COLLEGE GREEK LIBRARY AVAILABLE
 

I have a library collection of approximately 2,000 volumes with nearly 800 institutions and 100+ Greek organizations represented. Some are very rare, 130+ being more than a century old. To my knowledge, only the U. Illinois archives are larger.

Ready to downsize my life, I am searching for an institution or organization to permanently house them. I had tentatively agreed on the national HQ of my fraternity, but I'm not so sure that is a good idea as they are not set up for people doing research, and certainly have enough headaches without that distraction.

Does anyone have any ideas or does anyone know of a Greek friendly institution that would want to archive the material?

As an aside, as the material was collected I began a research project and now have a detailed listing of just about every local or national Greek organization that ever existed at more than 1,000 different institutions -- a compilation that I doubt can be found anywhere, including old Baird's Manuals.

I sincerely hope you are publishing a book! You know how badly we need a new fraternal encyclopedia!!!

This would be a very significant donation (if it is indeed a donation and not a sale). You may already have leads to entities which may be convenient for you, but I would like to make a pitch for the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

As for being Greek-friendly, five of the nine largest African American fraternities and sororities were founded at Howard, and many have chosen Moorland-Spingarn to house their archives. Even Alpha Phi Alpha, founded at Cornell, has a sizable collection of material there.

I have used Moorland-Spingarn two or three times before. First, I used it to access Howard's yearbook collection when I was researching the history of Alpha Phi Omega on that campus. The next times, I researched Alpha and AKA along with an AKA friend of mine.

The staff is small, but wonderful. The materials are well taken care of. They are not in general circulation - you have to ask for them at the desk and read them in the reading room. They will also make photocopies for you.

A collection like yours would be well taken care of there, and more importantly, would be available for researchers in the greater Washington, DC area. It's conveniently located off Georgia Avenue (US Route 29) and has parking nearby.

I also wanted to add one thing about Howard students. More than most, they are particularly reverent and protective of their special collections. They are aware of their university's place in fraternal history and would welcome the diversity among the fraternal collections.

I am not a Howard alumnus, just a Washingtonian myself.

I hope you find the institution that is the right fit for you and your collection!

Incredible!

I like Sen's Howard U suggestion. The other thought that I had was one of the schools that figures large in the development of the Greek system—William & Mary, Union or Miami.

I hope you find a great home for the collection, oldu.

You could ask Monmouth College. They are the home of Pi Phi's and Kappa's Alpha chapters and are only about 15-20 miles from the home of Alphi Xi Delta's founding school. Both Holt House and Stewart House are landmarks in town. They might be very interested in a Greek life archive.

Wow! What a great collection!!

I would suggest the University of Illinois. They already have a dedicated collection of historic Greek materials for preservation, and I'm sure they would love to grow that collection!

http://archives.library.illinois.edu/slc/stewarthowe/

Illinois has the largest public university library in the nation, and up until very recently had always been the largest greek system in the nation, so it seems like a perfect fit!

Agreed that you should write a book on your findings. I'm sure there would be a large interest.

Also, Champaign-Urbana is pretty centrally located between Chicago, Indianapolis, & St. Louis. (Major metros, and headquarters of GLOs) And it's also pretty centrally located between some Alpha Chapters. (Monmouth, Galesburg, Greencastle, Urbana)

Not to mention, at one point or another, Illinois has had almost every GLO chapter. You probably won't find that on many other campuses.

OK That's my plug for Illinois!

Thanks folks. The main reason I don't favor U. of I. is that my collection and theirs include many duplications. I have made inquiries at a couple institutions and learned that archivists typically aren't Greek and have little interest in f/s history. The Illinois archive evolved because a couple fraternity leaders pushed them into it and also got a couple collections to start it. I supoose it would take an aggressive local Greek to push the idea to their U. library. At my age I'm not inspired to create a new book like Baird's -- the material is an entire file drawer!

What about Indiana University? Your collection sounds like it would fit perfectly into the Lilly Library. IU has a large (and very strong) Greek system, and is only about an hour or so from Indianapolis, site of many GLO headquarters.

That was my second choice after Howard. IU also houses the Center for the Study of the College Fraternity. My only thing is that they seem to focus on everything but history.

http://www.indiana.edu/~cscf/

Very good point. Maybe it's time for them to add a focus on history?

Yesterday I finalized an agreement to donate the library to the Center for the Study of College Fraternities located at Indiana University in Bloomington. The collection will actually be housed in the Lilly Library. It is a very user-friendly institution and they welcomed the library because it also dovetails with their collection of Herman Wells archives. He is a former IU president, Sigma Nu and ardent advocate for Greeks. The items in the collection will be listed on-line so that would-be visitors can make arrangements in advance for what they want waiting for them when they arrive. Already two people are asking to use the material. I am assuming that it will be possible sometime this fall for anyone to have access to the material. Needless to say, I am thrilled with this set-up so that others can benefit from my forty year effort to collect material relevant to our Greek societies. Only the University of Illinois collection comes close to this compilation and while there are many duplications, surprisingly there and many items each of us have that the other doesn't. And if you are a super Greek Geek it is not a long trek between the two spots and you can have a F/S Greek Info Orgy for a road trip!

Good on you! Thank you!

Yay oldu! Now I know what I need to do on my next visit to my alma mater. : )

Hooray!

Well done, oldu. Many thanks for compiling and sharing your collection.