Written by: Emma Boughman
The History and Political Studies Department at Southern Adventist University is working to preserve some of its historical items and raise money for those efforts through the university’s Giving Day program. The donation description on the Giving Day website mentions raising funds to preserve its World War I poster collection.
Lisa Clark Diller, the history professor in charge of the preservation project, wrote in an email to the Accent that the main purpose is to focus on the 130-plus World War I propaganda posters that are currently deteriorating in a storage that is not humidity-controlled. The posters were donated in 1980 by alumnus Ronald L. Numbers.
“When he moved into an old house in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, he found them in the attic and decided to donate them to the History Dept.,” Diller stated.
Around 20 of the posters are displayed around campus, while the rest are stored in drawers in the basement of McKee Library. The goal is to raise money so that Diller and her team can properly store or frame these posters.
“This is a many-years-long project that lately has been funded by the Academic Research Committee — to get the posters appraised and then gradually preserved as we can raise money,” Diller stated.
Some of the posters are now on display on the third floor of Brock Hall, and faculty in the History and Political Studies Department have digitized all of them for storage in an onlin earchive that students and others can access. Information related to each digital poster accompanies the files.
The archival process officially started in 2022. Many students and alumni have been drawing more attention to the posters, raising money to get them framed and writing information about them for the online archive, according to Diller.
“Last spring we had an art appraiser named Diane Mizell come out and find out how much they were worth, and she worked with some students, as well,” she stated.
Amy Van Arsdell, senior history major, and Eunice Obispo, senior political science major, were two students involved in the appraisal process, according to Diller. Deyse Bravo and Jessica Spears at McKee Library and history Professor Michael Weismeyer have also been working on the project.
The end goal, according to Diller, is to preserve these posters during storage so they can be displayed or studied by people wanting to learn about the war’s impact on the home front in the United States.
“We will have traveling displays and have students and faculty give presentations on the different posters and what they mean and how they reveal the way WWI changed the world,” Diller stated.
Assistant Professor of History Mills McArthur thinks Southern should expand the university’s archives and museums to preserve the university’s history.
He said he would love to see the “Old Yellow House” rebuilt, as it is one of Southern’s most iconic historic buildings. The Thatcher Mansion, built in the early 1800s by the family that originally owned the campus property, was converted into the girls’ dormitory and cafeteria in 1918 when Southern’s campus moved from Graysville to Thatcher Switch, which was later renamed Collegedale. The house stood until 1958.
“It would make for a visually appealing entry to campus along Apison Pike and could serve multiple functions as an archive, museum and welcome center,” McArthur stated.
Diller also mentioned a university archive. She stated that the biggest challenges of the poster preservation project have been collecting funds and that the university does not have an official archive or archivist position. Because of this, the history department has struggled with space and storage for historical items.
To view the posters in person, visit Brock Hall room 3009 to see framed originals, ask to see the collection in the basement of McKee Library or visit https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/wwiposters/ to view the digital versions.
