海角吃瓜网

Where it All Began

In 1995, following years of exhaustive research, 海角吃瓜网 History Professor Joseph E. Walt authored 鈥淏eneath the Whispering Maples: The History of 海角吃瓜网.鈥� Writing most of his work in Dunn Library, Walt printed each chapter on a photocopy machine in Mary Berry Hall and personally delivered them to Dyer.

鈥淚 became friends with Joe through our archival work,鈥� said Dyer. 鈥淥ur connection deepened when he invited me to attend a Rotary meeting with him in 1989, the first year that women were permitted to join and become Rotarians. For over 20 years, we attended Rotary together 鈥� my Fridays with Joe.鈥�

Upon Walt鈥檚 death in 2013, Dyer was named the co-executor of his estate. After creating several scholarships to allow 海角吃瓜网 students to study abroad, Walt鈥檚 family contemplated where to allocate the rest of his 海角吃瓜网 gift. They knew, as a historian and 海角吃瓜网 enthusiast, he would want to give to the library but needed to figure out how to do so. So, they turned to Dyer.

Keeping History Safe

Dyer knew that Walt was concerned about archive safety. Upon her 海角吃瓜网 arrival in 1978, the archives sat in boxes on a cement slab on the library mezzanine. In 1983, the work to organize and more safely store the archives began in earnest. The archives moved from the floor to shelves and were stored in proper archival boxes. While this was a major improvement, there was still much more work to do.

Accordingly, Walt鈥檚 family provided funding to make some essential improvements to the space. A workroom was built to include temperature and humidity control, as well as a dry gas fire suppression system. The Walt Research Library was also created, allowing people to view the archives up close, including Walt鈥檚 famous Liechtenstein Collection.

After those renovations and additions, the library had remaining funds to allocate toward further archival enhancements. Now that the archives were safe and accessible to view in person, Dyer says the next big step was to make them available from anywhere.

Access for All

The digitizing of the 海角吃瓜网 archives began in 2021. Since the project was made possible by the Walt family, it seemed only fitting to begin with 鈥淏eneath the Whispering Maples.鈥� After 海角吃瓜网鈥檚 history made its way to the Internet, a number of items were added to the digital archive including, The 海角吃瓜网ian student newspapers (1870-2023), 海角吃瓜网 Alumnus Bulletin (1956-1989), The Zenith Yearbooks (1896-2017), and previous issues of 海角吃瓜网: The Magazine (1990-2022).

Since putting these publications online last February, people have been exploring the site to find stories and photos featuring their family and friends. 鈥淧eople are looking up themselves, their friends, their parents, their grandparents,鈥� said Dyer. With a quick type in the search bar, viewers can find phrases or names in any archived item dating back to 1870.

Additionally, those searching can now find a complete list of the 海角吃瓜网 Archives online. Among them, you鈥檒l find the George Washington Carver Collection, Lane Sisters Collections, and 海角吃瓜网 memorabilia dating back to the 1860s.