Collections : [University Archives]

The Polish Studies Center was established at Indiana University on October 30, 1977. The purpose of the Center was to promote activities such as lectures, discussions, academic courses, and an exchange program with Warsaw University that would increase the knowledge and cultural awareness of Poland and Eastern Europe, while bringing the areas closer together. The collection consists of a wide-variety of information pertaining to the various programs, events, lectures, and conferences formed by the Polish Studies Center, along with administrative materials that show the growth and development of the center.

One of the two chief literary societies on campus, the Athenian Society was founded at Indiana University in 1830. Literary societies gave students practice in speaking and writing through regular orations, essays, and debates, as well as filling a social role. Collection consists of minutes, correspondence, publications, addresses, and announcements. The Publication series includes copies of the Athenian, a monthly periodical of writings submitted by members of the Athenian Society that were of "a high literary character," including what the editors considered "chaste and elevated literature." These span December 1845 through November 1846. Most prominent in the collection are the minutes from the weekly meeting of the Society.

The collection consists of the administrative records and correspondence of directors J. Gus Liebenow and Patrick O'Meara related to the development of the African Studies Program.

In 1960, due to the development of co-educational living centers, the then-existing Men's and Women's Residence Halls Associations were combined into one co-educational organization, the Residence Halls Association. Records in this collection include but are not limited to correspondence, minutes, memos, publications, election and committee files, and reports from just before its establishment, 1956, through 2007. The bulk of the collection dates between 1980 and 1996.

In 1938, Indiana University began to engage in radio activities. A room was set aside for use as a studio and control room, and a radio director and program director were hired. For years, radio classes were taught through several already established departments such as Speech and Journalism. At the Board of Trustees September 20, 1945 meeting, they approved the establishment of a Dept. of Radio as an "unattached" department under the Dean of Faculties. In 1953 it became the Department of Radio and Television within the College of Arts and Sciences and in 1974 the Department of Telecommunications. This collection contains the department chair's records from 1939-1963 and is comprised of correspondence, budgetary information, annual reports, information on various radio and television stations, and subject files. Records span the tenures of chairs Harry Skornia (1942-1953) and Elmer Sulzer (1954-1964).

Student government at Indiana University was officially formed in April 1948 due in large part to the influence of IU President Herman B Wells. Following a series of name changes, student government in 1973 became known as the Indiana University Student Association (IUSA). In 2019 they changed their name again to Indiana University Student Government (IUSG). This collection consists of the records of the IUSA including: Meeting minutes and agendas; resolutions; administrative files; records of the IUSA President , Vice-President for Senate/ Congress, Vice- President for Administration, Treasurer and the Supreme Court; association, committee and department files; and issue, project and subject files. These records primarily cover the period from 1973-2010.

Before becoming president of Indiana University, Herman B Wells served as an assistant cashier at the National Bank of Lebanon before going on to work for the Indiana Bankers Association, the Indiana Commission for Financial Institutions, and the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions. He was named dean of the Indiana University School of Business administration in 1935 by IU President William Lowe Bryan. In 1937 he was named acting president of the university and president the following year, a position he held until 1962. Upon his retirement, IU created the position of University Chancellor, which Dr. Wells held until his death in 2000. This collection consists of Wells' personal papers and includes papers pertaining to his family and personal finances, his activities in the banking profession, his work in Germany for the United States government after World War II, and to his research and teaching and professional activities as a member of the faculty of Indiana University.

The Indiana University Student Senate was formed in 1948 due in large part to the influence of IU President Herman B Wells. The Student Senate was charged with upholding the ideals proclaimed in the Student Government Constitution. This collection is predominantly comprised of administrative files such as meetings minutes, bills and resolutions, and subject files covering the period 1938 through 1979.

Indiana University's Collins Living-Learning Center (LLC) was established in 1972 - one of the first in the country - in the Men's Residence Center (MRC). Eventually the LLC took over the entire MRC and was renamed after IU professor and administrator Ralph L. Collins. It has since expanded to include "The Hill," Brown and Greene, and Hillcrest (apartments for juniors and seniors). The Collins community is intentionally academically diverse, and students pursue majors across the university. Collins is host to a wide variety of programs and events planned through one of many student groups such as the Board of Education Programming (BOEP), Arts Council, Community Council, and the Board of Programmers (BOP), or as student Q projects through CLLC-Q 199: Residential Learning Workshop. The materials in the Collection represent both the administrative and student aspects of the Collins Living-Learning Center.

Theophilus A. Wylie was the cousin of Indiana University's first president Andrew Wylie and spent most of his adult life at IU, beginning in 1836,serving as its librarian, professor, vice president, and at one point, its interim president. Collection consists of Wylie's correspondence, diaries, sermons, drawings, and writings.

This collection consists of the records of the Memorial Fund Campaign, a series of drives to raise funds for the construction of an athletic stadium, women's dormitory, and student union building as memorials to IU students and former students who had participated in World War I.

The mission of the Indiana University LGBTQ+ Culture Center, formerly named GLBT Student Support Services, is to provide information, support, mentoring, and counseling to members of the IU campus and the larger community. The IU LGBTQ+ Culture Center seeks to fulfill their mission through networks, collaboration, education, and outreach in an attempt to create a climate where all members of the community are encouraged to promote and defend diversity. The collection consists of records relating to campus programming, speakers and events, conferences, groups, and office administration. There are also scrapbooks documenting GLBT issues on campus and the LGBTQ+ Culture Center.

Consists of personal papers, research notes, copies of published works, class and lecture notes, and the public speaking notes of Kate Hevner Mueller. Mueller served as the Dean of Women from 1938-1949. She also taught in the Education Department, focusing on psychology and then later personnel and guidance.

The English Department records span more than a century, from 1886 to 2012. The collection consists of correspondence between the acting chairman and English faculty members at IU and other institutions in the United States as well as students. The administrative files contain memos, correspondence with IU English faculty and regional campuses, reports pertaining to department committees, programs, courses, publications, other activities that concerned the development and growth of the Department. The publications files contain journals and other published material relating to Bloomington's English department.

Avis Tarrant Burke was the wife of Indiana University fine arts professor Robert E. Burke. Avis was active with the IU Extension Division and wrote several articles for its bulletin. Together she and Robert traveled extensively, which served as the subject of articles she wrote for the Bloomington newspaper from 1932-1953. After her husband's death, Avis developed a reputation for her philanthropic work, including her donation of nineteenth-century clothing and eighteenth and nineteenth-century fans to Indiana University, which now comprises a core part of the Elizabeth Sage Costume Collection at IU. The collection consists of correspondence, files on groups and organizations with which Burke was involved, essays, articles, general and travel diaries, as well as a small amount of records from the Tarrant family, including 19th century love letters written to Avis's mother, Avis Booth Tarrant.

Joseph Bradford began acquiring land in Martinsville, Indiana, in the mid-1800s. The Bradford Sand Mining Company was founded by Joseph's son, Perry Bradford, in 1877 in Morgan County, Indiana. The family business was passed on to Albert and John Bradford in the early 1900s. It remained in the family until 1938 when John Bradford deeded 900 acres of the Bradford property to Indiana University. This property is currently known as the Bradford Woods. The Bradford family papers span 1831-1941 and consist of various financial and business records related to their property, as well as documentation of family history and family correspondence. The correspondence primarily dates from 1898 and consists largely of letters written to the Bradfords by Eliza (Bradford) and husband Dr. Grant Monical from Camp George in Georgia and later Cuba where Grant was a Captain in the Spanish-American War.

Mary Geraldine Hatt studied history at Indiana University and went on to complete an MA in International Relations before teaching social studies in South Bend, Indiana. Her international experience includes serving in the American Red Cross Hospital in Europe and receiving the first Fulbright Scholarship for travel to South Africa. Her papers consist of correspondence beginning with her freshman year at I.U., various materials relating to Miss Hatt's time in South Africa as a Fulbright Scholar, and travel diaries which record her frequent trips throughout the world.

The Russian and East European Institute, comprised of several departments at Indiana University, was established in 1958 and is one of the leading area studies centers in the country. The collection consists of funding applications, projects, programs and administrative files related to the institute and it departments.

Frank N. Young was a professor of zoology and biology at Indiana University. His research and teaching interests included ecology, entomology, and parasitology, but much of his work focused specifically on water beetles. Collection consists of correspondence, research files, publications, including his dissertation The water beetles of Florida, committee files, and teaching files.

Allen Day Grimshaw was a Professor of Sociology at IU from 1959-1994. The collection consists primarily of his research, published works, and teaching files as they relate to IU.