University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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The items in the Digital Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library contain materials which represent or depict sensitive topics or were written from perspectives using outdated or biased language. The Library condemns discrimination and hatred on any grounds. As a research library that supports the mission and values of this land grant institution, it is incumbent upon the University Library to preserve, describe, and provide access to materials to accurately document our past, support learning about it, and effect change in the present. In accordance with the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read statement, we do not censor our materials or prevent patrons from accessing them.

If you have questions regarding this statement or any content in the Library’s digital collections, please contact digitalcollections@lists.illinois.edu

American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at the University Library
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Showing 81–87 of 87 collections
  • Vincennes Oath
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
  • Westfield, Illinois, Photographs (Digitized content)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of the Westfield, Illinois, Photographs contains photographs in or near Westfield, Illinois, circa 1900-1930s. Woods, cornfields, farm animals, town events, and scenes along the North Fork of the Embarras (or "Embraw") River are pictured. About 350 photographs are mounted in two large volumes, many with notations as to their location. About 40 additional photographs are loose, a few identified. The majority of the pictures are of fields, farms, or woods, mainly in summertime, showing a variety of basswood, elm, sycamore, and white oak. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Westfield, Illinois, Photographs (MS 841). The collection was fully digitized in 2021. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.
  • Wilhelm Julius Grahn Diary and Note (Digitized Content)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of the Wilhelm Julius Grahn Diary and Note consists of a photocopied diary written by Grahn from 1870-1873, a partial translation of the diary, and a biographical sketch about Grahn written in 1965. Wilhelm Julius Grahn (1840-1930) immigrated to the United States in 1869 from German-speaking central Europe. He arrived in New York, and soon moved to Wisconsin where he enlisted in five years of military service in 1871. He was sent to Newport, Rhode Island, to Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Mississippi, and to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1879, he married Caroline Freimuth Trimpe and the couple moved onto 80 acres of prairie land in Clay County, Illinois. The digitized content contains a photocopied diary, a partial translation of the diary, and a biographical sketch. The diary was written by Wilhelm Julius Grahn from 1870-1873. In his writing, there is an emphasis on his faith in God through reading scripture, especially the New Testament, and singing hymns. He also describes camp life, problems with Native Americans leaving their reservations, and the garden he and other soldiers maintained at Camp Douglas. The biographical sketch was written in 1965. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Wilhelm Julius Grahn Diary and Note (MS 658). The collection was completely digitized in 2019. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.
  • The Witness (Digitized Microfilm)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of The Witness. (Digitized Microfilm) consists of publications from Volume 1 Issue 1 (1837) to Volume 2 Issue 26 (1843). The periodical was published in Ithaca, New York for the first four issues and then published in Putney, Vermont by editors J. H. Noyes and H. A. Noyes. The newspaper’s creator and editor, John Humphrey Noyes, was an American preacher and utopian socialist who founded the Bible Communists in 1836 in Putney, Vermont and the Oneida Community in 1848 in Oneida, New York. The digitized content contains periodical issues discussing Christian perfectionism, collective settlements in Putney, Vermont, complex marriage, and utopian socialism. Issues contain doctrinal essays by John Humphrey Noyes, contributions on spiritual topics by members of the community, essays on other religions and their comparison to Perfectionism, editorials, and testimonies. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the microfilm copies of The Witness (Digitized Microfilm). The collection was completely digitized in 2022. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.
  • Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), 10th Congressional District of Illinois, Records (Digitized Content)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), 10th Congressional District of Illinois, Records consists of a record book, dated 1883-1901, for the annual conventions of the group as well as records from executive committee meetings for the organization in select years. The Illinois W.C.T.U was founded in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1874 with the aim of promoting total abstinence from alcohol. In the decades that followed, county and local unions were established across the state. Annual Conventions for the 10th congressional district brought together representatives from both local and county unions in the area. These included the W.C.T.U. of Peoria County, Knox County, Stark County, Fulton County, and Marshall County, as well as numerous local unions. The digitized content documents the substance of the conventions, including devotions, discussions and proposals, paper presentations, reports of county and local unions, and resolutions passed. Specific efforts to engage the youth, such as "Bands of Hope" and "Y's" [Young W.C.T.U.] are also noted. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), 10th Congressional District of Illinois, Records (MS 405). The collection was completely digitized in 2020. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.
  • World's Columbian Exposition Stereographs (Digitized Content)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, Ill.) Stereographs consists of five stereograph cards, also called "stereoviews", from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The stereograph cards were photographed and published by B.W. Kilburn of Littleton, New Hampshire, in 1893. Stereographs were made in the 1850s and were popular from the 1870s-1920s. Stereoviews consist of two nearly identical photographs paired on thick card mounts, glass negatives, or daguerreotypes. When put through a stereoscope, the two images combine to create a three-dimensional single image to view. The digitized content contains the five cards that depict scenes at the fair, including images at the Horticultural Hall, Illinois State Building, California State Building, the Wool Exhibit at the Agricultural Building, and Puck (a character from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream) at the fair. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, Ill.) Stereographs (MS 1076). The collection was completely digitized in 2025. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.
  • World’s Columbian Exposition Watercolor Prints (Digitized Content)
    Illinois History and Lincoln Collections  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The digitized content of the World's Columbian Exposition Watercolor Prints consists of seventeen watercolor painting prints that depict scenes from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition before and during the fair. All but two prints were signed by thirteen different artists. Most of the prints were likely used as illustrations from the publication World’s Columbian Exposition. The book of the builders; being the chronicle of the origin and plan of the World’s Fair by Daniel Hudson Burnham and Francis Davis Millet, published in 1894. The digitized content contains seventeen watercolor painting prints. Four prints depict scenes during the construction of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition while the remaining prints depict various scenes during the fair’s run. These prints include murals and statues displayed at the fair as well as scenes showing spectators viewing different cultural events. The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the World's Columbian Exposition Watercolor Prints (MS 407). The collection was completely digitized in 2025. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.