Manuscripts Archives and Special Collections

Vernon Gallup wanted something different. Something unique. Something no one else had. In 2008, he made history at the WSU Libraries by donating the largest single gift of rare books in the Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections’ 120-year past—about 20,000 volumes valued at $1.8 million.  “He had a love affair with his books. I’ve never […]

Growing up in southwestern Ohio surrounded by corn and crickets, Science Librarian David Luftig always saw agriculture as home.  In 2019, Luftig joined the Owen Science and Engineering Library as its first science librarian in two years. Transitioning from an engineering and physical science librarian at the University of Dayton to his current position opened […]

From riots over stuffed cougars to live animals smuggled on trains, the path to WSU’s beloved mascot was anything but linear.  The Washington Agricultural College’s football team began in 1894. Rather than repeating WAC’s long title again and again, regional newspapers gave the college nicknames like the “farmers” and “the potato diggers”—WAC’s first inklings of […]

Before walking across the stage at Beasley Coliseum, Ila Pinkham could hardly believe he was graduating.  For years, Pinkham looked up to his mother, father, and uncle, all of whom earned master’s degrees. He said college felt like just a step he should complete in his journey to something more important – “almost like washing […]

Whether she is nestled in WSU Libraries’ archives or traveling to England in search of paintings, English professor emerita Diane Gillespie brings the university’s collection of Virginia Woolf’s books to life.  For more than 40 years, Gillespie has studied the Leonard and Virginia Woolf Library, a collection of Woolf’s personal books and those of her […]