Search

The Commencement Orations Collection contains handwritten speeches written by graduating Wesleyan University students between the years of 1833 and 1855.

This collection contains documents that are related to or from the group COPUS either nationally or on the Wesleyan campus. The first folder contains information on the group, including statistics and information on Wesleyan's financial aid policies. The second folder contains more in-depth documents on COPUS involvement on the Wesleyan campus. COPUS collected information on professor course loads, teacher evaluations, memos to the board of trustees, and correspondence between Wesleyan faculty and the President of the University. The third folder contains mainly information on COPUS's involvement in Washington, D.C. and lobbying for change in the 1980s budget cuts. The folder includes letters written to various state representatives as well as various press on the group and nation-wide newsletters. The collection includes documents such as notes and flyers from seminars held by COPUS on campus as well as Wesleyan and Middletown-area press on the group's activities.

Excepting two copies of court records from 1851 and 1853, the collection contains correspondence addressed to Arthur Benjamin Calef dating from 1856 to 1861. John Woodruff is the author of the bulk of the correspondence; his letters - usually marked "private" - chiefly relate to the political situation in Washington, D.C. and Connecticut, especially with regards to pre-Civil War tensions, campaigning, and Calef's appointment to the position of Middletown Postmaster. Other letters are also primarily politically motivated, but include requests for references from Calef or requests that he exert his influence to procure letter-writers certain positions, etc. These letter-writers include Connecticut Governor William A. Buckingham.

The Albert Camus Papers consist of correspondence, manuscript and typescript drafts of Camus writings, photographs, and a questionnaire completed by Camus, which was sent to him by Wesleyan Professor Carl Viggiani. All materials are in French.

Club records include its constitution and bylaws, minutes of early meetings, membership lists, and records of competitions. The newspaper clippings in this collection document Wesleyan-related rowing events as well as rowing competitions in the eastern United States and England. The two general rowing scrapbooks were collected by John E. Eustis '1874 in the years following his graduation from Wesleyan. Eustis was a captain of the 1874 club and, after leaving Wesleyan, became a captain and leader of New York's Atalanta Boat Club and a referee of collegiate regattas.

The Class Day Programs include programs for every year between 1864 and 1940 except 1881 (includes invitations but no programs), 1886, 1891, 1918, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1936-1939. Multiple copies and other items (like invitations) are noted in the finding aid. The style of the programs and their typography change radically over the years, indicating stylistic trends. Of particular interest are the dual programs in 1906, 1907, and 1909 for men and women. In other years, evidence of women's participation during Class Day is scant.

This collection consists of a large scrapbook and a box with file folders. The scrap book includes over 200 pages of items relating to Wesleyan’s centennial, including badges, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, menus, playbills, and more. The scrapbook is organized into categories, including sections entirely of newspaper clippings and one page with attached alumni and event worker badges, for example. The file folders contain large photographs, as well as copies of similar paper items to those contained in the scrapbook. They also contain correspondence, including telegrams and typed letters regarding the events.

The Chapel Programs Collection consists of programs from regular religious services, as well as vesper services, university services, and special dedicatory and memorial services. There are also eight bound volumes of chapel programs from various services and events dating from 1929 to 1945.