Bruce Cheadle spent the entirety of his 93 years in Lockport, Illinois. In a life that spanned almost the entire 20th century, Cheadle was undoubtedly witness to monumental changes in the Will County city that was once home to the headquarters of the Illinois and Michigan canal, a civic and commercial anchor of the community that was closed in 1933. Cheadle played an important role in Lockport's transition from canal town into a Chicago suburb known for its historic downtown, parks, and the Illinois and Michigan National Heritage Corridor, which runs along the route of the former canal. This photo depocts Bruce at age three, along with his grandfather, Arthur Deeming.
CARLI News
The Shield (1956)
This photo of the Joliet Junior College library in 1956 looks like a set from a 1950s television show. It seems to embody the idea of what a library was supposed to look like in the 1950s. Ms. Skidmore looks as though she may even have her hair in a bun, for goodness sake.
The Purple Parrot (Dec 1949)
What exactly is The Purple Parrot? This question has crossed my mind many times as I’ve searched through some of CARLI’s expansive holdings the past few years. From 1921-1950, The Purple Parrot was essentially Northwestern University’s answer to the Harvard Lampoon, a satirical magazine that skewers student life and cultural events of the time.
"The silence & quiet inactivity around this squadron is slowly driving everybody nuts. Pretty soon I'll be cutting out paper dolls in strings, I wish I could give you the full dope about this but I can't."
Rush University Rush Medical College New Student Picture Book, 1977
Before there was Facebook, there were face books. Unlike yearbooks, comprehensive retrospectives published at the end of an academic year, these books were issued at the beginning of the year as a means of identifying students new to campus.
Miriam Centeno, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Have you ever had the experience of having a retired professor walk in to your library with an 8 mm film reel and not having the equipment to play it? Or has a donation come in for your archives with VHS tapes that are all covered in mold? How often do you worry about the state of your media collection? Have you ever tried to plan for its preservation?