Ohio Wesleyan University Historical Collection

Mission Statement

The Ohio Wesleyan University Historical Collection exists to facilitate research related to the history of Ohio Wesleyan University by acquiring, preserving, and providing supervised access to historically significant materials by, about, or related to Ohio Wesleyan constituents.

Clientele

The Ohio Wesleyan University Historical Collection is available for supervised use to three main user groups:

1. the Ohio Wesleyan community - students, faculty, staff, alumni, and retirees;
2. the Delaware County community - adult residents, advanced high school students, and corporate users such as businesses and organizations; and,
3. students and scholars elsewhere whom we serve through interlibrary loan, cooperative and reciprocal agreements with other libraries, and by opening our collections for appropriate on-site use.

Because this collection is of interest mainly to those with ties to the University, the first priority of the collection is to serve the needs of the Ohio Wesleyan University.

Scope of Collection

The Ohio Wesleyan University Historical Collection contains books, pamphlets, and memorabilia which are valuable, and, in most instances, irreplaceable. Much of Ohio Wesleyan University history is preserved through the various collections: back files of student publications including the Wesleyan Collegian, The Owl, and The Transcript; college catalogs from both the Female College and Ohio Wesleyan University; copies of Le Bijou, the school annual, since the late 19th century; and a complete run of the Ohio Wesleyan Magazine. Photographs, student albums and scrapbooks, banners, beanies, canes, gavels, class rings, diplomas, etc. add to the historic value of the collection.