JJC Receives Significant Collection of Historical Artifacts

2014·0.41 MB·English

by  Joliet Junior College

FROM THE ARCHIVES:
JJG Receives Significant
Collection of Historical
Artifacts
;
In April of this year, Dr. Robert E. Sterling, professor emeritus "In 1969, I was asked to develop and teach a local history
of history at JJC, donated hundreds of photographs, original course. As a young, non-tenured history instructor, how could
college documents and historical ephemera to the college I say no? But really - local history? I quickly discovered that
archives. The materials donated by Dr. Sterling serve as the very few resources were available for teaching such a class,
most significant acquisition of historical documents to the except musty old histories of Will County written in 1878 and
college archives to date. 1907. In an effort to record local history as well as to study
it, my students began taping oral history interviews with
The materials cover the college’s history from its beginnings
elderly residents in the community. Many interviewees were
in 1901 to the present day. Within the collection are original
willing to share old photos and documents as well as their
copies of the programs for the first and second commence¬
memories. I was hooked! For the next forty years, I avidly
ment ceremonies at Joliet Township High School (where
collected anything and everything related to the history of
Joliet Junior College began), from 1900 and 1901; an intact
the Joliet region, including JJC.”
copy of the “First Report,” a publication that chronicles the
planning, building, dedication and implementation of the high It was this dedication to his students, community and profes¬
school in downtown Joliet; the minutes for the first student sion, that led Sterling to build a collection that grew beyond
government meeting at JJC in 1929, as well as, hundreds the first of local history classes he taught at JJC and eventu¬
of photographs showing the growth of JTHS and JJC over its ally led to the publication of seven pictorial histories of the
113 year existence. Joliet region, including a centennial history of JJC published
in 2001. All of Dr. Sterling’s publications are available in the
The collection, however, might never have existed if it were
JJC Library, including the previously mentioned oral history
not for Sterling’s course assignments in the early part of his
interviews which are located in the college archives.
career at JJC. Dr. Sterling recently recalled the collection’s
Visitation and viewing of materials in the college archives
unintentional beginnings:
DEDICATION
■jjijljet CownsWP
...pffegww
u 000
t>.
TOcOncs&as, Bpttl 3tB, 2:30 »•
September 25, 1929.
Rev Duncan C. Milner
invocation
Tne first meeting of the student r
■*., Czibulka
n
UUSIC ^ » in room SM. ” *S “athe
nominated and unn ■ ani SpBn6ler was
d eleeted t.„o„rarv
Cost of Grounds, Building and Equip ^ Mason “«S made, seeended and ? * ln”"- A motion
^
’ ‘“d ■»*““> ‘*«t dobort Baled .
editor of "rhe B1 „ ' 3
Suot J. Stanley Brown ,b8 •*■*««• ‘o the Counoil, *
Sketch of School's History . Supt. J
motion that an election for a Coi „
Missuh
large b, held ■ ' Ch°‘m
MUSIC-( a) Magnolia Serenade * Brhams
(b) Hungarian Dance. No. those practice t , ' “ ^ of B.pt. 2S, .„a
-■Urlr toaohors who .were not aM, ,
THAYER'S ORCHESTRA
** tata in tta lt
ADDRESS-- The High' Sch°°' ' IkLlls."
* motion that the oh«ir„,n b. . ' "“T - ^
oaggy about the alpo-t--
Gounod
seconded, and carried, . „„tt
music-fous, thayer;s orchestra '• Motion Was mnrio
carried that the Council ad ■ ’ **
11 adJ°nrn and meet
the 7th period Vh ' Sept- 2?,
F 10d* The meeting: -7-jR .
s WJS adjourned.
Helen 3ice
Sec. Pr0, Tgnt
is open to the public. To schedule a visit, please
contact the JJC Library for available times.
The Sterling Collection will continue to serve as
an educational resource for students and the
community at large. The primary documents in the
collection are invaluable to anyone researching the
history of Joliet Junior College and its relationship
locally to the Joliet community, and nationally to
the development of higher education in America.
Looking for a safe, secure place to
Currently, the documents are being organized and
donate your JJC memorabilia?
catalogued to begin the digitization process. Once
that is complete, the materials will be available
digitally within the Joliet Junior College Library
The JJC Library Archives is always looking for ephemera from our
page on the Internet Archive, much like the college
college’s past. If you have materials you would like to donate, or
yearbook collection and the Wordeater collection.
have any questions about materials in the library archive,
When Dr. Sterling delivered his collection to the JJC
please contact;
Archives, he commented that he hoped his dona¬
tion would encourage others to donate their college
Joliet Junior College Library
photos and documents. As the College Archives
1215 Houbolt Road
continues to expand, it provides an important
Joliet, IL 60431
glimpse into the history and development of
ph: 815-280-2665
the college.