Library News
EIU’s Hidden Time Machine
Posted on May 15th, 2024
EIU’s Hidden Time Machine
By Raymond Cummins
There are few places in the world as transportive as a library. They contain the knowledge of thousands of minds; across all the subjects we can think of. The beauty of it is that we can travel all over the world, to any time or place, from the relative comfort of a chair. But our ability to time travel is not limited to the shelves of Booth Library. There is a secret place within it, a smaller, more focused place, containing the history of EIU, a time machine within the time machine called the University Archives.
I have had great fun helping to organize the digital database of slide images for the archives this semester. Most of the things collected within are physical items; letters written by deans and presidents, newspaper clippings, yearbooks, collections of faculty publications, sports team memorabilia, and the list goes on. The slide image collection is just what the name implies, a collection of photos on plastic slides meant to be viewed through a projector.
For me the fascinating thing about these photos is the momentary glimpse of people and places they provide us. Some of them instantly reveal their secrets. We recognize the face of a well-known figure. Clothes and hairstyles tell us the time frame. We remember reading about or can recall our experience of the event that has been captured. But some images, without the context of the time in which they were taken, make little sense to us. Why did they photograph that chair? What significance does the 85th picture of Booth Library in the winter of 1979 reveal to us beyond our natural fascination with architecture?
But it is through these combinations of images that we can see our story. A story that is worth viewing and participating in, and one that I hope many people will take the opportunity to experience at the University Archives.
Raymond Cummins is an English Major who completed an internship in the University Archives in the Spring 2024 semester.
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Here are some of my favorite images from the slide collection at the archives. It was difficult to narrow it down, but I think these best encapsulate the idea of the archives as a time machine. If you would like to look at these in greater detail visit this link University Archives to request access.
Section 1.1 – 1.6:
These images are from the early years of EIU, likely occurring pre-1930. There are many more available for viewing at the archives.
Section 2.1 – 2.4:
These are from the 1988 presidential campaign of Bush/Quayle. Quayle, an Indiana native visited EIU, and was met with mixed reception.
Section 3.1:
A 1953 image of Booth Library from across a field of lovely springtime flowers.
