University of St. Francis Library Archives

The USF Library Archives is pleased to announce the completion of the newest online collection. The Encounter Student Newspaper Collection contains digital images of The Encounter from 1976 through 2008. From the collection home page: "Until May of 1969 the school newspaper at the University of St. Francis was The Interlude. That year the University of St. Francis, then the College of St. Francis, began its merger and cooperation with Lewis University, then Lewis College, in Romeoville, IL. The student newspapers of the two schools merged as well. With the subsequent de-merger of Lewis-St. Francis of Illinois back into two separate schools the University of St. Francis school newspaper was restructured and re-emerged as The Encounter. The first issue was published on October 7, 1976." Visit the collection here: http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_usf_encntr.php?CISOROOT=/usf_encntr

John Lloyd Raymond became a benefactor of the University of St. Francis library in 1950 when he presented a large part of his personal library to the school. His only condition on the gift was that the collection be kept intact and that the books be used. Mr. Raymond continued donating books until his death in 1974. He was an ardent book collector who showed remarkable ability in his choice of titles. Many of the books he donated were first editions, limited editions, early printings, autographed copies and books with fine bindings. One such remarkable book is the copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen with illustrations by Robert Ball. This edition of Austen's most memorable work was printed in 1945 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. in Garden City, NY. It is a limited edition with a decorative jacket and slipcover. The slipcover notes that it is a part of the "Doubleday Doran Limited Editions Illustrated by Famous American Artists", and an early page rea...

Many of the books in the Rare Book Collection of the USF Library Archives were gifts to the library and the school. One such book is the General Kurpfalz Evangelical Lutheran Song Book, issued on the recommendation of Kurpfalz Consistory by Ludwig B. F. Gegels. This book is in german and was printed in Frankenau, Germany in 1793. In World War II this copy of the song book was found in Germany in the cornerstone of a building that had been bombed. The soldier who found the book brought it back to the U.S. and gave it to his relative Sister Celeste. Sister Celeste was with the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate here in Joliet, IL. She gave the book to the library to add to their growing Rare Book Collection , where it now resides in a display case in the Archives Reading Room. To learn the history of other books in the Rare Book Collection , please feel free to visit the USF Library Archives on the 2nd floor of the USF Library.

While a large percentage of the items and collections in the USF Library Archives are print materials like books, newspapers, notes, letters and reports, some of the most interesting items are not print materials, but the artwork and artifacts that have been given to the school over the years. One of these items is a vase that was a gift from the St. Francis Academy Class of 1914. Mother Alfred Moes founded St. Francis Academy in Joliet, IL in 1869. In 1882 it moved from the small convent near the I&M Canal to the newly erected building on Plainfield Road (now known as the Motherhouse). The St. Francis Academy grew in it's home on the main campus alongside the College of St. Francis (now the University of St. Francis) until relocating to Larkin Avenue in 1956. In 1990 the St. Francis Academy successfully merged with Joliet Catholic High School to form Joliet Catholic Academy. This vase was an elegant and thoughtful gift to the school from the senior class on 1914 and is pro...

The USF Library Archives has recently established a new collection. The Autographed Books Collection is exactly what it sounds like. Books from the library's collection that have been autographed by the author or illustrator are included in this ever growing group. This collection includes the book Jesus, the Compassion of God: New Perspectives on the Tradition of Christianity (232 H478) by Monica Hellwig that was featured here in an earlier post, as well as books signed by Carlos E. Cortes (302.23089 C828c), Temple Grandin (616.0832 Gra), and Deepak Chopra (212.6 C549h).

In the fall of 2002 the University of St. Francis students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends gathered to welcome the school's Eighth (and current) President, Dr. Michael Vinciguerra. The official Inauguration Ceremony was held on October 4, 2002. In attendance were the two most recent past Presidents, Dr. James A. Doppke, USF's Seventh President (1995-2002), and Dr. John C. Orr, USF's Sixth President (1974-1995). Pictured left to right: Dr. John C. Orr, Dr. Michael Vinciguerra, Dr. James A. Doppke.

On September 22, 2006, the University of St. Francis welcomed Senator Barack Obama to campus. 1,300 people gathered at USF's Recreation Center to hear him speak, including children from USF's Partnership Schools, Farragut Grade School of Joliet and St. Jude's School of New Lenox. At the time of Obama's visit he was "one of the nation's highest profile politicians and a possible presidential candidate in 2008." His visit was chronicled in both the USF Magazine for alumni (Fall 2006 edition, featured below) and The Encounter student newspaper (November 3, 2006 - volume 36, issue 2). Obama's visit was featured on the cover and the first inside page of the alumni newsletter, USF Magazine. The Encounter student newspaper archives will soon be available online.

This is a photograph of a classroom in Tower Hall taken sometime during the late 1970s or 1980s. In the back corner of the classroom, sitting on top of a cupboard there is a statue of Christopher Columbus. The statue is bronze colored metal and is approximately 27" tall. The name 'Columbus' is written along the edge of the base of the statue, directly below his feet. At some point this statue was moved from the classroom in Tower Hall to the John L. Raymond Room in the library. This room housed the John L. Raymond Special Collection and the Library's rare books. These special items had been set apart from the general collection for as long as the library on Taylor street had existed, and the space provided for them included numerous works of art that had been donated to the school. Columbus proudly watched over these special collections until the collections were moved and the rooms converted into offices. Now that the USF Library Archives has been restored to ou...