Archives preserve University history

Within the depths of Bryan Hall, covering five floors and 5,000 square feet, sits the history of IU in boxes, file cabinets and storage bins. \nThis is the University Archives. \nThe University Archives is the largest and most comprehensive source about and for IU. Records include everything from blueprints and news clippings to schedules and scrapbooks.\nIn 1883, a fire destroyed many of the University's administrative records, as well as the science building and the Owen Museum. Undamaged files were moved to a storage facility in Maxwell Hall called the President's File Room. The archives were kept there until 1936, when Bryan Hall was built. Five floors and 14,000 cubic feet were designed for the storage and preservation of archival records.\n"Right now a majority (who use the archives) are administration and staff," said Phillip Bantin, archive director. Bantin said students, researchers and alumni are also among the main groups of people who use the archives. \n"We have a number of students who come in for class work," he said. About 10 to 12 people a day request records.\nSenior Laura Blanford used the archives for a journalism class project about "a new look at old IU." \n"I had to go to the archives for old Indiana Daily Students and bulletins," she said. "I'd heard of the archives before, but our professor recommended it."\nResearchers have used the archives for projects such as the research and development of Crest toothpaste at IU and the role of the University in the Manhattan Project.\nThe archive stacks are closed to the public because of the confidential nature of the records. The public must make requests to the staff, and the staff retrieves the records.\nAmong the items in the archives are a life-mask of William Lowe Bryan, the first touch-tone telephone used in Monroe County, given to former IU president John W. Ryan, and the plane steering wheel from Wendell Willkie's "One World" tour. \nPapers and records from former University Chancellor Herman B Wells' presidency take up almost two floors.\n"There's about 120 file cabinets for Herman Wells," said Bradley Cook, reference specialist and photograph curator. "And then altogether, including his chancellor's papers, we probably have another 500 boxes of his papers." \nThe earliest known record in the archives is an acceptance letter to former IU president Andrew Wylie into the American Antiquarian Society, dated July 16, 1815.\nHolding more than 12 million records, as well as 2 million photographs, the archives has limited space. \nBut the archives is getting help.\nBoth the Main Library, which has been campaigning for more storage space, and the archives have been granted new areas designated for storage. \n"It's very hard to keep up space-wise with the records that are generated," Bantin said. He said 400 to 500 linear feet of records are generated each year. \n"Administrative files and faculty papers are the two big categories of records that come in every year," Bantin said. \nArchive employees are working to develop ways of preserving and protecting electronic records, such as e-mails and electronic financial and student records.\n"We have received funds from a funding agency associated with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. We've had two projects funded by them … to develop strategies at IU for managing electronic records," Bantin said. "We're one of the few institutions of higher education, of colleges and universities in the country, to be seriously working on this issue."\nThe archives is also working on two projects other than the Electronic Records Project. \nOne is a photo database. Workers are cataloging the 2 million photographs onto a photo database, so they can be searched on the Internet. \nThe second project is the Cushman Project. \nCharles Cushman graduated from IU in 1917. He was an amateur photographer who took pictures of the social history of America throughout the 20th century. His photographs -- 18,000 of them -- were given to the archives. The archives is digitizing them and placing them on its Charles Cushman Web site.\nBantin said there are three ways the archives can help students -- understanding the University, helping them with everyday class work and introducing them to primary sources.\nThe archives has two exhibits on public display. One is of the life of late Bloomington Chancellor Herman B Wells, located in the Education Building. The other is an exhibit about African-American firsts at IU, which is in the south lounge of the Indiana Memorial Union.