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Bloomington, Illinois plat books, 1831-1972
Dating to the founding of Bloomington, these plat maps functioned as the city's official record of property ownership. * Please note that it is not necessary to transcribe text found within the plat maps. We are asking for assistance in transcribing the titles and text below the plats only. *
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Celestia Rice and June Rose Colby Collection
Two remarkable women serve as the nexus for this digital collection. The first, Celestia Rice Colby, was born to a well-to-do Ohio farming family in 1827. She became one of the first girls to be schooled at the prestigious Grand River Institute and parlayed the knowledge she gained there into a...
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Illinois State Normal University financial ledger, 1857-1899
This remarkable ledger records the earliest expenditures of the fledgling Illinois State Normal University, including the purchase of desks, chalkboards, and books for the library, as well as such mundanities as the cost of digging a privy for the first building on campus ($18) and the number of...
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Illinois State Normal University United War Work Campaign subscriber list, 1918
The 1918 United War Work Campaign was a nationwide funding drive conducted over the course of a single week which sought to raise the astounding sum of $170.5 million for entertainments to raise the morale of U.S. troops in World War I. Collectively, the faculty, staff, and students rasied...
Jesse Fell Civil War paymaster records
Jesse W. Fell's (1808-1887) hugely successful land speculation deals has led to him being credited as the founder of several central Illinois towns and counties, as well as Illinois State (Normal) University. During the Civil War, Fell's Quaker faith prevented him from serving as a soldier. He...
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P. T. Barnum letters
Business and personal correspondence from the original "greatest showman."
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Ringling Bros. Collection
During the first half of the twentieth century the American circus saw massive crowds charmed by the traveling shows that fanned out across the nation. Behind the Big Top, there was a massive business operation that allowed the industry to flourish. This collection contains financial records and...
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Ringling Brothers Circus Outside Newspapers list, 1910-1917
Documents newspapers along routes traveled by the Ringling Bros. Circus for which the circus provided complementary tickets in exchange for advertisements.