The Carpenters

Since my last blog entry was a bit serious, I thought in this one I'd share a very fun factoid. On Halloween in 1974, as part of the Homecoming festivities for the year, the Carpenters performed at North Central College in Pfeiffer Hall.

Light damage

I'm moving a bit away from normal College history fact for this entry. First I have to credit my husband with the idea for this post. He was in my office and noticed some faded pictures tacked on my bulletin board and asked how old they were. He was shocked to find out they're just 3 years old - "they look like something my mom has from the 70s".

Here is the original image as taken in the fall of 2005 right before we moved to our newly renovated archives space in the lower level of Oesterle Library. (just a note -all the little green tags were prepping for the move - we don't actually have those all over the place now!)



This image is a scan I did today of an ink-jet print onto photo paper that I used for a display in fall of 2005. I've left these photos tacked up on my bulletin board under flourescent lights since then. And to be honest, not as any full-on experiment - more, it's just a reminder of how cramped we used to be - I completely and every day marvel at my new space. Who knew I could get so excited about shelving and tables?!?

I'm not specifically a preservation specialist, but I did make you aware of the impermanence of home ink-jet printers. I'm not saying don't use them - they're great for convenience and what they can do. I just want to point out that photographic prints from these are generally far more susceptible to light damage (and you probably already know what happens if water gets dumped on them) - so you will have the knowledge to be careful about storage and access if your prints are something you want to keep long-term.

I do encourage anyone on campus that is having photographs made for framing and hanging on the wall to invest in professional processing. While it's all mostly digital now, the product that you're able to get from the professional processing machines are far more permanent than what you can do at home. And, especially if you're paying to have something framed - it's worth the extra step of paying for the photo as well!

Fort Payne

Since we're seeing a sudden increase in questions about Fort Payne and the historical marker, I figured I'd share with everyone what I know about it. The physical marker erected in 1964 still stands on the Fort Hill area of campus. Specifically it is behind Ward Hall at the top of the hill overlooking the pond.

According to Genevieve Towsley's "A View of Historic Naperville", the area of land south of Chicago Avenue where Ellsworth Street ends was the site of Fort Payne. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, the early citizens of Naperville evacuated to Fort Dearborn (Chicago) following massacres at other settlements. Upon their return, they urged the building of a fort for protection - it was named Fort Payne to honor the commanding officer at the fort. In 1836, Lewis Ellsworth bought the land, built his home on the site of the old fort, and called it "Fort Hill". He ran a store in town, but did eventually sold it and established the DuPage County Nurseries. After Ellsworth's death in 1885, the estate was sold to the John Batten family who remained there until 1902, when Judge John Goodwin purchased the estate.

The Goodwins built a new home in the southern colonial style on the site of the original Ellsworth home and called their estate Heatherton. North Central students often used Heatherton/Fort Hill as picnic and outdoor recreation areas. The same night that Judge Goodwin passed away in 1920, the house was destroyed by fire. In 1924, North Central College (then called North-Western College) purchased the estate and since then this area has been known as Fort Hill providing the campus with athletic fields and residence halls.