Special Collections & Archives

Do you know where this window is at Wesleyan? 

Too often we are so caught up in our own lives and that we forget to look at the things around us. 115 years have passed since a certain Wesleyan student graduated but his generosity is still all around us to enjoy from one corner of the campus to the other. George W. Davison graduated in 1892, served as a Trustee from 1912 until his death in 1953 and President of the Board of Trustee’s from 1928-1943. We know the Davison Art Center, which Mr. Davison’s donation of his print collection makes it one of the most important at an American university. His many contributions to Wesleyan University include funding of the Davison Health Center and Alsop House purchase and renovation.

What does this have to do with the picture of the stained glass window?

The Davison’s funded the creation of the Davison Rare Book Room in Special Collections & Archives of Olin Library and donated a superb collection of rare books. Two of the many items donated by George Davison go mostly unnoticed because of the need to close the drapes in the Davison Rare Book Room. These two items are large stained glass windows believed to come from his home in Somerset, MA.  Two-thirds of the 1500 volumes in the room belonged to George Davison’s own collection. If you would like to see the Davison Rare Book Room, hand carved walnut paneling, built-in glass-fronted book shelves, a built-in exhibition case for his four Shakespeare folios, Bibles from the 13^th to the 20^th Centuries or the stained glass windows stop by Monday-Friday 1:00-5:00.

On January 18, the PBS program History Detectives visited Special Collections & Archives and Olin Library to investigate a book that was found in the open stacks of Olin this summer.

The book, August Spies’ Auto-Biography, appears to have the stamp of Lucy Parsons, a famous anarchist and the wife of one of the men executed in 1877 for alleged crimes related to the Haymarket Riot in Chicago. Because her books were confiscated at the time of her death, the book seemed especially rare. We called in the History Detectives to do more investigation, and were delighted when they decided to film a segment about it.

We won’t give away any secrets, but what they found out is surprising! The program will be shown some time in July, so check your PBS stations this summer.