University Archives

Welcome to the Milwaukee-Downer Reunion and to the Mudd library and University Archives! Feel free to visit the reference desk or University Archives with any questions you may have. And take a look at the Milwaukee-Downer College digital collection, the Elizabeth Richardson digital collection, and oral history transcripts from Milwaukee-Downer Reunion 2006.

Special guests this weekend include Charles Richardson, brother of the late Elizabeth Richardson, and James Madison, author of the biography on Elizabeth Richardson, Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II.

A Look at the Life of Elizabeth Ann ‘Liz’ Richardson, 1918-1945

This exhibit features photographs, letters, scrapbooks, and sketch books of Elizabeth Richardson, a 1940 graduate of Milwaukee-Downer College who served in the American Red Cross as a Clubmobile woman from 1944 until her death in July 1945 at the age of 27. Many of the materials in the exhibit were donated to the Lawrence University Archives by Elizabeth’s brother, Charles Richardson, in May 2008.

The exhibit is done in honor of the Milwaukee-Downer College Reunion that will take place October 3-5. Charles Richardson will be attending, as will James Madison, author of the 2007 biography on Elizabeth, Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: Am American Woman in World War II.

The audio files and transcripts of oral histories done with alumni during Reunion Weekend 2008 are now online. Two interviews done before and after the weekend are also included. Take a look at them here.

An article on favorite haunted places in the Fox Valley includes the annual Haunted Lawrence tour and some of Lawrence’s haunted places in the August 2008 issue of New North Business to Business magazine. The article is available at the following link.

http://www.newnorthb2b.com/aug08feat3.html

Citations for awards given to faculty members at Commencement each June are now available on the Archives website. Citations for honorary degrees awarded to retiring faculty are located at

http://www.lawrence.edu/library/archives/honfac.shtml

Citations for the Excellence in Teaching Award are located at

http://www.lawrence.edu/library/archives/univaward.shtml

And citations for the Young Teacher Award can be found at

http://www.lawrence.edu/library/archives/youngteacher.shtml

Citations go from 1978 to the present year, and additional years will be added in the future. For questions or information, visit or e-mail the University Archives.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Conservatory of Music Artist Series. The program was started in 1908 by William Harper, Dean of the Conservatory at the time. The series consists of outside performers of national and international acclaim coming to campus and giving concerts.

In honor of the centennial, a list of the performers from the last 100 years is now on the Archives’ website at

http://www.lawrence.edu/library/archives/artistseries.shtml

Throughout 2008, a digital collection and exhibit will also be done on the history of the Artist Series. For further information on the history of the Series, visit or e-mail the University Archives.

Treasured objects and artifacts held by the Lawrence Archives will be preserved for future generations with help from the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books, DVDs, and online resources donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal funding of the nation’s museums and libraries. IMLS and its cooperator, the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), will award a total of 2,000 free sets of the IMLS Bookshelf by the end of 2008.

The Lawrence Archives is among the first to receive this essential set of resources based on an application describing the needs and plans for care of its collections. The IMLS Bookshelf focuses on collections typically found in art or history museums and in libraries’ special collections, with an added selection of texts for zoos, aquaria, public gardens, and nature centers. It addresses such topics as the philosophy and ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness, and culturally specific conservation issues.

Photographs, programs, and other items of holiday traditions at Lawrence and Milwaukee-Downer College are on display in Riverview Lounge in Memorial Union. Traditions shown in the display include the different Christmas cards sent by Lawrence presidents. Traditions celebrated at Milwaukee-Downer College include lantern night and plays put on during the Christmas season. Come and learn about how the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was brought to the United States by a Milwaukee-Downer professor, and why one year it was reported there were no virgins at Milwaukee-Downer College.

The exhibit is up through the month of December.

A finals week stress relief event will take place Monday, December 10 from 7-9 pm in Riverview Lounge in the Union. The event will include snacks, chair massages, a fire, games, and puzzles. The event is sponsored by the Celebrations and Traditions Team and the Wellness Committee.