Expanding the Archives with Donor Support of Digital Collections

In September 2018, EWU alumnus Seth Dryden offered EWU Archives the opportunity to digitally preserve his collection of EWU football programs dating back to 1941. Needless to say, we took him up on his generous offer, creating a collection of football programs available through the EWU Libraries’ digital collections website. The collection features many notable names and moments from EWU football history. These include Meriel Michelson, who held the career rushing crown for 40 years, the 1967 NAIA championship game against Fairmont State, and a 1941 tilt against the now-defunct Gonzaga University football team.

Thanks to Dryden’s loan, digitization equipment funded by the Pi Kappa Alpha Fund (a fund created by alumni of the fraternity to support Special Collections), and the Libraries’ Digital Commons website, the EWU Libraries was able to expand our collection of programs, while allowing Dryden to hold onto his collection after the digital scanning process was complete. This is truly a win-win situation.

Do you have items of scholarly or regional importance? Are you curious about preserving or digitizing these items for the benefit of local, national, and global audiences? Visit the EWU Archives and Special Collections website to learn about how you can help grow our collection while preserving items from the past.