Collections : [Western Connecticut State University Archives and Special Collections]

Dr. Saad's handwritten lecture texts, mostly regarding the history of Africa.

Geddes was appointed Dean of Men at Danbury State Teacher's College in 1947 and served in that role until he retired in 1974. In 1939, he earned a Masters in education from Yale, and in 1955 received his Doctorate in Student Personnel from New York University. He joined the Army in the 1930s and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Geddes was a military history enthusiast and amassed a number of books on the subject. His papers contain personal materials from his career as an educator, soldier and military history collector.

A small collection of art mostly by Bob Alberetti and Plonia Nixon.

Al Stewart was a businessman and physicist who joined the faculty in the School of Business at WestConn in 1987 after a long career mostly at Union Carbide. The collection includes personal papers, objects, art and miscellanea from Stewart's estate.

This is a small collection of books illustrated by Andrei Hudiakoff.

Carl A. Pettersch was Professor of Social Science 1946-1955, Dean of Graduate Studies 1955-1973, Faculty Emeriti 1973-2003 as Professor of History. This collection comprises the papers of Dr. Pettersch while Dean of Graduate Studies.

Diary of a woman from Connecticut. She describes her health the birth of her children, church attendance and everyday life in early to mid-19th century New England. 188 p.

This artificial collection brings together original materials in the WCSU Archives that relates to the Civil War. Materials that are facsimile versions indicate that this repository once possessed an original copy of material. Collection includes: letters, publications and CDVs.

This collection contains historic printed miscellanea of Connecticut. Commercial businesses, municipal boards and commissions, and other clubs and organizations produced the material that is in this collection.

The Connecticut State University System dates back to 1849. Colleges in the system all began as teachers colleges and gradually were given responsibility for educational programs such as liberal arts, business, technology, and health services. They were brought together into a state college system in 1965, and were granted university status in 1983.

Collection contains Connecticut State Librarian Robert Schnare's research on the Connecticut suffrage movement between 1910 and 1920, and additional information on the movement prior to 1910 and from the relatively recent past.

This is fairly small collection of Danbury city records. Includes city clerk correspondence and City Council minutes from the early establishment of the City of Danbury. Also includes: Tax anticipation ledgers.

Collection of biographical sketches derived from primary sources by WCSU undergraduates for Dr. Herbert Janick's Historical Research course.

The Danbury Industrial Corporation was established between 1916-1918 to promote the City of Danbury as an attractive location for business and industry initially through the purchase of land for industrial development. The collection includes the D.I.C. records, clippings, correspondence, legal documents and most notably a three volume Danbury Industrial Survey which contains comprehensive descriptions and statistical analyses of Danbury's business and industrial community from 1918.

This collection includes various Danbury municipal records including military service lists, voting lists, real estate transactions, public utilities expenditures mainly from the early 20th century.

Comprised of maps, photographs and miscellanea collected by the University Archives since the 1980s.

The Danbury Preservation Trust had its beginnings in 1978 during a faculty developed summer course entitled Living History, Reading the Connecticut Landscape, taught by Dr. Herbert F. Janick, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State College. After formal incorporation in January 1979, he became the Trust's first president. The records of the Danbury Preservation Trust span the years 1978-1997. The collection includes surveys to identify structures that might be included on the National Register. The bulk of this collection consists of Architectural and Historic Resources Inventories that were conducted by the Trust between 1979 and 1986. The majority of the surveys contain a small black and white photograph of the structure.

Oral histories from the Danbury Remembers project. The goal of the project was to record a series of oral history interviews with various present and past residents of Danbury.

Research materials for Herb Janick and William Devlin's book, Danbury's Third Century. Includes a running summary of Danbury events taken from the News-Times, interviews, student theses, and published materials for the period of ~1870-2012.

This is a small collection of the records of the Town of Danbury. It includes Selectmen, financial, School Board, Town Clerk, and Town Counsel records. Materials document town construction projects, social welfare, roads, the School Board, the airport, the 1955 Danbury flood, the agreement between the town and the AFSCME/AFL-CIO, the 1934 project for sewers, drains and treatment plant, town audits, town taxes and 1950s fallout shelters. These documents include announcements of upcoming Town Meetings, school bonds, budgets, property transactions, petitions, tax revaluation and appeals, town financial statements and a ledger of Registered Physicians in Danbury.

Davida Blakeslee was born in Thomaston, Connecticut in 1910, and was a 1929 graduate of Danbury Normal School. She received her B.S. from Teachers College of Connecticut at New Britain in 1958, and her Master of Education from the University of Hartford in 1961. She taught in public schools for more than 30 years. This collection is comprised of a scrapbook she made as a keepsake for her time at the Danbury Normal School.

The role of the the Division of Academic Affairs has evolved in name and purpose over the history of the WCSU. Currently the division is headed by the V.P. of Academic Affairs & Provost. The Division of Academic Affairs collection includes: administrative records, accreditation records, admissions data, institutional research and assessment records, and strategic planning information.

The records of the Office of Finance and Administration contain records from the following departments under the V.P. for Finance & Administration: Fiscal Affairs, Institutional Services, and the Division of Public Safety. Also incuded are University Events' invitations and programs from commencements, convocations and events from 1906-2007.

The Division of Student Affairs is responsible for oversight of university functions affecting student life and for setting and enforcing related policies. The division's records consist of administrative information, committee files, annual reports, and budgetary records as well as files pertaining to student organizations. The records of the Division of Student Affairs span the dates 1926'-2006, and are organized into seven series: (1) Athletics/Recreation, (2) Campus Ministries, (3) Career Development Center, (4) The Counseling Center, (5) Health Services, (6) Housing/Residential Life, (7) Student Life, and (8) Student Affairs.

Don Stitt is an actor, writer, director, choreographer and composer who began his career in the mid 1960s. He received his MFA from WCSU in 2007. The collection includes his written work created throughout his career in the theater.

Dr. Ellen M. Rosenberg was a member of the anthropology department at Western Connecticut State University. This is a collection of research papers completed by students of her "Religion in Society and Culture" course in 1975. The papers profile congregations in the Danbury Area.

The photographs and photographic negatives in this collection come from The Echo's 'Photo Morgue'. Some of these photographs were used in issues of The Echo, others were unused. They are kept in the original negative sheets. Some negative sheets have hand-written notes describing the subject, date, and photographer of the photographs. Other negative sheets are blank.

Edward Eliscu, actor, lyricist, playwright, screen and songwriter, producer, and director was born in New York City on April 26, 1902. The collection consists of correspondence, clippings, scripts, lyrics, music, and other writings.

Smedley was an active member of the Socialist Party in the 1930s. He ran for Comptroller of Waterbury, CT on the Socialist platform in the municipal election of 1939 and in 1948 he was the Socialist Party candidate for U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Smedley was also an attorney for numerous labor and advocacy organizations. This is a small collection of his correspondence.

The collection contains the World War I letters, photographs and miscellanea of George Hawley, a Danbury native who was in Company B of the 307th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Force. Hawley died of disease just before the end of the War in October of 1918.

This collection contains many clippings, administrative materials, and materials related to the different international pavillions. The collection also contains 60 tapes and supporting materials of interviews conducted through by Greater Danbury Intercultural Association to document the contituent groups that make up the greater Danbury area.

Hamilton Orgelman was born in Danbury, Connecticut, on October 17, 1889. Orgelman was best known for his work with the Boy Scouts of America. The collection documents Orgelman's career and contains periodicals, correspondence, bulletins, booklets, scrapbook, photographs and memorabilia. Included also are materials relating to his son, George Orgelman who worked in the aviation industry.

A small collection of art books presumably collected when Ms. Parkhurst travelled in Asia.

The Herbert F. Janick Papers span the years 1889-2003 and consist mainly of Janick's historical research (focused on CT and Danbury) for his many articles and in particular for his book on the history of Western Connecticut State University. The collection includes many oral history interviews conducted by Janick and many conducted by his students.

Herndon Dowling was a systematic herpetologist with a primary interest in evolution. During his career Dowling worked in many projects and positions in the field of herpetology, won over half a dozen awards for his work, and authored over 200 publications.

A collection of materials from the A.C. Gilbert Company documenting their activity during World War II compiled by H. L. Trisch.

Howard Dunham Barlow was a radio pioneer, musician, composer, arranger and conductor. The Howard Dunham Barlow Collection consists of correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, recordings, original compositions, published choral arrangements, CBS program logs, scrapbooks, oral history, orchestral arrangements and works, prospective scripts, reviews of concerts, phonograph records, photographs, and writings.

The Jack Friel University History Collection is his work in gathering information about the history of this university. Starting in 1976, under a grant authorized by the WestConn Foundation, Friel began to collect information about the history of then named Western Connecticut State College with the intended goal of writing the history of the college. Friel, who was a former graduate student, took on the task with the help of two students, Ronald Douglas and Sandy Connor. When it became apparent that he would be unable to accomplish his goal, he agreed to leave all the information he had collected with the school so the story could be told at later time.

James Edmund Dyer, graduate of Western Connecticut State College and politician, was born in Danbury, Connecticut, on September 20, 1946. His papers span the years 1900 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1970 to 1990, primarily documenting his work as Mayor of Danbury, Connecticut. Information regarding his activities at Western Connecticut State College, his two terms as Trustee of the Connecticut State Colleges, and State Representative for the 110th District is also included.The collection consists of biographical materials, legislative and trustee files, citations, correspondence, fliers, greeting cards, membership cards, newsletters, news clippings, scrapbooks, petitions, photographs, posters, postcards, press releases, printed materials, proclamations, resolutions, writings and campaign materials such as bumper stickers, campaign pins, sample ballots, and mailing lists.

James Furman was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937 and was a college professor/Composer. The collection includes audio recordings of original material, performance programs, and biographical information.

Jennie Esther Warner graduated from Danbury Normal School in 1917. The collection includes some of her texts and notebooks from her time at the DNS and Danbury High School.

Includes former WCSU Dean, Jim Pegolotti's program notes (Danbury Concert Association Notes) and an unpublished manuscript (Writing Program Notes) that includes guidance on writing program notes for classical music concerts.

John Mihelic was from Kansas City, Missouri and was a member of the Socialist Party. He was also involved with the Communist Party of America. The collection includes some correspondence and leftist/socialist publications from the early 20th century.

The collection of Civil War letters of a Danburian, Joseph D. Bishop, in the 23rd Connecticut VI. Bishop was the chief musician in the regiment.

The June Goodman Collection documents her local activism in the 1960s. She received a master's degree in education from WestConn in 1970. The collection focuses on Goodman's commitment to education, specifically her work with the Committee of 1,000 and its fight to improve and expand the Danbury school system in the 1960s. Much of the collection chronicles the bitter nature of the debate.

Lewis Zurlo spent 32 years designing buildings in and around the western Connecticut area and was a member of the Danbury Preservation Trust. The collection includes personal and architectural materials Zurlo collected over his professional career and significant architectural information on a number of buildings in and around Danbury for which Zurlo and his firm's services were retained.

Margaret and William Slater were long-time Fairfield County residents and collected journals, publications, clippings, and books related to African-Americans, African-American issues and history.

This is a small collection of Marian Anderson memorabilia. Anderson was a world-renowned contralto in the 20th century and a long-time resident of Danbury, CT.

The collection includes works of art collected by Marjorie Echols '81. The art is in various mediums and was created by artists from the Danbury area.

Mary A. (Milner) Deming was a graduate of UConn and former Associate Club Agent of New Haven County. In January 1953, Mary Deming began contributing to the "4-H Club Activies" column in the Danbury News-Times. These are clippings of her column up until 1964 with some gaps.

This is a small collection of newsreels and instructional films collected by WestConn.

Materials mostly related to Dooling's research on three cases from the middle 1900s of the unsolved disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith and Katherine Hull.

An artificial collection created to provide a home for map materials that do not fall within an already designated collection.

A small collection of newspapers and clippings which document life in the western Connecticut area and major world events over the last 150 years.

Thomas Mooney (1892-1942) was a labor leader involved in several violent labor struggles in California before 1916. He was convicted and jailed as a participant in the bomb killings at the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade in 1916. The collection includes documentation of the ongoing effort to exonerate Mooney.

The Office of Institutional Advancement encompasses the Office of Alumni Affairs and the University Relations, which includes the Office of Public Relations and University Publications and Design. This office conducts fund raising and scholarship distribution and creates and disseminates a unified image for the university.

The collection contains records from the President's office primarily from the 1990s. In particular, it contains a number of materials which document the construction of the Westside campus.

The University Publications and Design Department is responsible for the production of academic publications and promotional materials for the university. The bulk of this collection consists of the working files for Diane Golden, Director of UP&D, from 1988 to 2000.

The collection is made up of materials that Pi Lambda Theta members saved over the years that the Beta Omega chapter was in existence. The collection contains materials like membership pins and meeting iconography (candles, organizational symbols, music, letterhead, etc.), as well as, information regarding the activities of the chapter and meeting minutes.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency was hired by the City of Danbury to help solve a rash of arson cases that had begun in 1888. There are 18 written reports from the Pinkerton Operative and statements the were taken by the operative from firemen, citizens, witnesses and suspects.

In 1935 Ralph Jenkins became Principal of the Danbury Normal School, and, in 1937 became the first President of Danbury State Teacher's College. Through his doctoral research he became an outstanding authority on the life and works of Henry Barnard. This is a collection of his papers and some titles from his collection of books.

Tracts that describe inhumane treatment of persons confined in mental asylums in the 19th century.

The menus in this collection were collected around the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s are represent some popular regional restaurants of the time.

Ruth Alice Haas (1903-1986) arrived the Danbury Normal School in 1931 to serve as Dean of Women. For fifteen years, she lived in Fairfield Hall as the primary mentor and supervisor for boarding students. Over the years, she assumed more responsibility. In 1946, after President Jenkins' death, she was the unanimous choice for president. She served as president for twenty-eight years, through times of significant growth and change for the school. These papers contain a cross section of her administrative records and her personal papers.

The collection is comprised of mostly of sheetmusic which span the years 1800 to the 1960s. Also included are publicity photographs and other images of Steinkraus in her career as a pianist, radio host and activist for world peace.

This collection is comprised of black-and-white, 8 x 10" photoprints most presumably ordered from the Library of Congress in 1972. Most of the images are part of the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection and show African Americans in urban and rural settings during the Great Depression and World War II. Many of the images are available digitally from the American Memory collection at the Library of Congress: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html. The collection also includes some presumably original photography and pre-Civil War and reconstruction images.

A collection of deeds and miscellany handed down from the Pickett Family which owned land in Danbury, CT among other places. The collection also contains a letter that describes the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

One set of construction plans for the Still River CT channel contruction of 1974

The Student Government Association (SGA) is the governing body for the students at Western Connecticut State University. The SGA sponsors numerous academic, recreational, and other student-run clubs and organizations at WCSU. The records include the accumulation of records by successive SGA presidents.

The collection includes newspapers published by student through the history of Western Connecticut State University and its institutional antecedents.

The collection is comprised of approximately thirty linear feet of newspaper and magazine clipping, stamps, postcards, maps, photographs and original illustrations that were used as a morgue file during Moss' career as an artist and illustrator.

Warner spent 37 years as a teacher and administrator and was also a board member and former president of the Scott-Fanton Museum, now known as the Danbury Museum and Historical Society. During his tenure, he supervised and contributed to numerous museum exhibits. The Warner Collection consists of writings, photographs, miscellanea, research notes and papers documenting Warner's life as a World War II medic, author, historian and historical researcher. The bulk of the collection contains an extensive series of newspaper clippings and printed materials relating to local and state history, several boxes of personal papers, and several boxes that contain information on Western's faculty, administration, and events concerning the school's history beginning in the 1940s and continuing through to the late 1990s.

This is a small collection of objects from Asia, Africa, the Americas and New Guinea collected presumably from the 1960s and 1980s by Truman Warner to be used in class and for his personal collection. The collection is predominantly made up of musical instruments and masks.

This is a collection of undergraduate student papers. Some undergraduate courses require a final paper or thesis in lieu of a final exam.

The records in this collection contain materials regarding agreements between the University and: the Administrative and Residual Employee Union, Local 4200; American Association of University Professors; New England Regional Student Services; the State Board of Education; and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It also includes materials regarding the Community Relations Program, Faculty Handbooks, and University Senate minutes.

This is a digital collection of University Senate records which include minutes, agendas and supporting documents.

In 1902 Walter Gordon Merritt entered the national labor scene in the Danbury hatters strike as counsel for the hat companies. This collection contains many of Walter Gordon Merritt's published articles and pamphlets regarding labor and management relations.

Pieces of art from WCSU's Art Department. Collection includes student and faculty work and gifts to the University.

A small collection of clippings and other documents relating to WestConn and Danbury.

This collection is an inventory of the yearbooks, course catalogs (with related supplements), academic journals, alumni newsletters, view books, registration booklets and other miscellany published by WestConn.

This collection is an inventory of the yearbooks, course catalogs (with related supplements), academic journals, alumni newsletters, view books, registration booklets and other miscellany published by WestConn.

This is a collection of photographs and realia spanning the history of Western Connecticut State University. The collection includes images and objects that document the growth, evolution and public profile of the institution.

The collection includes clippings of local history and local interest articles by William Devlin, mostly for the Danbury News-Times, between 1980 and 2013.

A collection of U.S., U.K. and French publications primarily from the First World War and most are propagandistic in nature. The collection includes some ephemera and clippings from the era as well.

The collection includes material published by the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and a variety of propagandistic and commemorative materials published during and around the time of the First World War.

Documentation of WXCI's operation dating back to 1972. Collection includes correspondence between WXCI staff members with University administration, membership and outside vendors. Compiled from the files of WXCI faculty advisor, Dr. Hugh McCarney.