Besides the NIU Art and Anthropology museums, there is a lot more to learn and explore outside of the classroom. Several museums and special collections can be found in several buildings around campus. It just takes a bit of exploring to find these places. Each museum and collection offers something unique.

The Blackwell Education Museum

The Blackwell Education Museum, located in Gabel Hall, has one of the most extensive education history collections in the country. Lucy F. Townsend, a professor of education, has been the curator for the museum since 1996.

There are more than 10,000 historical books in its collection, which includes textbooks, journals and educational histories. There are also many artifacts, including a real one-room school house. Several murals are displayed in the hallways of Graham and Gabel halls, part of the College of Education, depicting education scenes.

“We have been involved in two major projects, which includes the Oral History Project and the Country School Project,” Townsend said. “We worked with the Dekalb Historical-Genealogical Society and found that there were once 160 one-room school houses in DeKalb County. The Oral History Project involves collecting oral histories of people that had once taught or were taught in one-room school houses.”

Townsend said that she and her small student staff have had a hard time getting people to come to the museum, because it’s such a low-key place on campus. An NIU student recently became a docent for the museum and has started going to area schools, meeting with students and educating them about one-room school houses.

The museum is the headquarters for the Country School Association of America.

More Information – Blackwell Education Museum: http://www.cedu.niu.edu/blackwell/

NIU/Lyric Opera of Chicago Historical Scenic Collection

NIU/Lyric Opera of Chicago Historical Scenic Collection is part of the School of Theatre Arts and is located in the Stevens Building. The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of almost 90 operas, and contains one of the largest continuous and best-preserved collections of an approach to scenic art. There’s no other known collection of scenery, maquettes and archival documents of this size and quality.

“This collection is truly a beautiful, hidden gem that we have to offer, because it’s such a great collection,” said Terrence McClellan, associate professor in the School of Theatre and Dance. “The scale models are specimens of great crafting by the greats in scenic design from the early 20th century.”

Al Adducci, the retired NIU curator for the collection had a close relationship with the Lyric Opera and was able to get this large collection and bring it to NIU.

For more Information – http://www.niu.edu/theatre/collection.htm

Northern Illinois Regional History Center

Northern Illinois Regional History Center is located on the fourth floor of Founders Memorial Library. The center’s mission is to acquire, preserve and make available to the public the most significant historical records of the northern Illinois region.

The center has been around for more than 40 years, and its director, Glen Gildemeister has been part of it for 30 years. What makes this place unique is that it’s the only location where one can find the history of NIU, dating back from 1895. There are even artifacts and documents from before the Civil War, and the center has more than 800,000 photos.

“Several thousand researchers come to visit us from across the country and use what can be found in the archives,” Gildemeister said. “There has been genealogists from California and Texas, lawyers from Chicago and Boston that have come to us. We cater to a wide range of people.”

More Information – http://www.niulib.niu.edu/reghist/Home.htm

Rare Books and Special Collections

Rare Books and Special Collections is located in Founders Memorial Library, Rms. 402-403. Lynne Thomas is the curator. There are about 10,000 rare books and 90,000 volumes in 42 special collections that the department has.

There are many unusual books that Thomas handles, based on their age and rarity, among other things. Much of their research involves anything involving American pop culture. There is a collection of 50,000 dime novels from the 1860s through the 1920s. The library’s two-millionth book acquired in 2004 was the true first edition of “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. The oldest book in their possession is medieval manuscript leaves, which date back to the mid-1100s. The collection of books also has a large collection of modern day comic books and graphic novels. Thomas said that there is a good collection of comics from the 1990s to present, while anything before 1970 is spotty.

“Much of the collection comes from donations, so we rely a lot on comic book collectors,” Thomas said. “Although our materials do not circulate outside of the department, everyone is welcome to use the books that we have. People come in all the time, reading through the comics and science fiction novels that we have here.”

More Information – http://www.ulib.niu.edu/rbsc/

David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library

The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library, located in Swen Parson Hall, offers in-depth, research-level coverage in more than 32 areas of American law and study-level coverage of almost all other areas. Coverage of international, European Union and British law is available for study. Law students are able to look at selected government documents, as well as have access to Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis and many other Web-based legal resources.

Southeast Asia Collection

The Southeast Asia Collection is located on the fourth floor of Founders Memorial Library, just across from the Regional History Center. The collection includes books, documents, journals, newspapers, pamphlets and other materials published in, or concerning, the countries of Southeast Asia.

The collection has scholarly books and other publications in many disciplines, with special emphasis on the social sciences, the humanities and the arts. Nearly all countries and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia are represented in the library holdings.

“We have a pretty strong collection of Southeast Asian library materials, also one of the strongest [academic] programs in the country in regards to Southeast Asia,” said Hao Phan, Southeast Asian studies curator.

For more Information on the Donn V. Hart Southeast Asia Collection: http://www.ulib.niu.edu/rbsc/hartsea.htm