Because construction of the Charles and
Lynn Zhang Legacy Collections Center hadn't progressed past the dirt
and diggers phase when I was in Kalamazoo last month I won't bother
showing you a photograph of the site. I can, however give you a peek
at the artist's projections for the new home of the Western Michigan
University Archives and Local History Collections.
The new building will be named after
Charles and Lynn Zhang who made a substantial donation. [1] The two
WMU alumni are also local business people (Zhang Financial). [1]
Other donors toward the project include the Irving S. Gilmore
Foundation, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the late Frederick
J. Rogers. [1]
A diagram of the floor plan of the new
space is shown below.
As you would imagine most of the space
in the Legacy Collections Center (LCC) will be devoted to storage.
After “several go-rounds with the building design,” Sharon
Carlson, Director of the Archives was happy to inform me that all of
the archives materials, including items currently off-site, will be
housed in the LCC. In addition, there will be room to expand on-site
holdings into the future. The reason that so many resources can be
housed in a relatively small space is the result of using collapsible
shelving.
Dr. Carlson said that she is most
looking forward to having “all of our collections together in a
temperature and humidity controlled space which will be accessible to
all patrons.” No more storing boxes in an old swimming pool!
Although I imagine she won't miss capturing critters that managed to
make their way into East Hall over the years she will miss “the
atmosphere and the historical nature of the building.” Dr. Carlson
continued “East Hall is also situated on what I think is the most
beautiful part of Western's campus. We are all eagerly anticipating
the new building but we are starting to feel a bit nostalgic about
East Hall.”
Asked about some of the collections
housed in the Archives, Dr. Carlson stated she thinks “the
University side of the office is sometimes overlooked.” As for
other unique resources, Dr. Carlson cites “the records of the
Kalamazoo Ladies' Library Association, including the architectural
drawings for the building. The Kalamazoo Ladies' Library Association
building was the first to be constructed by and for a women's
organization in the United States.” For a nice (and brief, for
those with limited time) description of the Kalamazoo Ladies' Library
Association please see this article at Seeking Michigan.
It was written by Dr. Carlson, who earned a Ph.D. in history for her
work on the subject.
Work to catalog the items in the
recently donated Kalamazoo Gazette archive (for more see:
WMU Archives' Big News)
continues. While the photograph files will eventually be available,
the Gazette clippings file is slated to be open for research “early
next year,” according to Dr. Carlson. These random clippings
primarily span the years from the 1930s to the 1990s. Though hit or
miss, if you find something you didn't know then it was worth the
effort to look. Dr. Carlson and Lynn Houghton, author of Kalamazoo
Lost & Found, plan to give a talk for the Kalamazoo County
Historical Society on Monday night and go into greater detail.
1. Ursula Zerilli. Future Western
Michigan University archives center named for Charles and Lynn Zhang.
Published Sep. 21, 2012 at Mlive.com
