Happy Homecoming!

As we look forward to the big game against St. Olaf on September 28^th, take a minute to check out the homecoming display featuring past traditions of this college holiday.  Over the years, Gustavus has hosted a variety of events and some even continue today.  Homecoming traditionally allows alumni to gather and catch up, but also includes parades, pep fests, and various shows.  Many years ago, students even gathered around an enormous bonfire to celebrate the occasion.  Don’t forget to look at the Gustavus calendar for this year’s homecoming events and stop by the display case near the reference desk in the library to learn more about the history of homecoming!

Historic Yearbooks Now Online!

Exciting news from the College Archives: All published editions of Gustavus yearbooks from 1904-1992 are now searchable online along with the student newspaper. Utilize this new resource to dig up family history at Gustavus, uncover old traditions and campus events, or use for your own personal research topic of interest.

The Gustavian has chronicled the lives of students, the contributions of student organizations to campus life, and the impact of faculty and staff since its earliest editions, where it was formerly known by titles such as Manhem, Runes, Valkyria, and Breidablick.

You can browse issues by selecting “Issue List” and filtering by “Gustavian Yearbooks.” This short video shows the steps.

Elections at Gustavus

Students are often passionate about political causes and especially so during presidential election years.  In the modern era, as evidenced by results of a student preference survey in the most recent issue of the Gustavian Weekly, Gustavus students prefer more liberal candidates.  In decades and centuries past, Gusties favored the more conservative contenders.  Although the following link will take you to images of electioneering at Gustavus from years past, these few images document only a sampling of political activity and student election activism.  To learn more about former elections at Gustavus, please visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives.

Images: Election Images

Archives Open House and Free Tour

October is American Archives Month so visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives and take a tour. Tours will feature historical Gustavus treasures and awesome artifacts not usually on public display. Find out what the archives is all about and what it has to offer you.  The archives is located on the library's top floor, directly above the main entrance.

Tours: 

• Wednesday, 17 October, 11:30-noonish
• Thursday, 25 October, 1:30-2:00ish
• Tuesday, 30 October, 3:30-4:00ish

Welcoming Royalty to Gustavus

As Gustavus is busy preparing to welcome Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, check out this new display that showcases their previous visits to our campus.  The “Swedish Royalty Visits Gustavus” display features artifacts and articles from the King and Queen’s last three visits.  Swedish Royalty has visited Gustavus for the United States’ Bicentennial, to unveil a sculpture, and to rededicate Nobel Hall.  Before the King and Queen of Sweden arrive to dedicate the West Mall and celebrate the sesquicentennial, visit this exciting display located on the main floor of the Library near the reference section!

Blast from the Past: Civil War in the Eyes of Union Soldiers

As we celebrate the sesquicentennial of Gustavus Adolphus College, it is important to look back and discover the events that occurred as Gustavus began.  One hundred and fifty years ago, our country was in the midst of a Civil War.  Many interesting facts can be revealed by studying the conflict, and the archives can help!  Check out the Civil War Documents display on the library’s main floor near the reference desk.  You’ll gain a greater understanding by reading what a Union solder’s life was like.  Some letters of Olof Nelson and excerpts from the diary of N.S. Carter are displayed to showcase the experiences of these men as they fought in the war.  This display was created by Lacie Micek, an archives student worker.

Christmas in the Archives

Stop by the Archives and check out our festive new look!  Swedish Christmas magazines along with a few intriguing Swedish bibles are on display.  

The Christmas lights and decorations will bring holiday cheer to your research, so come in and unwrap new knowledge!

Gustavus in a Time of War

Dr. Peterson's Exposition

The United States of America remembers the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that occurred on 7 December 1941, seventy years ago.  You might be wondering how Gustavus responded in the event's immediate aftermath.  Editors of the Gustavian Weekly printed their first post-attack newspaper two days after the bombing.  While the infamous action failed to make the paper's headline, a story about the women participating in St. Lucia served that purpose, it did get a blurb below the fold.  Conrad Peterson, longtime Gustavus history professor, wrote about our need to prepare for war and turn away from pacifism or "soon become another queer little sect along side the Quakers and the Mennonites."  Peterson's comments were from the heart.  He supported the war effort passionately and spent much of his time during this period giving supportive speeches.  

To read additional issues of the Gustavian Weekly from the World War II era, please visit the archives digital collections page.  As might be expected, Gustavus was a very different place in the early 1940s.  In fact and as can be seen in the attached image, only four buildings from that period remain on the campus today.

Gustavus Adolphus College, Summer 1942

Autumn in the Archives

It's autumn in the archives so drop on in and find something fantastic.

Archives Window Display

Thanks to the efforts of Lacie Micek, an archives student worker, there is a wonderful new display on the windows of the College and Lutheran Church Archives. Using the 2011 homecoming theme of "black and gold never gets old," she created a visually appealing display of images depicting life at Gustavus since the institution moved to St. Peter in the mid 1870s. Micek utilized the facility's segmented windows to break the exhibit into 20 year time blocks. Most images were pulled from the online database of college photographs.

Keeping in Touch - Gustavus Postcards

The College and Lutheran Church Archives have brought you another exciting display! “Postcards from Gustavus Adolphus College” consists of many postcards that feature the college and the St. Peter community. Come and see what you can learn about how Gusties and our campus have changed in the last 150 years! You may be surprised at some of the similarities and differences of our community today! This appealing display was created by Lacie Micek, an archives student worker. It is located on the main floor of the library by the reference desk. Check it out!

Digital Gustavus

There are many exciting and new digital products being created and offered by the College and Lutheran Church Archives here at Gustavus. For example, you can browse nearly 500 digitized photographs going back to the 1800s, read civil war letters, study World War I propaganda
posters, peruse campus maps from bygone years, listen to oral history interviews, read all issues of the Gustavian Weekly from 1920 through spring 2005, and find your relatives in the 1947-48 alumni directory. In fact, there are so many interesting projects being tackled that you should visit the archives to learn more. If you have extra money, we are always looking for donations because history matters, and there is a cost to preserving our past. We are located in the library, directly above the main entrance. The webpage is here, and you'll need to click the link for digital collections to access the online materials. Have fun browsing! We have a history like no other because it's our history.

Archives Hours

The College and Lutheran Church Archives will be open extended hours this semester. We owe our thanks to Reverend Reuben and Edith M. Ford for an endowment supporting the Lutheran Church Archives. Adrianna Darden, the Archives Specialist, will be working an additional four hours each week.

Hours for Spring Semester 2011
Monday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30
Tuesday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30
Wednesday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30

Please contact Jeff Jenson, College and Lutheran Church Archivist, regarding other days and times. If you've never visited, hurry and join the hundreds of others who used the archives this past year. It's a fantastic experience!

Gusties are in the House! (and Senate) – Display

Several Gustavus Adolphus alumni and a faculty member were very successful in the past election on November 2^nd. Come see the new display brought to you by the College and Lutheran Church Archives, “Gusties in Minnesota Legislature.” The display features five former students (Mindy Greiling, David Hann, Kory Kath, Ted Lillie, and Paul Torkelson) and one current professor (Terry Morrow). Learn what these Gusties were up to back in the day, and in their current positions as state senators and representatives! This fun display was created by Lacie Micek, archives student worker. It is located on the main floor of the library by the reference desk. Be there or be square!

College Photographs

The College and Lutheran Church Archives has released a photo database documenting the college from the 1800s to the modern era. Currently, this resource contains 300 images from our main photograph collection. New content appears somewhat regularly. The archives retain thousands of images, and the primary limitation to adding additional photographs is time.
Researchers and those with avocational interests have a powerful research tool that allows for finding images from targeted decades or pictures concerning particular topics, groups, and individuals. Moreover, this resource makes historical inquiry fun and much more accessible for students, alumni, and staff.
Users can access the database via the archives page. You will want to click the link for photographs along the left column. Please visit the archives (located on the library's third floor) or call the archivist if you are unable to find an image in the database.

You Want to Be an Archivist: Requiem for a Dream

Here is a wonderful video about the reality, well sort of reality, of the archives profession and being an archivist. If you view life through the lens of "tough love" and think being an archivist would be the best thing ever, you'll love this eye-opening production.

Why you shouldn't become an archivist by Rebecca Goldman and Amy Schindler

Even with the non-stop dreary funniness provided in this clip, being an archivist is wonderful.

Archives Renovation: A Brave New World

The College and Lutheran Church Archives has been, for the most part, in its current location since the opening of the second Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library in late 1972. During that last thirty-eight years many items have been collected. Thousands of acid-free boxes serve as home to the unique documents, photographs, recordings, and numerous other miscellaneous materials created by and about the college and those who have called Gustavus home.

In an effort to improve the facility and gain additional storage space, Jeff Jenson and Michelle Twait applied for a Minnesota Historical & Cultural Grant made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Their application was successful. By mixing the award with money from the library and an archives endowment, archivally appropriate shelving will be installed. As a result, the entire space was emptied. With the room being bare for the first time in nearly forty years, the space is undergoing a much needed cleaning and painting with the help of physical plant staff.

The archives will remain open during this tumultuous upheaval. This is being done because it is the primary mission of the College and Lutheran Church Archives to make materials "available for use and study." Information access will continue, but minor delays may occur.

To learn more about the College and Lutheran Church Archives please contact Jeff Jenson or visit the website.

Armistice Day Blizzard at Gustavus

Today is the anniversary of the Armistice Day Blizzard of November 1940. The Monday started much like today with unseasonably warm temperatures that had climbed to the low 60s during the afternoon. However, the weather changed quickly and temperatures dropped by 40 degrees over the next several hours. A large and powerful winter storm rolled across the Midwest bringing strong winds, sleet, and snow.

In Minnesota, forty-nine people died as a result of the storm. Most of the dead were duck hunters. There were no deaths at Gustavus, but the storm hit campus hard. According to an account in the Gustavian Weekly, many faculty couldn't get down the bluffside to return to their homes, and students, lacking proper winter attire, were donning wild combinations of clothes in their efforts to keep warm. Let us hope that the rain forecast for this evening does not turn to snow.

Archives Insider

As a new academic year begins, I thought I'd give an update and a bit of inside information.

Regular open hours will be on the following days.
Monday, 8:00-noon and 1:00-4:30
Tuesday, 8:00-noon and 1:00-4:30
Wednesday, 8-noon

Please contact archives staff if you are unable to visit during these hours. We are located directly above the main entrance of Folke Bernadotte Memorial library.

This past academic year was very busy. We helped approximately 280 users. Patrons included students working on classroom assignments, academics conducting professional research, and family history researchers seeking to uncover their roots. To see how students in Glen Kranking's J-Term History Bytes course used the archives, please see their course page.

Past and Present Gustavus Buildings - Display

A new addition is being added to the Gustavus campus! Literally! Construction of the "New Academic Building" is underway, and to keep with the theme, the College and Lutheran Church Archives have brought you a new display, "Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes: Buildings at Gustavus." The display chronicles how particular buildings at the college have changed, progressed, and even been demolished over time. Come see what the first gymnasium looked like! Learn what happened to Johnson Hall! This exciting new display was created by library and archives intern Maura Coonan. It is located on the main floor of the library by the reference desk. Come check it out!

To see more images of the the college's past, visit the archives.