NIU and Kishwaukee College students and others in DeKalb County interested in local history may be shocked at how extensive the historical archives are at the Joiner History Room in the Sycamore Public Library.

“Outside of the Regional History Center at the Founders Memorial Library, the Joiner Room is the next best archival resource in the DeKalb-Sycamore area,” said local historian Steve Bigolin, author of “Journey Through DeKalb County.”

“It has the answers to most people’s questions about their families and local history,” said DeKalb County historian Phyllis Kelley.

Fortunately for historians, DeKalb never has had a fire that would have destroyed county records, so more records have been handed down.

The “historical materials date back to the handwritten minutes of the first session of the County Commissioners in 1837,” according to the Joiner Room Web site.

Although Civil War-era papers and pictures are the highlight of the collection, Kelley said other resources at the archives include newspaper files, numerous boxes of manuscripts and five albums worth of DeKalb County postcards.

The Joiner Room is named for Earl and Ralph Joiner, a father/son team that held the office of DeKalb County clerk for 50 years between 1926 and 1976.

“It was long Ralph Joiner’s dream that the old records and other memorabilia scattered throughout the court house could find a new home together, and he tagged numerous items with notes to ‘Save for Museum,’” according to the Joiner Room Web site.

In the early 1980s, under the direction of DeKalb County clerk Terry Desmond, Kelley spent 18 months sorting, cataloging and indexing the contents of the old vaults, which comprise the bulk of materials in the Joiner History Room.

Judge Rex Meilinger, who spearheaded the restoration of the DeKalb County Courthouse in 1988, promised the DeKalb County Historical Society and local history buffs there would be space in the courthouse to hold historical archives.

In the basement of the courthouse in the spring of 1989, 400 square feet were converted into the Joiner Room.

On April 19, 1989, Kelley was named DeKalb County historian by the County Board of Supervisors, and on May 4 the room was opened to the public and dedicated to Ralph Joiner, his wife Bertha and his father Earl for their efforts in preserving the county’s historical documents.

In June of 1998, the collection was relocated to Sycamore’s Carnegie Library Building, which was built in 1905.

Currently, the DeKalb County Board, DeKalb County Judiciary, DeKalb County Clerk’s Office, DeKalb County Central Plant, DeKalb County Sesquicentennial Committee, DeKalb County Historical and Genealogical Society and Sycamore Public Library give some form of support to the Joiner Room.

Many townships, school groups and small towns in DeKalb County have subsequently donated their archives to the Joiner Room, making it a storehouse of county-wide knowledge.

The Joiner History Room is staffed by volunteers and funded by donations and grants, with hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.