Focused on the "Campus School," a public school operated on Western's campus from 1899 to 1967, the joint project began in 2004. Outcomes included an exhibit at the Museum, "Teaching Learning-Learning Teaching: the Campus School, 1899-1967," displayed from June 10 to October 7, 2007," and a documentary video produced by Special Collections and Black Dog Productions, a local media production company. Marian Alexander, Head of Special Collections, and Tamara Belts, Special Collections Manager, served as executive and associate producer, respectively. Alexander also co-wrote the script for the 50 minute video, which included numerous images from Special Collections' Campus School Photograph Collection as well as personal reminiscences, including excerpts from oral histories, collected during the project.
At the request of the local historical society, Alexander also authored the first detailed history of the Campus School. Her article, "Model School: a History of the Campus School at Western Washington University, 1899-1967," was published in August as a special edition of the Journal of the Whatcom County Historical Society.
As part of the overall public relations effort for the project, which also included a reunion, Special Collections published a newsletter. Mailed to more that 1500 alumni, affiliates and interested others around the world, The Campus Schooler proved to be an effective vehicle for soliciting memorabilia and memories in both written and oral form, as well as contributions to a fund supporting the purchase of preservation resources for Campus School materials. As one component of preservation, Special Collections is presently developing a database of the Campus School Photograph Collection using ContentDM.
To see issues of The Campus Schooler, access an extensive photo gallery, as well as oral history transcripts, visit http://www.thecampusschool.com. For more information, contact Marian Alexander, Head of Special Collection, WWU Libraries, email Marian.Alexander@wwu.edu