WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Libraries will feature an exhibit of founding father John Purdue and the university's 140-year history during the April dedication of its new Archives and Special Collections center.
The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center will focus its grand opening around the exhibit, "Portrait of a Founder: John Purdue and Purdue University," which is running from April 3 to July 16. Irena McCammon Scott, Purdue's great-great-grandniece and author of "Uncle: My Journey with John Purdue," will give a lecture that is free and open to the public at 7 p.m. April 21 in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. A reception and tours of the new facility will follow the lecture, and these events will serve as the public grand opening for the center.
Archives and Special Collections will also be open for special hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday (April 18) in celebration of Spring Fest to allow the public more of an opportunity to experience the new facility.
The $2.7 million, 15,000-square-foot Karnes center is located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education Library in Stewart Center. The new center brings Purdue's archival collections together into one centralized, state-of-the-art facility. The space features an entry hall/exhibit space, a researcher reading room, an instruction center, a processing center for receiving new materials, and offices for staff and faculty members.
"The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center will serve as a focal point of Purdue's rich past as an institution and of individuals who have contributed greatly not just to this university but to the world," said James L. Mullins, Purdue Libraries dean. "As we celebrate the center's opening, it's fitting that we would show off the 140-year heritage that has made Purdue respected around the world."
That heritage includes a rich flight tradition, of which Archives and Special Collections has recently added significant historical contributions. Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and Eugene A. Cernan, the most recent person to do so, have donated personal papers to Purdue within the last six months. Those additions join the George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, the world's largest compilation of papers, memorabilia and artifacts related to the late aviator who was the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Archives and Special Collections also houses the papers of Ralph Johnson, a 1930 Purdue graduate in mechanical engineering and flight pioneer who was the first person to document aircraft landing procedures that are still used today.