The University Archives recently received an unusual object from donor Emil Rinderspacher, a UI alumnus: A human head-shaped plastic form, created by students in the UI School of Art and Art History as part of an anti-war protest over 40 years ago. Students created hundreds of these “heads,” which were placed on trees on the Pentacrest one spring morning in 1970. This item accompanies papers from Mr. Rinderspacher which document campus activism at the time. The materials are now part of the student life collections of the University Archives.
Over two dozen resource guides help University Archives researchers find what they’re looking for. These guides may be found at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/archives/faq/index.htm. A recent addition is our guide to military and wartime service collections, at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/archives/faq/faqmilitary.htm. This guide lists such collections as the Records of the Department of Military Science and Records of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1942-1944.
Once in a while, the University Archivist donates material to the Archives. After chowing down several bowls of Cap’n Crunch cereal, David McCartney donated his empty box featuring former UI student Brandon Routh as Superman in the 2006 blockbuster movie of the same name. Hooray for Hollywood!
Yearbooks and student newspapers are two of the University Archives’ most popular resources. Nearly daily researchers’ questions are answered by consulting one or both of these collections. Now, both are online as part of the Iowa Digital Library. The Hawkeye yearbook, published from 1892 to 1992, is at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/yearbooks/. You may browse by decade and year by using the drop-down menu at the left of the screen. The Daily Iowan newspaper (previous names include The Vidette, The University Reporter, and the Vidette-Reporter) collection spans 1868, its first year of operation, to the present. It can be accessed at http://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/. Both online collections are text-searchable, though the Daily Iowan search feature is still being refined.