Collections : [Wesleyan University -Special Collections and Archives]

William John James (1860-1941) was College Librarian from 1891 to 1929 and Assistant Treasurer of Wesleyan from 1908 to 1929.

The Wesleyan football team has been in existence since 1883.

The Rosa Physics Club was named for an Wesleyan alumnus, Edward B. Rosa, class of 1886. The purpose of the Rosa Club was "to promote an interest in physics and its applications," and included student and faculty members.

Wesleyan held an annual conference featuring scholars from around the country discussing some of the day's most controversial and important topics, including labor, crime, race, marriage, and foreign policy. The tradition of Wesleyan Parleys began in 1924 and lasted until about the early 1960s.

The Davison Art Rooms were created at the opening of Olin Memorial Library in 1928 as a tribute to George W. (Wesleyan class of 1892) and Harriet Baldwin Davison. The Davison Art Rooms were closed and their contents transferred to the newly-constructed Davison Art Center for its opening in 1952.

In 1927, The Voluntary Committee of Lawyers, Inc. was organized by a group of young New York lawyers who felt that the national prohibition law was both unjust and unenforceable. Its leaders were Joseph H. Choate, Jr., who served as chairman of the Executive Committee, and Harrison Tweed, Treasurer. The organization existed to organize like-minded associates, take opinion polls of lawyers across the country, issue bulletins and annual reports reciting arguments against the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and work closely with the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment. They stressed that a Repeal Amendment should provide for ratification by state convention and then proceeded to prepare and place before all state governors in February 1933 draft bills providing for election at large of all delegates. The alertness and prestige of the members of the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers contributed to the fact that most states enacted the model convention bill verbatim. When the Twenty-First Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers disbanded.

David Park McAllester was professor of Anthropology and Music at Wesleyan University from 1947 to 1986. He studied and wrote about the rites and ceremonies of the Navajo Indians and was a co-founder of the Society for Ethnomusicology.

The Apostles Club was a group of faculty members at Wesleyan University who met once a month from 1894 until 1967 for "literary and social purposes."

The Davison Art Center, housed in the 1839 Alsop House, comprises exhibition galleries, classrooms, offices, and the university’s collection of prints and photographs. The Art Center and much of its collection was the gift of George W. (Wesleyan class of 1892) and Harriet Baldwin Davison.

The Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) was founded at Wesleyan University in 1959 and existed until 1969. The CAS invited fellows to reside at Wesleyan and participate in the intellectual life of the campus. Each year, the fellows were a diverse group of academics, scientists, social scientists, writers, artists, and other intellectuals. Sigmund Neumann served as director of CAS from 1959-1962, Paul Horgan from 1962 until 1967, and Phillip Hallie as acting director from 1967-1969. Victor Butterfield, president of Wesleyan University until 1967, was actively involved in the Center.