Exhibit of Commonplace Books

Posted on December 15, 2023 by ebloodwo

Students in Joanne Diaz’s Survey of English Poetry class visited the archives multiple times this semester to create an exhibit that showcases both material from IWU collections as well as commonplace books created by their classmates throughout the semester. The students explored commonplace books, scrapbooks, diaries, and notebooks donated by IWU faculty and alumni. They made connections between archival material and their own commonplace books and selected items to feature in their exhibit. Items selected include a Civil War diary kept by early IWU President William H. H. Adams and a scrapbook assembled by IWU alumna Florence Kasiske (Class of 1933).

Students arrange archival material in exhibit cases.

English 243 students install an exhibit of commonplace books in entry level rotunda cases.

Once selected, the students wrote exhibit labels and created flyers and promotional images for social media. On Wednesday, December 6, the students installed the exhibit in the rotunda cases on the entry level of the Ames Library. Through this exercise, students had the opportunity to interact with archival material, while learning about exhibit curation and IWU history.

Students seated at table in archives make selections of archival material for exhibit.

English 243 students curate an exhibit using archival material and student-created commonplace books.

The exhibit will remain on display through January 31, 2024. Thank you for sharing your work with us, English 243!

Memorial Gym/Hansen Student Center Time Capsule Revealed!

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Meg Miner

(click to enlarge all images)

In a previous post I shared images and information on the time capsule that was recovered from the Memorial Gym. This photo shows an exhibit I installed on the main court of Hansen after the opening last night. The exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Gym and 20 years of its transformation into Hansen.

When the campus photographers’ images and video of the opening are available I will link them here. For now, here is a close up view of the side that shows just the time capsule contents.

The first item removed from the box was a Bible and the second was a packet of paper that turned out to be several sheets of paper that contains different facts about IWU and names of people involved in different parts of campus. The first sheet, though was this description of what was placed in the time capsule.*

Prior to the opening, I invited people to submit guesses about what we would find and two people guessed right!

First year student Liam Killian’s submission included newspapers and dust, dirt or rust. I am happy to say there was no moisture so no rust! All the dirt and dust was on the outside, but there were LOTS of newspapers.
University Librarian Stephanie Davis-Kahl’s submission included newspapers and photos. The one photo in the box was an 8×10″ of the 1921 football team. Unfortunately it had to be folded into quarters to fit in the box. It is cracked at those folds but the image is sharp!

It is amazing how much was in the small box. As the students kept removing more and more booklets, pamphlets and paper, the image of a circus car with endless clowns exiting popped into my head! When I remove the exhibit on October 11 I will do a more thorough assessment but these few photos can act as a teaser.

: The box size is 5″ wide x 5″ high x 11″ long

: materials are layered in the exhibit due to lack of space

: materials related to the Hansen anniversary

*The list of contents is as follows:
Copy of Bloomington Bulletin, November 4, 1921.
Copy of Bloomington Pantagraph, November 5, 1921.
Copy The Christian Advocate, October 27, 1921.
Copy Northwestern Christian Advocate, November 2, 1921.
Copy Epworth Herald, November 5, 1921.
Copy Wesleyan Argus.
Copy Articles of Incorporation of the Wesleyan.
Copy Catalogue Illinois Wesleyan University, 1921.
Copy Alumni Roll Illinois Wesleyan University.
Copy Spaulding’s Football Rules, 1921.
List of Faculty and students, current year.
List of student organizations.
Copy of Discipline Methodist Episcopal church, 1920.
Copy Year Book Methodist Episcopal Church, 1921.
Copy Minutes Illinois Annual Conference Methodist Episcopal Church, 1921.
Photograph of Football Team, 1921.
Copy of Holy Bible.

A virtual walk through IWU history

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Meg Miner

IWU ca. 1940

Curious about what changes have taken place to IWU’s campus over the years? Interested in exploring locations related to campus lore? The University Archives is pleased to offer a few insights on an interactive map.

Pandemics can’t keep us down! Visit this online walk through IWU history!

At the bottom of each entry’s description is a line that starts with “Permalink” and contains a link to that location’s “Pin.” When you open that page there’s a comment box. Leave a memory, post a selfie, or let me know if I got something wrong!

Timeline of visiting activists

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Meg Miner

For quite some time I have marveled at all the prominent human rights speakers who have visited campus. I’ve done physical exhibits in the library on this topic but have also wanted to be able to share this information online and, hopefully, reach a wider audience. This timeline contains a compilation of my research on the topic.

A good overview can be found on pp. 49-53 of Through the eyes of the Argus: 100 years of journalism at Illinois Wesleyan University by Barrell, Jennifer and Christopher Fusco, but coverage ends in the 1970s. The present work contains sources that take our understanding closer to the present.

This is only a start. Someday I hope we’ll have a comprehensive view of the amazing speakers who have come here. If you know of more I’d love to hear it!

U.S. Suffrage history poster exhibit

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Meg Miner

As has so often been the case at Illinois Wesleyan University, student activism is a vital force in any force for change. This post announces the opening of a poster exhibit that explores the long road through U.S. history for women’s suffrage. There are ten posters in the exhibit and they are now on the walls around the library’s entry level.

College Women Picketing at White House (click to enlarge)

August 18, 2020 marks the Centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The Ames Library is pleased to host the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. The crusade for women’s suffrage is one of the longest reform movements in American history. Between 1832 and 1920, women citizens organized for the right to vote, agitating first in their states or territories and also, simultaneously, through petitioning for a federal amendment. These ten posters address women’s political activism, explore the racism that challenged universal suffrage, and document the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which prohibits the government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of gender. They also touch upon the suffrage movement’s relevance to current conversations on voting and voting rights across America.

More information on the topic is available through Ames Library collections. Contact a librarian for assistance!

This exhibit was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

Exhibits: Apollo 11 at 50

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Meg Miner

Aldrin sets up seismic test equipment. (click to enlarge)

No doubt, news outlets everywhere are noting the 50th anniversary of this milestone in human achievement. This post also commemorates the lunar landing and provides me with a chance to highlight both the work of our summer intern Cynthia O’Neill and one of the collections she’s been working on: The Leslie Arends Congressional Collection.

In a previous post, University Librarian Scott Walter profiled the range of learning experiences Cynthia is engaging in this summer. In the course of her preservation assessment on the Arends material, she found many Apollo program items, including a clipping that describes Arends as one of only three Illinoisans named on the 1.5″ silicon Goodwill disk left on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts.

Close-up of canceled first-issue stamps commemorating the Apollo 11 Moon landing

Close-up of President Richard Nixon and Postmaster General Winton Blount’s signatures on a commemorative print of the Earth as seen from orbit and a first-day-of-issue stamp created in 1971. The Armstrong quote printed at the bottom of the Moon photo states “…one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

That clipping, commemorative photos and stamps are on display in the John Wesley Powell Rotunda on The Ames Library’s entry level from now through August. (see a selection of images from the exhibit below)

Arends received these and items from other Apollo missions in thanks for his support of the program. A copy of the speech he gave on July 21, 1969 is part of this exhibit, too. In it he makes note of historic and contemporary global contributions that led to the success of Apollo 11. Visitors are invited to reflect on the broader implications of this achievement.

Another exhibit case just beyond the rotunda commemorates Arends’ involvement in the visit that Apollo 8 Commander Col. Frank Borman made to IWU in March 1969.

I will share more details on Cynthia’s internship in a future post, but I will add one additional benefit we gained by hosting her this summer. Cynthia’s full time work is as the Program Coordinator at the Eureka Public Library and she recently arranged a visit to her library by a museum director from Peoria. Cynthia shared her insights into the Arends collection with that person, and I am hoping we can arrange a loan of some materials from the Arends Collection for their Apollo-related exhibition this fall.

We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with others and readers should know that the Arends Collection and other materials located in Tate Archives and Special Collections are available for use by both the IWU community and the general public. So stop by the library’s first floor for a look at our Apollo exhibits M-F, 8-4 now through the end of August and let me know if you are interested in exploring this or any of our other collections!

: The Apollo 11 exhibit cases in the JWP Rotunda of The Ames Library.

: A close up of two items currently on display in The Ames Library.

: President Nixon’s letter stating that the stamp was printed by a die that went to the Moon with Apollo 11 crew. (click any image to enlarge)

: Postmaster General Winton M. Blount’s note to Arends accompanying the first-day-of-issue commemorative print and stamp.

: This photo is mounted to a mat board that was inscribed to Arends by NASA Administrator Dr. James C. Fletcher.

: Set of Apollo program commemorative stamps and artist’s rendition of the first step on the Moon issued in 1979.

: Arends received this signed set of items from the Apollo 16 astronauts.

Research Files: Gwendolyn Brooks @IWU

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Meg Miner

In honor of this year being the centennial of Gwendolyn Brooks’s birth, Ross Hettinger from the English Honors Society Sigma Tau Delta contacted the archives about putting together an exhibit based on her connection with our campus. As a result of that request, archives’ staff found news articles and photographs that document her five visits to campus between 1972-1999. Ross created an exhibit that will remain in the library’s entry level rotunda until November 30th. This post provides links to news stories and a selection of photos found in response to this query. All black and white photos were scanned from University’s collection of negatives and the color photos were scanned from slides.

Brooks and unnamed individuals heading towards her reading during the 1972 Fine Arts Festival

A March 3, 1972 front page Argus story details the plans for the March 9-21, 1972 Fine Arts Festival. The story states that Miss Brooks “will head a list of dignitaries” who would be visiting campus.

Brooks and unnamed individuals during the 1972 Fine Arts Festival

The Argus published on the 24th provides a detailed recap of her reading.

The 1972 Wesleyana also contains photos of Brooks and others who shared their talents during the Festival.

Brooks with President Eckley prior to Commencement 1973. Former president Bertholf is on the left.

The following May The Argus announced that Brooks would be the Commencement speaker for 1973. Only a small photo made it into the IWU Bulletin that summer and fall but details on her remarks are lacking, except for a brief mention in the 1973 Wesleyana.

Brooks being vested with an honorary doctorate during Commencement 1973

Brooks giving a reading in March 21, 1979

There was speculation that Brooks would return for her third visit during the Black Fine Arts Festival according to the March 2, 1979 Argus at the invitation of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The March 23, 1979 Argus carried a photo and caption on p. 1 showing that she did.

Brooks signing an autograph for an unidentified attendee during a reading in March 21, 1979

Brooks speaks with students at Evelyn Chapel, February 1988

In 1988 the February 12 Argus stated that the English Department and the Student Senate were sponsoring Brooks’s visit on February 18 at an event to be held at Evelyn Chapel. A follow up article on the 26th described her visit in detail. She titled her presentation “Life, Love, Laughter, Liberty and Laceration.”

Brooks speaks with students at Evelyn Chapel, February 1988

Brooks speaking at the Shirk Center for the Soul Food Dinner, February 7, 1999

Her final visit to campus was as the speaker at IWU’s annual Soul Food Dinner. Her appearance was announced in The Argus on February 2, 1999. A follow up article notes that IWU student Teri Lahmon, Class of 2000, introduced Brooks and read one of her own poems at Brooks’s request.

Brooks at the Shirk Center for the Soul Food Dinner, February 7, 1999

The Argus also ran an obituary for Brooks on December 8, 2000 which briefly recounts her 1999 visit and mentions that IWU awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree in 1973.

Exhibits on student organizations: Black student groups

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Meg Miner

A new exhibit in The Ames Library (entry level) includes founding documents, artifacts and photos of three student organizations: the Black Student Union (BSU, 1968-present), Black Men in Action (BMIA, 1994) and Iota Zeta of Delta Sigma Theta (1972-1974).

A few years ago, some of the alumni involved in these groups recorded oral histories about their IWU experiences. Stop by the library and/or check out their recorded and transcribed memories at

De’Andre Hardy, Class of 2000

Anthony Gray, Class of 1998

Deon Hornsby, Class of 1997

Amanda Toney-Logan and Myrtis Sullivan, both Class of 1974

BSU-Minority Alumni Network Picnic April 2, 2005

Exhibits on student organizations: Spiritual Life

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Meg Miner

The Welcome Center has display cases at the East (parking lot-side) entry. I maintain this space and most of it stays the same all year, but once a year I highlight specific aspects of our history. I recently put together a display on Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) that were organized to express students’ spiritual interests at IWU. Mark Jerue, Class of 2014, provided the basis for this display when he undertook a research project as Evelyn Chapel’s Multifaith Ambassador.

To learn more about these groups, visit the Welcome Center. For those who can’t make it to campus, below is the list of organizations we know about to date. If you have more information, contact me!

For information on today’s RSOs, visit the webpages maintained by the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Programs.

Episcopoi dinner, ca. 1950

Young Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.),est. 1881

Young Women’s Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.), est. 1884

Oxford Club (1906-1915)

Life Service Legion (1921-1933)

Student Volunteer Band (1921-1922)

Episcopoi (approx. 1936-1977)

Sunday Evening Fellowship (approx. 1950-1952)

Daily Devotionals by the Religious Activities Commission (1957-1958)

Student Deputation Teams (1968-1980)

Archives & Special Collections

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