Tag Archives: Archives Month

by | October 6, 2009 · 9:14 pm

Debate Team in WKU Archives

Debate Team at Harvard, 1959

Debate Team at Harvard, 1959

The debate team, now known as the WKU Forensics Team, has been around nearly as long as WKU.  And they’ve been winning awards all through the years.  The WKU Archives holds some documents regarding the team.  These include programs for oratorical contests dating back to 1910, group photos and photos of individuals in debates.  These records are part of record group UA68/6/2  English Department Student Organizations.  This picture includes Mary Grise and Lerond Curry, but the remaining team members have not been identified.  Please contact the University Archivies at archives@wku.edu if you recognize it.  Members of the team from any era are invited to share memories of great debates for inclusion on Shared Memories.

The University Archives is a great resource for research on student organizations.  Check out Hilltopper Heritage and KenCat for more information.

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by | October 5, 2009 · 5:10 pm

Archives Month – No Food & Drink in Archives

Black Carpet Beetle, Louis Sorkin

Black Carpet Beetle, Louis Sorkin

Shari Theroux contributed “Archives are not a good place to eat,” to the list of what an archives is not.

Archivists, like conservators generally follow the rule of “do no harm” to the collections in their care. One easy way to do this is to prohibit food and drink in rooms where records are stored, processed and used by patrons.

The obvious damage comes from spillage onto documents that at worst would make them completely unreadable and at least deface them irreversibly. Mold can set up in wet documents rather quickly and spread to other documents. It is difficult and expensive to erradicate once it takes hold.

Food is prohibited because it can attract rodents and insects. Once insects have found their way into books, they can be removed through fumigation or freezing. Insects can eat their way through a collection rather quickly leaving only fragments behind.

Removing human food and drink from the archives prevents them  from becoming the insects’ and rodents’ favorite snack bar.

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by | October 2, 2009 · 12:19 pm

WKU’s Red Towel

Oldham's Red Towel Sketch

Oldham's Red Towel Sketch

The red towel tradition began in the 1940’s.  According to Chip Royal, an AP feature writer “A towel came flying down out of the air at Madison Square Garden and landed on a spectator’s head  — and another basketball fan met Ed Diddle, the colorful Western Kentucky State coach.”  Royal’s article was printed in the Daily News on February 14, 1943.  The towels continued to appear and disappear as the athletics and physical education departments swiped towels back and forth.  Diddle decided to dye the athletic department towels red to differentiate from the physical education supply. 

Crume's Red Towel Sketch

Crume's Red Towel

Through the years the towel tradition has grown.  Now few fans appear at a game without a red  towel.  In 1970, athletics director John Oldham drew a sketch of an arm waving a towel on the back of an envelope which he gave to Dr. Chuck Crume to develop into a logo.  These original drawings are now housed in the University Archives along with personal papers of Ed Diddle, John Oldham, Chuck Crume and others involved with the athletic program.

Check out Hilltopper Heritage and KenCat for additional information on these and other University Archives collections.

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by | October 1, 2009 · 3:57 pm

October is Archives Month

Kentucky Archives Month Poster

Barbara Niss, archivist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York responded:  “Archives are not where information comes all neatly wrapped in a package; they are a place for searching and thinking and piecing together bits and pieces of fact, near-fact and outright lies.  Which leads to:  Archives are NOT boring!”
While we archivists do work to make the collections we care for more accessible through arrangement, research, digitization and the creation of finding aids, we cannot do the work for our users.  The materials are here, cared for and ready to be read or looked at and they are certainly NOT boring!
WKU is fortunate to have an excellent Special Collections Department in WKU Libraries.  There are manuscript collections representing individuals, families, religions, corporate entities, towns and counties across the state.  There are photographs documenting life in Kentucky from the beginning of the medium.  There are rare books, maps, oral histories, film and video.  There are university records for WKU and its founding institutions.  There is a museum full of exhibits highlighting the artifacts, costumes and artwork collected through the years.
In honor of Archives Month, try to visit an archives near you.  (Hint:  We’re located in the Kentucky Building). Check out the Kentucky Archives Month website to learn about other archives and activities throughout the state.  Take a look at KenCat to see some of what is available here in the Department of Special Collections. 

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