What's Happening at the Library

Historic OWU Volumes Return After Conservation Work

Four historically significant volumes have recently returned to OWU Libraries’ Special Collections after undergoing professional conservation. Thanks to funding from an IMLS LSTA Conservation & Preservation grant—written by Special Collections Librarian Stacy Chaney-Blankenship and awarded through the State Library of Ohio—these fragile items were cleaned and repaired by Kate Passannante of ICA Cleveland. They are now available for on-site viewing by appointment: https://calendar.app.google/QxSfzQv8WBPyrPQZ9

Details about the items and their significance are below.

• Ohio Wesleyan University Record Book of Criticisms: School of Oratory (1901-1906 and 1906-1909). Founded in 1842, the Ohio Wesleyan University of the early 1900s had eight departments of which one was the School of Oratory. The Sixty-sixth Catalogue of Ohio Wesleyan University (1910) lists it as a primary department in the College, separate only from the Medical Department, Conservatory (for music and fine arts), and the Academy (for business courses). To graduate with this degree, the student was expected to complete 12 elective courses, including in such topics as “The Principles of Elocution,” “Parliamentary Usage,” and “Rhetorical Criticism” (1910 OWU Catalogue, p.103-104). These two volumes of record books record the professor's comments on student oratory exercises. In their pages, we find details relevant to OWU’s history as well as the history of higher education in central Ohio. Additionally, as OWU was an early coeducational university, these volumes include notes on both male and female students as well as course events such as debates. For example, writing in November 19, 1906, the instructor makes the following notes about a student’s performance during a debate about the U.S. annexation of Cuba: “A good debating spirit but the words were slow to come. Use the hands more effectively - the fingers are neutral - the thumb vital. Good summary.” A place of study for many students who would go on to become preachers and lawyers, the OWU School of Oratory and its record books provide vital primary source information on this course of study, students' higher education at the time, and contemporary topics of debate.

• A History of Zeta Tau Alpha, 1898-1948 by Shirley Kreason Strout (1956). It is the only book on this subject in the OWU Libraries’ collections. The dedication in the book denotes it was given specifically to OWU’s Alpha Omega Chapter in 1960. Additionally, OWU’s chapter is discussed in the book, making it important to the OWU Historical Collection.

• The Perkins Hall Scrapbook (1957-1958) includes approximately 30 pages of snapshots from that time period. It is also labeled MFL for the OWU Modern Foreign Language department or Modern Foreign Language separate housing unit. More research could be conducted on this item that would lead to a better understanding of what it is, as well as its representation of student life in central Ohio during that post-World War II era. Prior to conservation, it was not able to be handled and so research was not previously possible.

Note: This project was made possible through a federal Institute of Museum and Library Services LSTA grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio. The contents do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the granting agencies.