Publication Date

2-15-2016

Comments

A transcript of this interview is available for download above and to the right. The audio recording is embedded below. An essay summarizing themes that emerged from interviews conducted about Myers in 2016 is available: Portrait of a Collector: Reflections on an Influential Bibliophile.

This interview subject is affiliated with IWU and/or President Myers in the following ways: Professor of History, 1970-present.

Abstract

Young was on Myers' search committee and the two following. Young began collecting after Myers' death and may have been influenced by Myers' example. Young recalls the so-called U-Haul collection from the Corn Belt library system and a discussion with Myers about their potential value for IWU. He speculates how Myers would have felt about IWU's library changes. Young shares his opinions about libraries and disagrees with how Myers' collection was dispersed. Young recalls asking Myers to keep an eye out for a specific set Young was interested in; Myers called him about a year later when he spotted it in a local store. He tells a story of wanting to acquire a book from the auction that Myers once loaned him and how he couldn't buy the lot then but that he was eventually given a chance to buy it later. Young tells a stiry of a student researcher that Myers loaned books to (see also Sarah Vales Florentine interview). The interview concludes with several observation about Myers' and other presidents' leadership and personal characteristics over the time he's been at IWU.

Streaming Media

Duration

01:25:19

Keywords

personal characteristics, collector, auction, stamp, loans, eBay, libraries; leadership, Portrait of a Collector, Faculty

Disciplines

United States History

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