What I did last summer.......

Over the summer I worked in the library archives developing a finding aid for part of the William Shirer Collection. Shirer, a journalist from Cedar Rapids popular for his memoirs of fascist Germany and Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, donated his entire collection of documents to the college archives near the end of his career. My job was to read through a collection of his personal correspondence from the year 1979 and create a document that summarized the collection and contained subject headings for important events and persons of note mentioned in the letters.

It was interesting to get a peek into the personal life of a famous author and journalist, as well as see the sorts of acquaintances Shirer had made throughout his life. Many of the letters Shirer received were from aspiring journalists and novelists hoping to get some advice about the writing process. Overall I enjoyed the experience, even if it did get a bit tedious sorting through his letters for the third time. ~~Eric

Training in Field House

Training in 2nd field house, Coe College 1881-1920s

Anatomy Class 1935

Anatomy Class 1935

Early Chemistry Lab

Early Chemistry Lab 1881-1920

Members of Alpha Nu, 1912

Alpha Nu photograph, 1912

Stephen Phelps with students

Stephen Phelps was Coe College's first president (1881-1886).  He is standing on the right with a group of Coe students.

Campus Views 1910

Coe College campus views January 13&14, 1910. Taken by Harry Petersen Corner, signed walker (developer?).

Coe's First Cross Country Squad

Coe College's First Cross County Squad circa 1920s.

Colonial Party

Early Colonial Party at Coe College, 1881-1920s.

Concert in Sinclair Chapel

Coe College, early concert in Sinclair Chapel 1911-1920s.

 

Chapel Fire

Coe College, T.M. Sinclair Memorial Chapel, September 5, 1947.

Sinclair Memorial Chapel

Sinclair Memorial Chapel 1911-1947, Coe College.

Ground Breaking of Sinclair Memorial Chapel

Ground breaking for Sinclair Memorial Chapel, Coe College, June 15, 1910.

Girls Glee Club

Coe College Girls Glee Club, circa 1928.

Tug of War 1908

Coe College Freshman vs. Sophomore Tug of War, 1908. 

Memorial Day 1912

Memorial Day 2012, Coe College Campus.

May Fete 1923

 

Coe College May Fete, 1923.

Coe College Cosmos: Six Students Were Graduated At Coe's First Commencement

Coe College Cosmos, 1920s

Class Day Exercises 1909

Coe College Class Day Exercises in front of Old Main, 1909.

Introducing, the Archive's Pinterest boards

Last week I announced the Archives is now on Pinterest. This week I would like to tell you about the archive's two boards.

"This old Coe - in pictures" is anything and everything Coe College, past and present. An image of our in-coming president David McInally sits next to an old penny postcard depicting Coe campus and a video of Angel & Nick Bitner's May 2012 Wedding held on the campus quad. Alumni and author Ed Gorman sits next to an aerial view of down town Cedar Rapids and a photograph of Coe College's summer athletic camp. Find Coe news, Coe history, Coe people, and Coe anything here.

"Primary Resources" is a board dedicated to just what it says. Materials in any form that are a source of direct evidence describing or documenting a historical event from the perspective of someone who was there. (definition from: UCLA institute of Primary Resources).  You can find links to archival collection finding aids and digital archives here.  Some sources are subscribed to by Coe College (so if you are not on campus you can't access them), many others are free online resources which I have found surfing the web.  They are all great resources for writing papers or just exploring history.

~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant