Special Collections & Archives at Wesleyan University
A place for news and information about rare books, manuscripts and university archives.
Leith Johnson A patron called and described a photograph that she had in her possession and wondered if it had something to do with Wesleyan. I asked her to email a digital copy, and I found the identical image in the 1914 Olla Podrida. Turns out what she owned was a photograph of the 1913 Wesleyan University … Read more
During Reunion/Commencement Weekend, my colleague, Music Librarian and World Music Archives Director Alec McLane, and I co-presented a WESeminar on events surrounding the last few days in April and the first few days in May 1970 at Wesleyan, which included rallies in support of the Black Panthers in New Haven, calls for a strike to … Read more
The Hall Laboratory of Chemistry is shown in the above photograph taken around the early 1930s. It was situated directly across from Olin Library on Church Street and the two buildings were designed by Henry Bacon (whose papers are held by SC&A), sharing architectural elements. Constructed from 1925 to 1927, it was demolished in late … Read more
The World’s Fair: Being a Pictorial History of the Columbian Exposition…, published in 1893, provides a comprehensive description of the Fair and its host city, Chicago. Members of the Wesleyan community may be particularly interested in this chapter:
In the “Chemistry Dept. 1832-1968” vertical file, you’ll find this document. The caption reads: The chemistry lecture room in old Judd Hall. Prof. M.L. “Mose” Crosley was lecturing on the last day of classes prior to the final exam. The device at the right moved a huge roll of wrapping paper by means of the … Read more
An inquirer asked about Laban Clark’s journal from 1807. Clark kept a number of journals. Here you see the first page of journal “No. 17,” which starts on Christmas Day. You can find a full description of the Laban Clark Papers here. From 1801 to 1851, Laban Clark was engaged in the work of the … Read more
Long-time members of the Wesleyan community will remember Willie Kerr. He joined the university in 1959 as an assistant professor in the History Department and later served as assistant provost, provost, and secretary of the university. He retired in 1993 and died in 1999. At Professor Kerr’s February 26, 1999, memorial service, former President Colin … Read more
Suzy Taraba recently showed Prof. Kate Birney’s Introduction to Ancient Greek (GRK101) class the 1569 polyglot Bible, “the second of the great Polyglots, known as the Antwerp, or Plantin’s polyglot, otherwise the Royal polyglot,” according to Darlow & Moule. The class was studying Exodus 21:22-25 in Greek (see below). A polyglot Bible contains multiple translations … Read more
Vice President Richard M. Nixon, accompanied by his wife Patricia Nixon, is shown here visiting campus on Oct. 18, 1956, during a reelection campaign swing through Connecticut on behalf of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and himself. The Argus reported that Nixon spoke to about 400 students who crowded around him on High St. Suzy Taraba … Read more
I was conducting research in women’s athletics and encountered this photograph of the field hockey team taken in 1971.
