The 19th of an edition of only 22, this book was handcrafted and is bound by Chinese bamboo skewers. The illustrations are hand-colored Chinese paper cuts, created with scissors or an engraving knife and very thin rice paper, part of a Chinese folk art tradition that dates back to the 6th century A.D.
Rare Book Collection
Open Page from book
Decorative Box
The Howard W. Wildin Sheet Music Collection contains nearly 20,000 pieces of original American popular sheet music dating back to the mid-19th century including several hundred published musical and film song folios, musical artist folios, musical genre folios, and dance folios. Mr. Wildin collected the materials over many years and continues to acquire more. Eventually, the entire collection will be scanned and, as restricted by copyright laws, those 75 years old and older will be available online. Funding for this project was provided by Howard W. Wildin. See: http://digital.gonzaga.edu to view the collection.
Howard W. Wildin Collection of American Popular Sheet Music
First Page of Latvian Socialst Labor Federation Minutes
This book contains the minutes of the meetings of the Latvian (Lettish) Socialist Labor Federation of America between 1906 and 1918, recorded in Lettish. The group met in Seattle. It is unknown how this item came to the vault.
Manuscript Collections
Second Page of Latvian Socialist Labor Federation Minutes
In the early 20th century, some optometrists attempted to treat heterophoria (the condition of the eyes resting at different angles) by “training” their patients to “cultivate” normal binocular vision using stereoscopic charts and a stereoscope phorometer, seen here. This practice was unsuccessful and is no longer used. We are unsure how this item arrived in the vault.
This wood-covered autograph book belonged to Gonzaga’s nineteenth president, Father Francis Corkery, S. J., and contains the autographs of President Harry S. Truman, the First Lady, Bess Truman, and their daughter Margaret. President Truman gave a speech on civil rights at Gonzaga on May 11, 1950, after attending the dedication of the Grand Coulee Dam, and was awarded a Citation of Merit by Father Corkery. He was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Gonzaga.
Autographs of Harry S. Truman, Bess Truman, and MargaretTruman
Close-up of Autographs of Harry S. Truman, Bess Truman, and Margaret Truman
The book also contains an autograph of Bing Crosby, dated August 12, 1948, accompanied by a note reading, “Congratulations to Gonzaga on the wonderful progress she’s making.” There is also an autographed note from Hector Chevigny, GU alumnus and well-known writer.
Gonzaga University Archives
Note and Autograph from Bing Crosby
Madonna Hall opened in 1954 as the first dedicated women’s residence hall at Gonzaga and provided its residents with a book full of rules and regulations for “living up to the demands of your life as a student at Gonzaga University.” For example, women were “not permitted to appear in the Cafeteria in slacks or Bermudas [long shorts], nor with hair pinned up—she would hardly make an attractive dinner companion,” and were warned that “[after] a date, a prolonged goodnight outside the door is not in good taste nor advisable.”
University Archives
First page of ABC's of Living in Madonna Hall pamphlet
Selected page from ABC's of Living in Madonna Hall
While World War II was waged in Europe, Gonzaga offered a Civilian Flight Course as well as an Aeronautical Option in Mechanical Engineering for students seeking careers in aviation. Beginning in the 1939-1940 academic year, students who completed the Civilian Pilot Training course, including 72 hours of ground school and 35 hours of flight training at Spokane’s Felts Field, could obtain a private flying license. The following year, the Aeronautical Option was introduced; however, both of these offerings were suspended once the United States entered WWII.
University Archives
First page of the Aviation brochure
Second page of the Aviation brochure (of two pages)
Back of Aviation pamphlet