Special Collections and Archives

A New Home for Wright State University’s Special Collections and Archives

When the family of former Ohio governor and Dayton Daily News founder James M. Cox decided to donate his manuscript collection to Wright State University in 1967, the university’s Special Collections and Archives was born.

More than 50 years later, Wright State University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives are entering a new era and hopefully, one day soon, a new facility. Currently housed in two separate buildings of the Wright State University Libraries, we have run out of adequate space for our world-class collections.

Scholars and aviation experts come to Wright State from around the globe to see our renowned Wright Brothers Collection, first-edition works by Dayton poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, the archives of the Dayton Daily News, and countless other historic treasures.

To properly preserve and protect these priceless memories of our past, we need to relocate our Special Collections and Archives to a new home. 

The new home for Special Collections and Archives will include:

• A reading room where students, scholars, and visitors may examine historic materials in an up close and personal way
• An exhibit gallery housing rotating exhibitions that highlight the depth and breadth of our collections
• A conference room for lectures, meetings, and special events
• A classroom to welcome area school children and students from Wright State’s public history graduate program
• A preservation lab, processing room, clean room, and exhibit prep room that will give staff the tools and space they need to adequately care for our region’s history

The facility will also provide the proper storage and climate control to preserve our historic materials for generations to come.

Above all else, it will bring history to life and celebrate the legacies of the trailblazers and pioneers who shaped the history of our region and beyond.

To help create the new home for Wright State University’s Special Collections and Archives, please contact:

Bill Bigham
Interim Vice President for Advancement
937-775-3694
bill.bigham@wright.edu

Special Collections and Archives news

Online Wright Brothers Day will celebrate university and community innovators

October 2, 2020

Although the annual Wright Brothers Day shifted to a web-based format, the event will still celebrate innovative research from Wright State faculty and local organizations.

A hell of a ration

Donald McKinney Wallace, WWI, and the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918

September 22, 2020

When Donald McKinney Wallace enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1918, he did not expect to spend most of his term of service in the hospital quarantined in his barracks with the Spanish flu.

Book smart

Wright State Libraries' Special Collections and Archives creates an aviation history workbook for schoolchildren

September 1, 2020

The workbook highlights many of the aviation collections available at Wright State Libraries' Special Collections and Archives, while also providing information on aviators from the region.

View All Special Collections and Archives news

Conceptual Plans and Renderings

• Special Collections and Archives Conceptual Floor Plans (PDF)
• Special Collections and Archives Conceptual Renderings (PDF)