In the depths of the bottom floor of the library exists a secret treasure of Fairfield University history.
Boxes upon boxes of memorabilia, books, article clippings and pictures from the start of the University in the 1940s to now are stored and reveal the school’s past. Previously, students would need to ask librarians to scour the room for any information they might be looking for on the University. As the world becomes more and more online friendly, so must the DiMenna-Nyselius library.
In one of its newest projects, the library has begun digitizing the special collections and archives for online viewing at digital.fairfield.edu.
Access Services Librarian and University Archivist Elise Bochinski shared her goal for the site.
“I’d like it to be a repository of student information of the university,” said Bochinski.
She considers the project to be her “baby” and has had some very exciting discoveries during the archiving process. One of her favorites is a picture she found of JFK when he was campaigning in 1960.
In the photograph, he waves to a crowd, and students can be seen holding a sign saying “Fairfield University Students for Kennedy-Johnson” in the background.
Another goal of the site, according to Bochinski, is to show student life throughout different time periods. Bochinski and work-study student Stephanie Stadig ’10 said a picture of two female students, whom they believe were Loyola Hall residents in the 1970s looking out a window with clothes hanging out to dry, is another one of their favorite pictures.
Stadig admits that she enjoys looking through the yearbooks and pictures to “see how the campus has transformed over time.”
But, the process is an extremely lengthy one. The archives needed to be organized and scanned to go online. In her two years of employment at the library, Stadig estimated that she has looked through about half to two-thirds of all the materials in the archives and special collections.
“I don’t think I’ll have gone through everything by the time I graduate,” she added.
Then there are the mystery photos that the staff has worked on to identify. Stadig will look to see if people overlap in pictures in order to discovery their identity.
“It’s basically like searching for a needle in a haystack,” she said.
Many of the people in the pictures have been identified through people contacting the University after viewing the pictures online and through meetings with the Golden Stags, Fairfield alumni who attended the University over 50 years ago.
The pictures can be entertaining to look through, but the main goal of the site is to give students easy access to the information.
“Students are very digital,” said Director of Library Services Joan Overfield. “It’s basically a gold mine of Fairfield’s history.”
Students can expect to see the historical documents by May, which will include; “The Fairfield University Charter,” signed by Governor Raymond E. Baldwin in May, 1945, “The Rector’s Memorandum” Book, 1942-1951 and letters from landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff regarding the Japanese Garden at Bellarmine Hall.
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