A Day In the Life of Albion College

In this issue:

• 1893: The McMillan Chemical Laboratory is Finally Completed
• 2008: Facebook Fun with Special Collections!

Thank you for taking the time to check out Special Collections' section of "Thinking Albion!" I'm really excited to be able to share with you some of the photographs, correspondence, scrapbooks, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and institutional records from the College Archives that make this job more enjoyable every day! For each issue, I will offer some newly digitized materials from our collections for you to enjoy that will be related to events that occurred on that specific date in the history of the college.

Often, when I am asked what I do for a living, and I respond enthusiastically, "I'm an archivist!" I receive a blank look that I know means, "You're a what?" Recently a national archives organization held a competition to determine the best answer to this question. The winning response was that “Archivists bring the past to the present. [We’re] records collectors and protectors, keepers of memory. [We] organize unique, historical materials, making them available for current and future research.” This is a fairly academic definition of what we do. In a more informal way, what we do here is connect people with their great-great grandmothers through our alumni and pastor files, help individuals recreate lost memories through film, sound recordings, and photographs, and assist the institution with defining its mission for the future by providing information into understanding our past.

 

For the November 14th issue of "A Day in the Life," I've provided some information on the McMillan Chemical Laboratory, which was completed in November of 1893 and used to stand on the quad where Olin Hall is today. I've also provided information about some new features you can look for in Facebook in regards to Special Collections. Please click on the links provided to go to other sections of the website to view additional images and information on these events that have helped to define our institution as it exists today!
1893 The McMillan Chemical Laboratory is Finally Completed	2008 And Now for Some Shameless Self-Promotion...
The Central Building was originally where the college's chemistry laboratory was housed. On January 6, 1892 a fire broke out in the chemistry lab of the building, causing minimal damage to the lab itself and the surrounding areas, but the threat of future incidents spurred the college on to build a proper facility for future chemistry studies. Click on thumbnail for larger view Correspondence from Washington Gardner re: Senator James McMillan's gift Albion College Year Book 1892-93, pp.16, 21, 131-136 McMillan Laboratory       "History of McMillan Chemical 'Lab' is Recorded" Albion Evening Recorder Memo: "Albion's McMillan Chemical Laboratory to be Razed" "Old Chem Building Hits the Dust" Pleiad A single donor, James McMillan, a United States Senator with no ties to Albion, presented the College in June of 1892 with the funds necessary to build a new Chemistry facility - a windfall that had been previously unheard of in College history. After legal squabbles concerning the feasibility of further western campus expansion, building of the McMillan Lab began in the winter of 1893. Construction of the Lab was completed by November, despite the difficulties Senator McMillan had with paying for the building as a result of the 1893 Depression. Follow this link for more information and images...	There is a new group on Facebook for Albion College Special Collections! We already have over 60 members, including faculty, students, staff, and alumni--are you one of them yet? So far, I have used this area to share some photos from the College Archives collection and this past October's Schleg Memorial Lecture. I'll also be posting announcements about upcoming exhibits featured in the library and on the Special Collections website. But I would also like to hear from all of you--what other forms of outreach would you like to see from Special Collections? Could you use this Facebook group to share stories from "a day in your life at Albion College"? Also, don't miss out on the new Albion College Memorabilia gift application http://apps.facebook.com/albion-colleg-bjbgag/. You can send these 19th century women's gym bloomers to all your Facebook friends and much, much more! The more gifts you send, the more you unlock, and if you have any ideas for images you'd like to see added to the application, let me know!