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Macomb attorney Alison Vawter and Judge Kent Slater recently donated a mahogany table to WIU, which was believed to have been in the offices of the University's earliest presidents.
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Slater previously donated a desk to WIU that was once used in the Macomb law office of Lawrence Y. Sherman. The donation was made in 1999 as part of the University's Centennial celebration. The desk will now sit across from the recently-donated table in University Archives.
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Table Used by Former WIU Presidents Donated to University by Two Local Attorneys

June 21, 2018

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MACOMB, IL – An 1890s Empire-style table, which once sat in the Western Illinois University office of Frank A. Beu, the University's fourth president, is back on campus thanks to the generous donation of two members of Macomb's legal community.

Attorney Alison Vawter and Judge Kent Slater donated the 98-inch by 38-inch solid mahogany table to WIU May 30. Slater said he believes the table could have been part of the original furnishings of the president's office in Sherman Hall. The table was authenticated through photographs from Beu's office.

"I first noticed the table in the Macomb law office of Attorney C. Don Weston in 1975, when I was a newly-licensed lawyer and had dealings with Mr. Weston," said Slater. "Mr. Weston told me the table had once been located in the campus office of the WIU president. Prior to Mr. Weston's death in 2017, the table was used by him in three different Macomb office locations."

After Weston's death, the table was sold at auction in October 2017, and was initially purchased by Monte Lowderman. Slater and Vawter then purchased the table from Lowderman with the intention of using it at a Macomb law office before it was deemed to be too large for the office space.

Slater said he had the table moved to Brian Switzer's West Kelly Street home in Macomb, where it was restored. Switzer added metal braces to the underside of the table to pull together some of the boards, which had split from each other. The brass handles on the desk were replaced and the table was disassembled for transport.

"Brian Switzer worked on the table top as well, being careful to keep the table as original as possible," said Slater.

Vawter credited Slater for "his discerning eye for local legal antiques, for having it restored and suggesting it be donated to WIU."

"I was truly a bit player in this affair," she said. "For my part, the table's long-term private owner, C. Don Weston, was a particular friend of mine and of my family. Don was a very generous colleague, both with his time and his local knowledge, and he was a principal user of the WIU Library's collection of legal research materials. I know he would be pleased to hear about this table making its way back to Western."

According to WIU Senior Library Specialist Kathy Nichols, the table's new home will be in the offices of University Archives. The table will sit across from a desk donated to WIU by Slater in 1999, in honor of the University's Centennial celebration. That piece was once used in the Macomb law office of Lawrence Y. Sherman.

For more information about the WIU Archives, visit wiu.edu/libraries/archives/.

Posted By: Jodi Pospeschil (JK-Pospeschil@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing