Digital Collections and Exhibits
Explore our digital collections and exhibits of selected rare and interesting resources curated by SIUE Library and Information Services.
The Aldemaro Romero Jr. Collection: Boxes 606, 653-657: The Political Persecution Papers
In 1993, Aldemaro Romero Jr. (now Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE) exposed on video Venezuelan fishermen killing a dolphin. Venezuelan authorities charged Romero with treason and he received death threats. This exhibition of materials from the Romero Collection tells the story of Romero’s activism and political persecution. The Political Persecution papers comprise a small portion of the Romero Collection housed in the Louisa H. Bowen University Archives and Special Collections.
Alumnus Magazine
The Alumnus, the official alumni magazine of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, began publication in 1973. It was published four times a year and featured articles by and about SIUE faculty, graduates, administrators, staff, and students. It ended in 1997 with a special edition featuring historical photographs in honor of SIUE's fortieth anniversary.
American Civil War Collection
This digital collection is an assemblage of handwritten letters, songsheets, and military orders. Spanning the entire period of the American Civil War (1861-1865), these items gathered together provide a unique and insightful glimpse into the era.
Andrew J. Theising Digital Collection
The Andrew J. Theising Collection contains a fascinating variety of textual and visual materials as well as memorabilia that document the complex, evolving history and culture of the industrial suburb of East St. Louis, Illinois, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Colket Illustrated Sheet Music
This digital collection consists of 96 pieces of historic, illustrated sheet music from Lovejoy Library's Gordon Colket Music Collection. Gordon Wright Colket was a dealer in illustrative materials who assembled the collection over a period of six or seven years. Most of the pieces are by 19th century American composers and include detailed cover lithographs. The collection is rich in Civil War vintage pieces. Selected titles are presented with digital audio files of piano performances.
Commencement at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: An Historical Overview
The Creation and Opening of the Edwardsville Campus
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came into being in 1957 because the residents of Madison and St. Clair counties demanded the establishment of a public university in Southwestern Illinois. This digital exhibit honors Dr. Harold W. See, the other Founders of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and the early faculty, staff, and students. It describes the opening of the Gyo Obata-designed SIUE campus on September 23, 1965, as well as the dedication of the university on May 13, 1966. The digital exhibit includes digitized historic photographs, narrative text, and digitized university documents dating from the years 1957 through 1966.
Dr. Gordon Bush Digital Exhibit
A digital flipbook celebrating one of SIUE's distinguished alumnus and former mayor of East St. Louis.
Eugene B. Redmond Collection
Drumvoices Revue
Drumvoices Revue is a multicultural literary journal published by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in collaboration with the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club of East St. Louis, Illinois. The digital collection contains the complete run including 16 volumes, beginning with volume 1, nos. 1 & 2 (fall-winter 1991/92), and supplements 1-12.
EBR African American Cultural Life
This digital collection contains photographs, posters, and pamphlets selected from the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Collection at Lovejoy Library. An Emeritus Professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Redmond's work as a poet, activist, teacher, and mentor has put him in contact with other artists both iconic and unheralded over the last thirty years. The materials here reveal the diversity and support for the cultural and political activities that flourished across the spectrum of African American life from the 1960s to the present.
The Eugene B. Redmond Interviews
SIUE alumnus and Emeritus Professor Eugene B. Redmond wears many hats -- as a poet, scholar, teacher, mentor, and cultural activist. In these video interviews, Dr. Redmond talks about his experiences as a pioneering black studies academician and Black Arts Movement poet, his connections to SIUE and East St. Louis, and much more. The videos are accompanied by transcripts in pdf format.
Exploring Drumvoices
Near the close of a poetry reading that Eugene B. Redmond was giving in the mid-1960s, an audience member approached and asked to hear “some black poetry.” Redmond spent the next ten years writing and researching black poetry and the history of African American poetic expression, culminating in his 1976 book Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History. This digital exhibition includes an introduction by Howard Rambsy II and presents images of Redmond’s manuscript for the book’s preface along with the corresponding pages of the final published book.
Path to "Visible Glory": The Million Man March in the Redmond Collection
African American men from across the United States marched to Washington on October 16, 1995, as a demonstration of unity. This digital exhibition of materials from the Eugene B. Redmond Collection portrays the journey to the March, the March itself, and the aftermath of the March. It also follows the creation of the book Visible Glory: The Million Man March by Eugene Redmond and his collaborators Sherman Fowler and Marcus Atkins.
Eye on the “e”: A Digital Exhibit Honoring the Photography of Charlie Cox
This digital exhibit is intended to honor Charlie Cox’s long, distinguished service and many contributions to SIUE. The photographs presented here constitute only a tiny fraction of Charlie Cox’s photographic oeuvre and are not intended to summarize his entire career. Rather, the photographs presented here primarily reflect the artist’s intense interest in people--the family of students, staff, faculty, and administrators (and mascots) whom he fondly referred to as “hometowners”--and reveal his quiet and his insightful reflections upon the physical environment and atmosphere of the campus.
The Edwardsville Library of 1819
A partial collection of the books held in the Edwardsville Library of 1819, as well as the study by Milton C. Moore, The Edwardsville Library of 1819: Its Founders, Catalog, Subsequent History, and Importance.
Focus Magazine
In 1971, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus yearbook, Muse, altered its form from that of the traditional yearbook style to take shape as a quarterly magazine. The first issue, still bearing the name of Muse, was published in the fall by the Student Senate as an entirely student-led work. It documented life and issues on campus and in the Edwardsville community through the use of hand-drawn illustrations, photographs, essays, and editorials, all created through student efforts. With the fourth issue, published in March of 1973, the project took on a new name, completing its transformation – Focus.
Guess Who That Is? Prominent Figures of SIUE
History of the SIUE Cougar Mascot
In the Tradition of the Mississippi River Festival: A Digital Exhibit Celebrating the History of the Arts & Issues series at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), 1985-2014
For thirty years, as an essential element of SIUE’s educational mission, the acclaimed Arts & Issues series has presented to the university community and the region a fascinating mix of exceptional performing artists and thought-provoking speakers. The programs have included memorable performances by singers, dancers and actors; humorists and satirists; statesmen and political commentators; journalists and authors; and physicians and scientists.
Irving Dilliard Letters
This digital collection contains the personal correspondence of 109 published authors to a young man named Irving Dilliard. As Dilliard explains: "My high school years were 1921-1923. I was thinking about a career in writing, perhaps on a newspaper...So I decided to get some advice. I began to write to the authors of the time and ask them what they thought would be the best training for a writing career." Dilliard went on to become a respected writer, editor and expert on the Constitution and the Supreme Court.
Jean Kittrell: Life & Legacy of a Jazz Incredible
Ethel Jean Kittrell (1927-2018) is known internationally by many names. She is the Red Hot Mama of Dixieland to some and America's First Lady of Jazz to others, but friends and fans alike of Jean's famous barrelhouse piano and vocals knew her as an icon of strength and tenacity. Explore the life and legacy of this incredible woman of jazz in this digital exhibit featuring material from the Jean Kittrell Collection housed in the National Ragtime and Jazz Archive at Lovejoy Library.
John Cushman Abbott Exhibit
John Cushman Abbott served as the key decision-maker in library matters at SIUE for over twenty years. He built substantial collections of books, periodicals, and manuscripts, and succeeded in fostering the establishment of a university archives within Lovejoy Library. Thanks to Abbott's efforts, Lovejoy Library today enjoys significant holdings of regional history materials in its rare book and university archives collections. Nine representative works have been selected for inclusion in this digital exhibit.
John Cushman Abbott Exhibit Supplement
The books in the John Cushman Abbott Exhibit paint a picture both literally and figuratively of the Mississippi River Valley in the first half of the 19th century. A spy, a royal adventurer, a missionary, an astronomer, an artist, a governor, and an entrepreneur reveal the frontier to us through dramatic narratives and stunning illustrations. This supplement to the exhibit gives information about these colorful authors and their books, and includes slide shows of the books' illustrations.
KMOX Popular Sheet Music
This digital sheet music collection contains popular titles in the public domain dating from the early 20th Century.
Louis H. Sullivan Ornaments
This digital exhibit features selected Sullivan ornaments owned by SIUE representing thirty-one buildings. They are accompanied by digitized historic photographs by Richard Nickel, provided courtesy of the Richard Nickel Committee. A wide range of types of architectural elements are represented, including pediments, lunettes, columns, and even an elevator.
Mississippi River Festival
To honor all those who created and participated in the Mississippi River Festival (1969-1980), the University Archives & Special Collections staff, in collaboration with the Faculty Technology Center, have researched, written, and here assembled a series of projects documenting and interpreting the history of the festival. Included are: a narrated historical slideshow explaining the entire history of the festival; a virtual history museum consisting of a searchable database that includes information about all MRF performances and performers; an alphabetical name index of all MRF artists; digitized version of movies about the 1969 inaugural season and the 1975 season.
Muse Yearbooks
Muse is the yearbook of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and was published from 1961-1971. This digital collection contains the eleven yearbooks.
Nicolas de Finiels Manuscript Collection
The Nicolas de Finiels Manuscript Collection contains the 1803 French language manuscript, An Account of Upper Louisiana, by Nicolas de Finiels. The manuscript is a narrative account of Finiels's observations on the culture and development of the Upper Louisiana area and the Mississippi River Valley region in the 1790s. The collection also includes the full translation of the manuscript edited by Carl J. Ekberg and William E. Foley, translated by Carl J. Ekberg, and published by the University of Missouri Press in 1989.
Observer Newsletter
The SIUE Observer began life on December 18, 1978, as an administrative newsletter produced by the Office of the President of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The publication served primarily as the university administration's channel of communication to the staff, faculty, and students and as a "publication of record." Following the issue of March 16, 1999 (volume six, number thirteen), the Observer ceased to appear as a paper publication. The digital collection contains the entire run (647 issues) of the print publication.
Plants of SIUE
This digital collection features digital photographs of plant species found on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). The images are accompanied by descriptions and scientific information. The collection is designed both as a teaching tool for botany students and a resource for lay-people with an interest in plants.
Rivers of America
The Rivers of America book series was one of the most successful publishing ventures in the 20th century. The books combined geography, history, and folklore to produce a regionalist portrait of America. Written by authors from the fields of journalism, botany, history, and biography, each volume included original maps and illustrations. The series ran from 1937 to 1974 and produced 65 volumes. This digital exhibit explores the history and impact of the series and showcases some of the authors and illustrators.
Robert Williams' Meanderings Project
Meanderings is the annual compilation of the student and teacher work done in conjunction with the Illinois River Project (IRP) and the culmination of Robert Williams' vision of the project as an interdisciplinary effort combining scientific literacy, writing, literature, and art. Dr. Williams helmed the program from its beginning with 8 teachers and 24 schools in 1990. The IRP grew over its 15-year run to include 180 schools from Cairo, Illinois to Little Falls, Minnesota.
Seedbed Mathematics Teaching Journal
From 1979 through 1993, the School of Education at SIUE published an innovative, grassroots journal intended to facilitate the sharing of ideas regarding the teaching of mathematics among a network of school teachers. Dr. Thomas Clement O'Brien, a professor of elementary education and head of the Teachers' Center Project at SIUE, served as the guiding force and editor for Seedbed throughout its lifespan. The digital collection contains all forty-two published issues of the journal.
Shurtleff Pioneer Student Newspaper
The Shurtleff Pioneer is the student newspaper of Shurtleff College. The former Shurtleff College campus became the site of SIUE's "Alton Residence Center" in 1957 and the university's School of Dental Medicine in 1972. This digital collection reflects the Library’s physical holdings of the Pioneer and is comprised of many but not all published issues from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Shurtleff Retrospect Yearbooks
The Retrospect is the yearbook of Shurtleff College. The former Shurtleff College campus became the site of SIUE's "Alton Residence Center" in 1957 and the university's School of Dental Medicine in 1972. This digital collection is comprised of yearbooks for 1911-1932, 1938-1942, and 1948-1956. It also includes a supplement featuring the graduating class of 1957.
SIUE 50th Anniversary Historical Timeline
SIUE Common Governance Structure
Spalding's Soccer Foot Ball Guide
This digital collection consists of fourteen issues of the Spalding's Soccer Foot Ball Guide from the first decades of the twentieth century. The guides include statistics for United States soccer leagues, the rules of the game, information about the United States Football Association, and some information about international soccer. The collection also includes a volume from the Spalding's Athletic Library series covering the 1912 Olympic Games.
Stanley B. Kimball Sources of Mormon History in Illinois
Stanley Kimball’s scholarly activities over four decades as a professor of history at SIUE focused on the history of the Mormon community. With the support of the Graduate School and of Lovejoy Library, and with the cooperation of numerous historical repositories, Kimball built a comprehensive microfilm collection of documents relating to the history of the Mormon people in the state of Illinois prior to the destruction of the temple at Nauvoo. The microfilm collection is available at Lovejoy Library. The guide to the collection is reproduced here in digital format.
Swiss Settlers in SW Illinois
During the nineteenth century, hundreds of Swiss nationals left their homeland and settled in eastern Madison County, Illinois, in the vicinity of today's community of Highland. Five remarkable books--four translations of pioneer memoirs and one historical study--published under the auspices of Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville between 1970 and 2000 record the experiences of several of these early Swiss immigrants in Southwestern Illinois.
Wesley Raymond Brink Collection
This collection showcases nine of the information-rich Illinois county atlases and county histories produced by Wesley Raymond Brink and preserved in the Lovejoy Library archives. Brink, an entrepreneur and long-time resident of Edwardsville, compiled and published dozens of county atlases and histories in the decades following the American Civil War. Brink’s works are among the best examples of the genre published in Illinois during the nineteenth century.
To Whom It May Concern: 19th Century Feminist Responses to "A Letter of Genteel and Moral Advice"
In the 19th century, women became more literary and developed themselves as individuals, preparing to contribute to society in new ways. This digital exhibit explores 19th century works from Lovejoy's Rare Book Collection in the context of a 1741 conduct book for young ladies, also from the library's collection.
William R. Townsend Civil War Diary
The images in this collection comprise the complete Civil War diary of Union soldier William R. Townsend. The diary covers the period from April 11, 1863 to February 2, 1864 and contains descriptions of camp life, battles, furlough and leisure activities, civilian interaction, and other information. There is also an interpretive tour of the diary.
