John Walker Duff (1888-1974) was the second of seven children born to Peter C. and Fannie E. (Walker) Duff in Normal, Illinois. A track and football star while a student at Normal High School, Duff was drafted into World War I at the tail end of the conflict.
The World War I Illinois State Normal University Service Records collection is filled with stories of heroism from ISNU students and staff, collected by our first librarian, Ange Milner. Milner also collected files from Black students who participated in the war effort in America and in Europe, and who faced the terrors of war while not be treated as equals from their superior officers and other white soldiers.
Women in 1912-19 were heavily involved in the war effort. They served on the homefront sewing clothes, gathering supplies, etc., and some went overseas to help in Europe. Ada Adcock was one of several Illinois State Normal University women featured in ISNU’s World War I service records collection who experienced the horrors of war from the front lines.
Explore the World War I experiences of Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) students, faculty, staff, and alumni through letters, photographs, questionnaires, news clippings, postcards, and other primary sources preserved by Milner Library’s namesake, Angeline “Ange” Vernon Milner (1856-1928) in the World War I Illinois State Normal University Service Records.
The Illinois State Historical Society named April 12 Minnie Vautrin Day to commemorate the ISNU alum for her actions in protecting ten thousand Chinese women and children during the Imperial Japanese occupation of Nanking during the Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s.
In the third installment of Milner Library recognizing the women of Illinois State Normal University and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, this article focuses on librarians in honor of National Library Week.
March is Women’s History Month, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. To commemorate, this is the first in a series of articles honoring the women of Illinois State Normal University.
Milner Library has partnered with From the Page, a crowdsourced transcription service, to transcribe hundreds of handwritten historical documents, such as diary entries, postcards, letters, and photo captions.
Milner Library Digitization Center, in conjunction with the Dr. Jo Ann Rayfield Archives and ISU ReD, seeks Illinois State alumni and current or former faculty and staff persons from minoritized backgrounds interested in being interviewed for Milner Library’s ongoing oral history project.
The Civil Service Council will feature a civil service employee at Illinois State University each month to highlight an exceptional colleague and the outstanding work being done on campus! This month get a chance to learn about and applaud Karmine Beecroft, digitization coordinator for Milner Library.
