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A Guide to the records at the Indiana University Archives

Electronic finding aid encoded by Ilias Kyriazis and Ye Ja Sanders

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Indiana University Publications (Firm)

Title
Indiana University Publications Editor's records, 1905-1972,  bulk 1935-1955

Collection No.
C84

Extent
.5 cubic feet

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
The Indiana University Office of Publications is one of the oldest non-academic offices on campus. Its records date primarily from the tenure of Ivy Leone Chamness, who served as Head Editor of University Publications from 1917-1952. Collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, and newspaper clippings. Prominent in the collection are edited manuscripts of the two volume History of Indiana University written by Burton Dorr Myers and James A. Woodburn.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Advance notice is required.

Administrative History

According to Myers’s History of Indiana University, the I. U. Publications Office (now known as the Indiana University Office of Publications and not to be confused with Indiana University Press) is one of the oldest non-academic offices on campus. Originally, the publishing of the university catalogues, bulletins, pamphlets and scholarly essays was the responsibility of the President. Prior to the start of the 20th century, this duty fell to a standing presidential committee, composed of faculty and administrators, and printing jobs were executed under state contracts. It was not until 1914 that a full-time editor was appointed to head the University Publications Office. This event coincided with the establishment of a printing plant primarily designed to print the Indiana Daily Student, but that initially handled small University jobs as well. Ivy Chamness was named Assistant Editor of University Publications in 1914 and would be promoted to Head Editor in 1917. She also served as Assistant Editor of the IU Alumni Quarterly and promoted to Associate Editor in 1919 and finally Editor in 1921. She served in this position until 1938.

By 1937, the duties of the Publications Office included a wide array of products, including not only the bulletins for the university, its extensions, and the more autonomous schools, such as the School of Education, but also such items as the commencement program; the annual telephone directory; the scholastic publication series for the sciences, the humanities, folklore, and social sciences; and the Indiana University Newsletter, a precursor to the Alumni Magazine. The office also handled the editing of the Alumni Quarterly and the publication of the numerous forms and brochures needed by departmental offices. In 1938, the Newsletter and the Quarterly merged to form the Indiana Alumni Magazine, and Chamness was named as the Associate Editor of the Magazine, a post she retained until her retirement in 1952.

As the University expanded and new departments were added, and as the number of scholarly publications grew, along with new aesthetic demands of printing requiring greater uses of color and photographs, the burden on the office expanded. By 1945, a post-war committee on publications began discussions on reorganizing the office to meet the new printing necessities of the expanding university, and the initial discussions for creating a University Press commenced. In 1950, Chamness noted in her last annual report as the Head Editor of University Publications that the growth of Extension Division publications and the increasing numbers of large scholarly studies, including a full catalog of educational motion pictures totaling 430 pages and 15,000 copies, placed the greatest demand ever on the Office. Included in that year’s output were six publications of humanities studies, four studies in folklore, three studies in the natural sciences, and two books on I.U. history ( Trustees and Officers of Indiana University and the Myer’s History of Indiana University, Vol. II ).

Arrangement

Organized into four series: Correspondence; Edited manuscripts; Donor relations; Clippings.

Scope and Content Note

This collection has been organized into five series: Correspondence, Edited manuscripts, Donor relations, All-University Committee on Names, and Clippings. The predominant topics are the History of Indiana University volumes, which Chamness edited, and a gift book compiled in 1915, which was a record of substantial donations to the university. (The History of Indiana University was written in two volumes, both published by the university in 1940. James A. Woodburn, a professor of history at IU, wrote the first volume, which covered the school’s history from its beginning in 1824 to 1902. Burton D. Myers, then dean of the School of Medicine, continued the history to cover the years from 1902-1937. For further information about these works, see Collections C82 and C83.) Other materials concern her activities as an editor for the IU Alumni Quarterly magazine and later, the Indiana Alumni Magazine .

The Correspondence series (1905 – 1972) has six sub-series: World War I Alumni, IU Alumni Quarterly, Woodburn manuscript, Myers manuscript, Wylie House and Pering family history. The sub-series have been arranged in chronological order, and within the sub-series each folder of correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are the letters between Chamness and family members of IU alumni who fought in World War I. These letters delineate the experience of the men during the war. There is also correspondence about the Wylie House and the Pering family history, which were part of Chamness’s research efforts for the alumni magazine.

The Edited manuscripts series (1923 – 1954) is divided into three sub-series, the IU Alumni Quarterly and the Myers manuscript and the Woodburn manuscript for the History of Indiana University. These titles are amongst the more prominent titles Chamness edited. In the Myers’ manuscript, Chamness’ early notes and revisions are placed first, followed by rough drafts of chapters by various authors, which have been arranged alphabetically. Revisions and records documenting events just before publication of the manuscript have been placed last in the sub-series. The Woodburn manuscript is organized similarly with rough drafts first and Chamness’ corrections and revisions second. The Myers’ manuscript papers are the most detailed, as they include typed copies of most of the chapters in the final copy.

The Donor relations series (1905 – 1935) relates to the Gift Book Chamness edited, which has been organized into three sub-series, Gift Book, Gift Book correspondence and Clippings. She kept track of all major donations and donors to the university from the time of the Gift Book’s first publication (1914), often relying on newspapers clippings to provide leads and to initiate correspondence with donors who had yet to be included in the Gift Book. Among these gifts are collections of books, portraits of prominent figures and financial contributions to different funds, such as the Student Building Fund. It appears that the ‘Gift Book’ was never actually published and that the information she continued to collect was published in the “Gifts and Bequest” section of the Indiana University Bulletin. This series has been arranged in chronological order.

The Clippings series (1929 – 1938) contains newspaper clippings about the establishment of the IU Alumni Magazine. The file has been organized in chronological order.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Indiana University Publications (Firm) --Archives.
  • Indiana University Publications (Firm) --Records and correspondence.
  • Indiana University Publications (Firm) --History --20th century --Sources.
  • Chamness, Ivy Leone --Archives.
  • Chamness, Ivy Leone --Correspondence.
  • Myers, Burton Dorr, 1870-1951. History of Indiana University.
  • Woodburn+James+Albert+1856+1943
• • Topics
  • College publications --Indiana --Bloomington --History --20th century --Sources.
• • Titles
  • History of Indiana University.

Related Material

For the personal papers of Ivy Chamness, see IU Archives Collection C239.

For more information about the History of Indiana University manuscripts, please see the Burton D. Myers papers, Collection C82, and the James A. Woodburn papers, Collection C83.

Administrative Information

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