Preserving the College’s History

Throughout The College of Wooster’s 138-year history, numerous documents, manuscripts, artifacts, and other invaluable items have been saved and are now part of the Special Collections Department in Andrews Library. Denise Monbarren, special collections librarian, oversees the collections, and explains what types of items are included and why.

Q. What is Special Collections?

A. Special Collections houses primary resources, including first editions of classic texts, signed and inscribed editions of many literary works, illuminated manuscripts, fine binding, historic documents, and, most importantly, the College Archives Collection. The department’s primary purpose is to preserve our social and literary history. These materials are separated from the rest of the library because they require special care and housing. We monitor use and try to protect items that are either irreplaceable or too fragile for the circulating shelves, thereby preserving them for future generations.

Q. Why was the department established at Wooster?

A. In 1990, the library proposed the addition of a Special Collections department as part of a major building renovation. We wanted to provide proper housing for our rare materials, to make such materials more accessible for researchers, and to establish a college archives. With the support of then President Henry J. Copeland’s administration, the department became a reality. Under current President R. Stanton Hale’s administration, we have been encouraged to make Special Collections an integral part of the liberal arts experience.

Q. What criteria must items meet to be included in Special Collections?

A. There are many reasons why materials may be housed in Special Collections, but all items that are added must be of value to the curriculum, student independent research, or faculty research. As part of our Rare Books collection, we house items that have been signed by noted scholars, writers, or historical figures. We own an early six-volume work on the history of women’s suffrage inscribed by Susan B. Anthony. Also, the department houses two witchcraft pamphlets that document the 16^th-century British witchcraft trials. One tract is the only known copy in the world; the other piece is one of two known copies. Some books in our collection can be viewed as works of art, representing the history of book design. Other items are tied to college history, such as the Compton Collection and the Notestein Collection. Members of both families have made significant contributions to campus life and, upon leaving Wooster, went on to become leaders in science, the humanities, and the social sciences. Arthur H. Compton won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927. Wallace B. Notestein was a noted historian, and his sister, Lucy B. Notestein, wrote Wooster of the Middle West, covering the early history of the college.

Q. What is the largest collection that you house?

A. The largest collection that we house is the College Archives Collection. We collect materials related to the history of the college. Archival materials are kept on the buildings and grounds, presidents, faculty, trustees, classes, and events. Campus traditions are documented through photographs, memorabilia, campus publications, scrapbooks, oral histories, and correspondence.

Q. What other kinds of collections do you have?

A. The Kennedy Administration is highlighted in The Christine Camp Archives: Waldenside, the personal archives of Christine Camp (Class of 1951, Distinguished Alumni 1990). In the early 1950s, Camp was one of the first female intelligence officers to work for the Central Intelligence Agency. She worked on John F. Kennedy’s first presidential campaign and later served as assistant to White House Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger. Her archives include signed photographs, books, and Kennedy memorabilia.  

The Josephine Long Wishart Collection: Mother, Home and Heaven is a monograph collection of popular advice literature. Aimed primarily at women, "self-help" books cover topics from cooking and cleaning to marriage and birth control. The Nancy Herbst Sechrest Collection is a monograph collection of works devoted to women. A large portion of the collection consists of biographies, memoirs, and travel journals, documenting the lives of women at home, on the job, and at leisure.

Because of the college’s strong ties to missionary activities, the department houses a collection of 19th-century periodicals and narratives on missionary work, as well as the personal collections of missionary families, including the Rice and the Noyes collections.

The Twentieth-Century International Relations Collection is an accumulation of the College’s vertical files from the first half of the century. Approximately 2,800 pieces, ranging from postcards and pamphlets to posters, help document world politics and American involvement, with particular emphasis given to the years 1914-1950. Highlights include a large collection of propaganda posters published in the United States during the Second World War.

Q. How does Special Collections tie in with the curriculum?

A. The college has long-emphasized critical reading, thinking, and independent learning as part of its curriculum. Special Collections has provided primary resources for many courses, from First-Year Seminar to the Independent Study program. The more students have been introduced to Special Collections through their course work, the more we have had students interested in working with the collections for their junior and senior independent study projects.

Q. How does Special Collections tie in with the surrounding community?

A. Special Collections gathers materials related to the college’s continuing role in the history of Wayne County. As a department, we work cooperatively with the Genealogy Department of the Wayne County Public Library and with the Wayne County Historical Society to secure and preserve local history. We also share information regarding the latest trends in preservation and conservation.

Q. Can anyone use Special Collections?

A. Special Collections is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Anyone with a valid identification card has access to materials. (Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.) All patrons must fill out a request form for materials and read an instruction sheet regarding use and handling of materials. More information regarding our collections or our policies are available online at http://www.wooster.edu/library/services/special.php .