John Kleinschmidt Collection of Grinnell Local History.
Biographical note:
John Kleinschmidt was professor of French at Grinnell College from 1948 until his retirement in 1977. Following his retirement, he devoted his energies to studying the history of the Grinnell community and became widely known for his knowledge of town architecture, culture, and people. Following his death in 2000, many of the photographs and historical documentation he collected were donated to the Department of Special Collections and Archives.
Scope & Content:
Professor Kleinschmidt amassed countless photocopies, copies of microfilm and Sanborn maps, copies of newspaper articles, correspondence, and black and white photographs of local buildings (residences, commercial, college). In the 1990s, Professor Kleinschmidt expressed his interest in having his collection deposited with the Grinnell College Archives. Members of the Grinnell Historic Preservation Commission (Lisa Adkins, Don Irving, Cheryl Neubert), conducted interviews with him to access much of his accumulated knowledge about this history of the town, the occupants and the buildings.
Quantity: 9 archives boxes and 5 flat boxes of photographs.
Provenance:
Donated to the Department of Special Collections and Archives in 2000.
Suggested citation: John Kleinschmidt papers, Grinnell College Libraries, Department of Special Collections, Grinnell, Iowa. Ms.01.39.
Contents:
Series 1: Exhibit
Series 2: Subject files
buildings
residences
Series 3 Photographs
Series 1.
Series 1 consists of items from Grinnell College Plat Maps, 1883-32, a display sponsored by Grinnell College as part of the College sesquicentennial celebration and curated by John Kleinschmidt, with assistance from Karla Niehus. It was displayed at the Grinnell Community Art Gallery November 22- December 13, 1996. Items included copies of Sanborn maps of Grinnell College area, photographs and captions, and descriptive material.
Items are arranged in the box in the order in which they were displayed around the wall in the Community At Center. Each item is numbered on the verso. Some photographs came from Kleinschmid's personal collection. Other photos are from the College Archives and were filmed by Jack Robertson and printed by Midwest Photo Co. of Omaha. Most in the latter category have an Archive location number for the original indicated on the verso.
Item Number
1 Poster of the exhibit
2 Iowa College at Grinnell. ca. 1908. Poster of views of town and college
3 Preface and introduction from a book about Sanborn maps (title not indicated), 16 sheets
4 Corner of Broad and Fourth, 1880 and 1899, 2 photos.
5 Iowa pavilion at St. Louis expo, 1904. 1 photo.
6 Grinnell school on Fourth Ave., 1 photo ca. 1900.
7 Congregational Church and high school, Fourth Ave., early 1900s. 1 photo.
8 Rebuilding campus, 1883, 1 photo.
9 Sanborn maps of campus, 1883.
10 Campus ca. 1888-1900. 4 photos: campus from south campus from north, Goodnow, Blair.
11 Sanborn maps of campus, 1888
12 President’s house, campus form Sixth Ave., Mears, all late 19th century
13 Sanborn map, 1893
14 Rand gym. 1 photo
15 Sanborn map, 1898
16 Steiner and chapel under construction, chapel, Carnegie, men's gym and fountain, all ca.1906. 4 photos
17 Mears, ca. 1906 and 1986; Steiner ca. 1906. 4 photos.
18 Sanborn map, 1906
19 Botanical garden (after 1901), central campus ca. 1910. 2 photos.
20 Sanborn maps (2), full size, updated, possible 1922: campus and sections east of campus.
21 Then and now: photos: 1127 Park ca. 1899 and 1987; Gates/Rawson tower pre 1976 and ca. 1990. Three snapshots
"now" scenes.
22 Sanborn maps (3), campus 1922.
23 Park St. between 6th and 7th Ave. (winter snow), street with elms, Darby.
24 Sanborn map, 1932
25 Photos of exhibit, Nov. 1996
26 Photos used in the exhibit; 6 unidentified scenes, most probably taken from photo albums.
27 Negatives and proof sheets of pictures reproduced from College Archives. Twelve negatives of Sanborn maps used in this exhibition.
Series 1 processed by Anne Kintner
Series 2 Processed by Cheryl Neubert. 2004
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