed outline of his remarks for Commencement 1993.

But how did he come to develop this phrase? We followed the trail back to his first campus speech and found two instances that illuminate a possibility.

An earlier notation we found comes close to the eventual phrase: “We shall both prosper only as we serve well.” This note was penciled in on an “Outline for Talk at Writers [sic] Conference” dated March 28, 1990 (RG 2-12/3/1: Speech Outlines, July 1989-March 2002, folder 3 of 3).

The typed notes directly above this line show an origin: “Anglican / read of Wesley, went to his house, found his bust / example of unremitting effort to do good. / and unending joy in doing it. / that is the satisfaction of what we are doing, // the frustrations, / but the reward is the sense we are contributing to the maintenance of that which is good by unending efforts to make it better.”

And going further back, a note on Myers’ 1989 Inaugural Address also refers to John Wesley’s “devotion to doing good,” so perhaps we can say that the founder of Methodism itself is the inspiration for the quote that Myers crafted over the next four years and made his own!

Research files: Shortest serving president

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Someone recently asked, “Who was IWU’s shortest-serving president?”
With a length of service at just 14 months, the record goes to Clinton W. Sears: August 1855-October 1856 (see p. 54-55 of Elmo Watson’s IWU Story; available at http://archive.org/stream/illinoiswesleyan00wats#page/n7/mode/2up).

Photographs of all of our presidents are available at http://www.iwu.edu/president/history.html.

Others who served short terms include
Wiley G. Brooks (22 mos.) took office in December 1937 and left in September 1939 (Watson p. 168-169).

Samuel J. Fallows (23 mos.) served from August 1873 until the 1875 Commencement which was in mid- to late-June in those days (Watson p. 113).

Wayne Anderson (24 mos.) August 1, 1986 – July 31, 1988
The official inauguration didn’t take place until April 25, 1987, but archival records confirm that Anderson was appointed in April 1986 and his first day in office was August 1, 1986. A letter from the Board of Trustees (filed with Anderson’s appointment documents in RG 2-11/1) verifies receipt of his resignation letter and says it was effective July 31, 1988. The same letter confirms Dr. Wendell Hess would serve as interim president. Dr. Hess discusses this period and others in his long association with IWU in his oral history interview (see http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/oral_hist/46/). An April 15, 1988 Argus news story on this topic is available at http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/u?/iwu_argus,6439.

Note: We’ve combed our research files for interesting requests and with this post will start publishing “staff picks” and the ones that seem likely to be asked again. Stay tuned!

What does the archives keep?

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Someone recently asked me to create a source that would make it easy for people to know what the archives considers…well…archival! The image linked below leads to a slide show designed to help clarify how YOU can help me save your history for future generations.

Slide2

This slide lists some of our major collecting points, but if you have questions feel free to ask!

Let me know if you have questions about anything in this overview!

Timely digital preservation tips

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savethebits-202x300I 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

  1. As soon as you can, transfer the digital files off the camera, cell phone or other device and onto backup storage. That storage could be your computer, a thumb drive, a CD, a hard drive or an online cloud service. You should also backup a second copy somewhere else, preferably on a different type of storage device than the first.
  2. If you have time, browse your files and decide if you want to keep everything or just cull the best ones. Twenty photos of the same scene might be unnecessary, no matter how beautiful the scene might be. And despite who is in that video, if the video is blurry and dark and shaky, you probably will never watch it again.
  3. When you back your files up, organize them so you can easily find them.
  4. Organize file folders however you want but be consistent with your system. Label folders by date, description or file type (such as “Photos” or “Thanksgiving 2013″). Organization makes it easy to find your stuff later.
  5. You can rename files without affecting the contents. And renaming a file will help you find it quickly when you search for it later.
  6. You can add descriptions to your digital photos, much as you would write a description to a paper photo. We’ve gone into depth in few blog posts, to describe how it works.
  7. Similarly, if you make any digital audio recordings, you can add descriptive information into the audio files themselves, information that will display in the MP3 player.
  8. If you have a special correspondence with someone, you can archive the emails and cell phone texts much as you would a paper letter or card.
  9. Remember that all storage devices eventually become obsolete; maybe you can recall devices and disks from just a decade ago that are now either obsolete or on their way out of fashion. If you have valuable files still on those obsolete media, those files become increasingly difficult to access with every passing year. So in order to keep your files accessible, you should move your collection to a new storage medium about every five to seven years. That is about the average time for something new and different to come out. At the least, if you use the same backup device frequently — like a favorite thumb drive — get a new one.  Migrate your collection to new media periodically.
  10. Write down where you have important files, along with any passwords needed to access them, and keep that information in a secure place that a designated person can access if you are not around.

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/.

Departmental History: Political Science

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The short answer is during the 1950-1951 school year and Assistant Professor Robert O. Gibbon.
The question is  “When did the department begin and who was the first chair?”

This blog will be used to record our research on departmental histories as they are received. A backlog currently exists in this type of research and I will catch it up in a post as soon as possible. For now, here are some added details in the development of PoliSci at IWU:
The 1921 school year shows the earliest mention of a political science branch within a division of the Department of Economics and Sociology. It was headed by Professor Carl W. Strow.

The 1922-23 school year lists political science as part of the Department of History and Political Science, marking the first time it was in the title of a department. This department was headed by Professor William Wallis and this structure/alignment and chair remained the same until 1950. At that point Wallis remained History’s Chair and Gibbon (who had been on the faculty in the combined department since 1947) became chair of the new, separate department.

Other chairs:
1955-1958 Robert O. Byrd
1958-1963 A. Glenn Mower, Jr.
1963-1967 Bunyan H. Andrew (dept shows combined with History again during this time)
1967-1972 Donald P. Brown (who had been teaching in Hist/PoliSci during the recombined period)
1972 John Wenum begins

New collection of old letters

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Bird Correspondence CollectionDuring the summer of 2013 an Archives Student Assistant processed a donation of letters. Over 900 handwritten letters between IWU alumna Florence Ralph (’30) and Marion T. Bird are contained in this collection. The letters cover a wide range of topics from faith to politics, school activities, local events, family and more — all the details young people might share during a long courtship in a tumultuous time in American history.

The donation of the handwritten documents came from the descendents of Florence and Marion and also included scanned pdfs of all the letters that family member P. L. Embley created. Researchers are welcome to use the letters in the archives or in the online collection we created with the scanned images. Mrs. Embley also selected and scanned photographs from the family albums held by the children and grandchildren of Florence and Marion Bird.

We appreciate the efforts the family has gone through to make these documents available to researchers everywhere. The letters in this collection have not been transcribed at this time. Readers are welcome to contribute transcriptions they create or additional subject headings they identify to archives@iwu.edu.

What good is a canned book?

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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.