Libraries

Special Collections

Special Collections documents the cultural, economic, and natural heritage of west-central Illinois. Special-interest centers include: the Center for Regional Authors, the Baxter-Snyder Center for Icarian Studies, and the Center for Hancock County History, including the Mormon Collection. Publications of the Decker Press and a number of Civil War Manuscripts are a significant part of Special Collections. Also included are collections related to naturalist Elton Fawkes, singer Burl Ives, historian Philip D. Jordan, and congressmen Thomas Railsback and Lane Evans, among others. A vast amount of other regional materials, such as county and town histories, oral history tapes, diaries, letters, maps, photographs, and newspaper clippings augment Special Collections, reflecting life as it once was, and now is, in west-central Illinois.


Digital Collections

Selected items &/or guides from Special Collections have been digitized, including:

  • Decker Press Collection

  • Digital Image Collection (WIU / West Central Illinois)

  • Historical Society Newsletters (West Central Illinois)

  • Lincoln Publications (@ WIU)

  • Oral History Collection (WIU / West Central Illinois)

  • Regional History Collection (West Central Illinois)

  • Regional Maps Collection (West Central Illinois)


    • Finding Aids

    Counties:

    Adams

    Brown

    Calhoun

    Fulton

    Hancock

    Henderson

    Henry

    Knox

    McDonough

    Mercer

    Peoria

    Pike

    Rock Island

    Schuyler

    Stark

    Warren