The Karpeles Museum will open its newest location in Rock Island in early 2012. According to the organization, Karpeles is “the world’s largest private holding of important original manuscripts and documents.” They will be located in the former christian science church on 22nd street. I don’t know much about the organization, but it might be worth a visit just to check out the building. It’s an impressive facility.

The first exhibit at the museum will be about Mark Twain, in celebration of the 100 years since his death.

Check out the museum’s website at http://www.rain.org/~karpeles/RIfrm.html. Be warned: it has cheezy music.

Friday, September 23 will be Heather Richmond’s final day in the WIU Archives. She has accepted an exciting job working with digital collections at the Missouri State Library in Jefferson City.

Heather arrived at WIU in January 2008, and she quickly made herself an invaluable part of both the Archives and University Libraries team. She has been instrumental in implementing new technologies in the Archives and has worked very hard at getting our many manuscript collections into the online catalog. She has also been successful at bringing classes into the Archives, promoting the IRAD and other collections throughout the region, and on processing collections, both large and small. Her experience, archival insight, and dedication to excellence will be missed greatly by us.

We wish Heather the very best in this new and exciting venture in her professional and personal life.

-JH

Graduate Assistantship, Western Illinois University Archives and Special Collections, Macomb, Illinois

The Archives and Special Collections Unit at Western Illinois University (WIU) Libraries announces a graduate assistantship for individuals who hold an ALA-accredited degree and who desire a subject master’s degree.  The program allows candidates to pursue a graduate degree in one of 34 degree programs while working 20 hours each week in the Archives and Special Collections Unit.  Many academic archival positions now prefer or require a subject master’s degree, and this is a chance to get that important credential while simultaneously gaining excellent professional archival experience.

We are looking for someone interested in any and all areas of archival work, including appraisal, arrangement, cataloging, digitization, public service, records management, etc.  Specific duties will be tailored to the candidate depending upon interest and unit need.  You will work alongside a collaborative, knowledgeable team of one faculty member and three staff members.  The unit has a strong commitment to public service and excellent print and digital collections focused on regional history, public records, and university archives.  There will also be opportunities to learn from library faculty and staff members in other departments.   

Benefits include a graduate assistant stipend of $920/month plus a full tuition waiver.  Summer study and employment opportunities are also available.  Candidates must be offered full acceptance into a WIU graduate program before work commences.    

To learn more about Archives and Special Collections at WIU, visit

http://www.wiu.edu/libraries/archives/

To learn more about the Graduate School at WIU, visit

http://www.wiu.edu/graduate_studies/

Contact Dr. Jeff Hancks at JL-Hancks@wiu.edu or (309) 298-2718 with questions or to submit a resume, cover letter, and the names and contact information for two professional references.  Preferred starting date is January 2012.  To allow maximum time to gain admission to a graduate program, applications will be reviewed immediately upon receipt.  Position open until filled. AA/EO employer.

Ray Hanson at his desk in Morgan Gym, circa 1926.

The Archives and Special Collections is happy to announce the completion of a permanent display in Western Hall honoring Ray “Rock” Hanson,  Western’s famous coach and athletic director from 1926-1964. The display is a collaboration between Athletics and the Archives, and it includes materials owned by Athletics, such as Hanson’s own World War II uniform, his service medals, and a plaque from the U.S. Marines commemorating the 50th anniversary of the “Leathernecks” nickname at Western. The display also exhibits materials from the Archives’ Ray Hanson papers, including reproductions of photographs, the football stolen from the 1939 “Little 19″ championship game that Western won, some of Hanson’s famous bowties, and more. So go on down and visit the display, which is in a wall case near the Northeast end of Western Hall, and learn a little about the legendary Ray Hanson!

Also, special thanks to Keel Clemmens, Josh Moon, Ann Patridge, Tim Van Alstine, and Neil Wiarda for helping make the display a reality!

– Heather

I spent the last several days at the Bradley University Special Collections Library and at the Northern Indiana Center for History researching the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954).  Peoria was home to one of the league’s franchises, the Peoria Redwings, from 1946-1951.  I’m working on a a paper for this September’s Conference on Illinois History about the babseball league, and most specifically the Redwings.  Due to the movie A League of Their Own, most of the public’s attention was on the Rockford Peaches, the Racine Belles, the Kenosha Comets, and the South Bend Blue Sox.  But they played in Peoria, too, and I’m having a wonderful time learning more about the league and the amazing women who represented the City of Peoria.

-JH

Official patch appearing on Peoria Redwings jerseys.

We’re pleased to announce that the first several volumes of Western’s Bulletin series have been digitized and are now online and keyword searchable! When finished, this collection will include all issues of the Western Illinois University Bulletin from 1903 through 1959. The Bulletin was an official publication of WIU and contained course catalogs and other information about Western, as well as serving as a publishing venue for WIU faculty. First published in 1903 as the Western Illinois State Normal School Quarterly, the name changed to The Bulletin in 1943. It was published regularly through 1959 and then sporadically until 1972. In it you can find articles by faculty on teaching and other subjects, facts about the University, course listings, and detailed descriptions of programs offered by Western. It documents the history of WIU as well as the history of teaching in Illinois.

WIU Bulletin, Volume 1, Number 1

Thanks as always to the folks down in Digitization for their good work scanning the items and making them keyword searchable!

The Archives and Special Collections is happy to welcome Ann Patridge to our team! Ann hails from the second floor of the Malpass Library, where she worked in Access Services for many years. You may have seen her sitting behind the Information Desk or the Circulation Desk. Now she sits up here in the penthouse working with the records and archives of the University. We’re so excited to have her up here.

Ann has a Master’s in Library Science from University of Illinois, and when she isn’t in the WIU library, she’s working as the Librarian at the Vermont Public Library in Vermont, Illinois. Ann has worked in many different libraries over the course of her career, and we are privileged to have her here with us. The Archives is already benefiting form Ann’s considerable intelligence and skill, attention to detail, and organizational abilities – not to mention her extremely pleasant personality! Welcome, Ann; you are a godsend.

Ann, alreaady hard at work processing some University archives.

Last month we were sorry to lose Keel Clemmens to the greener pastures of Iowa. For the two years he worked here, he made some wonderful contributions to the Archives, including processing the papers of Ray “Rock” Hanson, creating some great displays, and processing University Archives materials. He was also responsible for the majority of the blog posts in our “Forgotten Western” series (including the post prior to this one).  His affable nature, creativity, fabulous sense of humor, and keen interest in archives, records, and local history made him not just an asset to the unit, but a friend as well. We all miss him greatly. However, we are happy for him that he found a fantastic job as an archivist in his home state. Come back and visit us often, Keel!

Keel and his best friend Ray "Rock" Hanson (note: photo may have been doctored by Mr. Clemmens.)

A little-known, narrow-gauge railroad spur once extended through the western edge of the WIU campus. It was the means for getting clay from the north side of the Lamoine River (Crooked Creek, as it was known then) to a factory at the southwest corner of W. Jackson and Ward Streets (current site of Hardees Restaurant).
By 1885, the Macomb Sewer Pipe Company plant was in full operation and required clay from several pits throughout the area.  In 1902 the W.S. Dickey Company bought and expanded the plant. Soon, twenty-four kilns were being used for production. Between forty and fifty tons of clay a day were pulled from local pits for use in its two Macomb plants, with the majority going to the sewer pipe plant.  One by one, these pits were exhausted of usuable clay and by 1921 it became apparent that a new source would be needed.  On the north side of Crooked Creek on land then owned by Clara Russell,  deposits of clay were found that were of perfect consistency for making sewer pipe.  The land was leased and in the Spring of 1922 construction was underway. Culverts were placed by Harry Holmes and ties were cut from trees on the Russell property.  Concrete piers and abutments were poured and a bridge constructed to cross the river just to the east and upriver of a pedestrian bridge then known as the Irwin Bridge.  By the end of 1921, the little railroad was in full operation.

The little line worked its way north from the plant and meandered through a draw crossing W. Adams Street near Eggers Drive. It continued northeast through what is now Horrabin Hall, then straightened out to the north and ran down what is now the road to Physical Plant. Another curve northeast and it crossed the river. Once across the river it worked its way north and into the pit.

In 1936 the plant was shut down and used for storage. The Russell pit had been exhausted of usable clay and the little railroad was abandoned and removed. A few remnants are still visible today, most notably the bridge piers and abutments at the river just north of the Physical Plant Building.  On the north side of the river, the Russell land is now hole number 3 on Western’s Harry Mussatto Golf Course.   Some sewer pipes also were used as rip-rap in order to secure the right-of-way from being eroded or torn away by the heavy loads of clay. They too, are still in place. Want to know more about clay mining and manufacturing in western Illinois? Come visit us at the Archives!

PEO Logo

This spring 2011 semester we had the privilege of processing a new collection to be preserved in the archives from the women of the P.E.O. For those of you who don’t know what the P.E.O. is or does, let me enlighten you. The P.E.O., or the Philanthropic Educational Organization, was founded in 1869 by seven female students from Iowa Wesleyan College. The P.E.O. offers all manner of grants, scholarships, and loans to aspiring and committed women who want to attend college. Since the late 1800s, the organization has expanded throughout all of the United States and much of Canada, chartering new chapters wherever possible. Overall, the P.E.O. has awarded an amazing sum of $197,640,000 to countless female applicants. The P.E.O. also doubles as a social club that hosts a plethora of events (depending on the inclinations of a certain chapter) including administration meetings, informational sessions, award ceremonies, and picnics for members to attend.

The P.E.O. Chapter K of Macomb, Illinois graciously donated several boxes of their organizational records to be catalogued and stored within the Western Illinois University Archives to be enjoyed by anyone. Chapter K was founded on May 16^th, 1905 and has around eighty members who perform the multiple projects organized regional significance. The contents of the collection include a wide variety of documents ranging from books, sheet music, organizational logistics, pictures, scrapbooks, and beyond. The scrapbooks are especially exciting to look at due to the inclusion of pictures from the early 1910s and 1920s of P.E.O. members and their families. If you are interested in or researching women’s history and current women’s organizations, come check this collection out!

-Daniel Criscione

Archives Intern