Founded on the rich educational heritage of the Cherokee Nation, NSU dates back to 1909. Its 200-acre campus resides in a natural setting of native oaks, redbuds and dogwoods, and provides a broad array of learning, undergraduate, graduate and professional doctoral degree programs.
Originally constructed as a two-story building in 1948 and expanded to three stories in 1966, NSU’s John Vaughan Library was renovated in 1996. Although the library has been updated and expanded to serve the demands of information technology, it remains a historic structure.
Inside this structure, towering shelves stand filled with books. Each book provides the look, feel and smell most people have grown accustomed to. Its special collections contain a wealth of data on Native American and regional history. It also includes a genealogy room with materials available to individuals tracing their ancestry.
In the east wing of the library, Room 156, unique materials are stored in, what is known as University Archives. These materials exist nowhere else and are important in documenting the history of the University. Not many know the archives exist.
“I was a senior before I knew about this stuff,” said Brenda Kaye Cochran, archives assistant. “I wish more students knew about it.”
Some may consider it commonplace to house official publications of the university (such as yearbooks, handbooks, catalogs, newspapers, programs, class schedules, directories, etc.) in the archives; however other items stored within the archives are not so common.
A handwritten letter from Andrew Jackson and the Bible belonging to Florence Wilson, principle of the Cherokee Female Seminary, are a few artifacts stored within the archives. Other items include: time capsule items, dating back to 1847; items from the 1920s museum, old maps, yearbooks, photos of Tahlequah, phonebooks and photos dating back to the 1870s.
These photos consist of Seminarians from both the female and male seminary. Also included are reports and letters from the old Baptist and Presbyterian missions. April 10, 1887, a fire occurred, burning the Female Seminary to the ground. Few books survived, however Florence Wilson saved the grade books, dated from 1876 – 1905, both from the male and female seminaries. These books, along with several other items and documents from the past, lie within the archives.
“What’s past is prologue,” William Shakespeare.
History repeats itself and continually influences the present.
“If you understand the past, you are more likely to understand the future,” said Victoria Sheffler, university archivist.
Within the archive walls lay stories captured in pages of books and timeless photos.
These treasures tell stories from the past, from another era…..and await the future.
The University Archives is open 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For information on the services of the Archives, call Sheffler, at (918) 456-5511, ext 3220.
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