Were you there when this student laid down on that bed of nails and allowed this man to stand over him with a mallet? What happened after this demonstration? Inquiring minds want to know! This and thousands of other photographs are available in WKU Archives. Check us out on KenCat and help us identify some.
Tag Archives: WKU Archives
A Day in the Life
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Domestic Science & Domestic Arts
Home Economics
The Department of Domestic Science & Domestic Arts is turning 100 this year! Never heard of it? That’s because the department has had several names and moved about on the organizational chart a few times:
Domestic Science & Domestic Arts 1911-1913
Domestic Economy 1914-1923
Home Economics 1924-1969
Home Economics & Family Living 1969-1995
Consumer & Family Sciences 1995-2010
Family & Consumer Sciences 2011-present
A contract signed January 3, 1911 between the Peabody Foundation and the WKU Board of Regents formalized a grant of $2000 to create the department by April 4 of the same year. Since then the department has been housed in the College of Education (1911-1969; 1981-2000), the now defunct College of Applied Arts & Health (1969-1981) and the College of Health & Human Services (2001-present). The departmental records have been processed and three finding aids created reflecting the administrative changes over the last 100 years.
Some of the treasures housed in University Archives created by the department include the Book of Instructions in Domestic Science in Warren County Schools, 1912; Linkages, newsletter and photographs such as the one shown here of Evadine Parker and an unidentified student. Let us know if you can identify her.
These and additonal records are available for researchers through our online catalog, KenCat and in the Harrison-Baird Reading Room of the Kentucky Library & Museum Monday – Saturday, 9 – 4.
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SGA Records
SGA Elections 1968
The Student Advisory Council of 1956 was the first incarnation of WKU’s Student Government Association. A constitution was written in 1963 and a student council was active in February and of March 1965. In 1966 things finally got underway with a newly written constitution and approval of the Kelly Thompson administration. Since then the group has been active on campus taking on the issues of the day from discrimination to tuition hikes, ice machines to visitation policies.
University Archives holds the existing records of the SGA and these are being digitized. The constitution and amendments; meeting minutes 1969; 1976-1979; 1986-1990; 1994-1999; 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 ; legislation and documents are now available for researchers on TopScholar. These records are also available to researchers in the Kentucky Building’s Harrison-Baird Reading Room, Monday – Saturday 9 – 4.
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Demonstrations & Protests
Vietnam Moratorium
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre. In light of that, let’s look at protest movements at WKU. Lowell Harrison in Western Kentucky University describes the affect of Kent State on WKU. “The Volunteers, an ad hoc committee of student activists, called for a general strike on Friday, May 8, but most classes met, although often with diminished attendance. “Strike Western” T-shirts quickly appeared. Protests demonstrations were countered by an anti-protest rally. . . President Downing met with a group of students on the steps of the administration building; a graduate student who was active in the peace movement . . . A “sleep-in” Friday night on the lawn next to the administration building attracted about a hundred participants, including some small children and one dog.”
The Agitator, one of the first underground student newspapers debuted in 1964. After it came The Skewer [1965], The Expatriate [1970] and we still have The Big Red Tool in 2010. The issues discussed in these publications include prostitution, freedom of speech/press, Vietnam war, and campus issues. Students held a sit in regarding the racial issues in September 26 and a Vietnam Moratorium October 15, 1969. In more recent years students have gathered to protest against the Ku Klux Klan and the Gulf War. The 1971 political paper Spread Eagle has been digitized.
Some images from the period are available on KenCat. Finding aids for the underground student newspapers and demonstration/protest photographs are available on TopScholar. Read about protests in the Board of Regents minutes and the College Heights Herald. Check out the online exhibit, Get on the Bus. Share your memories of these and other events. Visit the Harrison-Baird Reading Room in the Kentucky Library to see these and other primary sources regarding protests and demonstrations.
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E.A. Diddle
E.A. Diddle w/ SIAA trophy
E.A. Diddle came to WKU in 1922 as athletic director. He coached the football team through 1929 and the baseball team until 1957. But as most people know, he came to fame waving a red towel while coaching the Hilltopper basketball team to a 759-302 career record.
A collection of records regarding Diddle has been created from a variety of sources including the Diddle family. These records, housed in University Archives, include early athletic department correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks and interviews.
The finding aid for this collection is now available at http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_fin_aid/7/. Images are available at KenCat. Allied collections are also described in KenCat.
Filed under People, University Archives
County Delegation Presidents Club
The County Delegation Presidents Club was formed in February 1932. It was an outgrowth of the older county clubs that students were placed in upon arrival at WKU. These county clubs were formed to help students connect with their peers. A county with a large number of students stood on its own. Counties with smaller populations were combined. There was also an “out of state” club.
A faculty sponsor was assigned to several counties. Their role was to encourage attendance at chapel, elect officers and find out the names of local county papers. The secretary-treasurer was to write up press releases to be reviewed by the faculty sponsor and sent to the local papers. In this way, Dr. Cherry kept county constituents in the loop and recruited new students.
The county clubs were also instrumental during summer sessions when county teachers institutes were held throughout the western part of the state. Students were recruited to help organize the institutes. Once the County Delegation Presidents Club was formed it acted as a de facto student government organization. The club spearheaded the 1932 clean up day, ran Senior High School Day events, and over Christmas break that year collected artifacts, books and manuscripts from their respective counties for the Kentucky Library & Museum which was being created.
The few documents related to the County Delegation Presidents Club are available for researchers to use in University Archives. For more information check out the collection inventory:
Filed under University Archives
Hilltopper Heritage
Students Attending Chapel
Archives are not a digital Mecca where every text of every document is online and searchable by keyword ~ archivist Luncinda Glenn, Graduate Theological Union Archives.
That being said, more and more individual images and documents are going online every day, along with descriptions of collections. These are put up to conserve fragile documents, to provide easier and greater access to records that are in high demand among researchers and to draw attention to an archives collections in order to bring people in for more indepth research.
Hilltopper Heritage is the University Archives “digital Mecca” for WKU sources including historic events, biographies of faculty, staff and alumni, photographs and departmental histories. You will find digitized yearbooks, College Heights Herald articles and building histories. While we will never digitize the entire collection, it is a good place to begin your research. Hilltopper Heritage also allows for users to share their memories of WKU experiences with us through Share a Tradition.
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Ogden College
Ogden College
Before there was a WKU, Bowling Green was home to a number of private colleges. One of these was Ogden College. Located between State and Chestnut Streets, Ogden opened in 1877 as a boy’s school offering a 2 year prepatory course and 4 year college work. In 1927 the Ogden trustees and Western regents came to an understanding whereby the property was leased to Western. The campus is now home to the Ogden College of Science & Engineering. The records of the school were transferred to University Archives and are now available for researchers. These include images, student records, student newspapers and yearbooks. Check out the following websites for more information regarding Ogden College:
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WKU Construction
Cherry Hall Elevation
Construction on a college campus is an ongoing occurrence and that certainly seems to be true of WKU. Current renovation and construction projects include the Chapel, Van Meter Hall, Snell Hall and the College of Education. University Archives holds records of construction projects dating back to 1906. These are found in a variety of collections such as the president’s papers, photograph collection and the Building File created by the Planning, Design & Construction Office.
University Archives staff are processing the building file as it is being used by patrons. During processing, folder level descriptions are added to the finding aid. Updates are posted on TopScholar. There you will see the type of records in each folder: correspondence, construction meeting minutes and inspection reports. Correspondents are listed by name or company. Researchers can see the process of how a building has gone from the drawing board to final inspection and opening.
Student volunteers and workers have been researching building histories. These are posted online as a part of Hilltopper Heritage.
Check out these and other records in University Archives via KenCat.
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Debate Team in WKU Archives
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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