HIRAM: Hiram College has received a $10,000 grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation in New York to digitize its collection on James A. Garfield.
The one-year grant provides part of the funding needed to convert the collection, which contains thousands of original handwritten and other documents, journals, records and photos from Garfield’s life. The collection includes documents from his time as president of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, the precursor of Hiram College, and some papers from his brief time as president of the United States.
The digitized records will be made available to the public electronically through the OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons, a consortium of 88 Ohio academic libraries in partnership with the State Library.
Hiram archivist Jennifer Morrow said many of the materials in the collection are fragile with age and the digitization will ensure that they are preserved. Previously, special permission was needed to view the documents, which are stored in the Hiram College library’s climate-controlled archives.
Garfield was a student and later president of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. He also represented Hiram and surrounding areas in the Ohio General Assembly and U.S. House of Representatives before being elected president in 1880. He was assassinated in 1881.
