Special Collections and Archives Highlights

Between July 2024 and June 2025, Special Collections and Archives (SCA) engaged with Wright State students, faculty, and staff, as well as community members from the Miami Valley region, across Ohio, the United States, and internationally. We assisted a wide range of researchers both in-person and virtually, fulfilling more than 1,700 reference and media requests, and providing access to over 1,385 boxes of archival materials for research and outreach purposes. 

We welcomed a variety of special guests for tours highlighting our renowned aviation and local history collections. Guests included members of Wright State's Board of Trustees, the Air Education and Training

Command's USAF Civic Leaders Program, the Beavercreek Historical Society, the C.J. McLin, Jr. Scholars Association, historians from Maxwell AFB Air Force Historical Research Agency, representatives of the Berry Family Foundation, and best-selling author Tracey Enerson Wood. 

SCA collaborated with undergraduate and graduate classes in history, political science, education, and public history, offering instruction on conducting research with primary sources. In partnership with the College of Health, Education, and Human Services (CHEHS), SCA led multiple workshops on teaching with primary sources for "Future Teachers" and "Literacy Launch" events. To help guide future archivists, SCA supported career interview sessions for

students interested in the archival profession, provided capstone and internship experiences, and moderated at the Public History Symposium. SCA staff also judged at Ohio's History Day Regionals. 

 Outreach

SCA participated in over 90 outreach activities this year reaching over 1, 500 attendees through exhibits, special events and tours, instruction sessions, and mentoring. We created over a dozen exhibits for both on- and off-campus venues.

SCA continued our collaboration with the Air Force Museum Foundation, sharing exhibits highlighting materials from our collections for its "After Dark" event series. Exhibits included One Small Step (moon landing, for the "Cosmic Camp" theme,), Keen on Love and Dancing (James Keen photos of World War II era WPAFB couples dancing for the "Swing the Night Away" theme), and Building Bombers, Making Brews (airplanes and Dayton breweries for the "Bomber and Brews" theme).

It was also a special year to create an Exhibit titled When the World Watched Dayton: A Local Perspective on

the Dayton Peace Talks displayed for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly discussion panel and concert by the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra in the Creative Arts Center on May 27, 2025. 

We also created a variety of exhibits within the library, including the Katharine Wright exhibit featuring original photographs and letters in celebration of her150^th birthday, What is 'The Archives'?, and Black Aviators exhibits near the library entrance, and a new

rotating Treasure Box exhibit featuring topics such as the founding of Wright State. An exhibit for the Friends of the Libraries Luncheon, Stirring Up Memories, showcased historical cookbooks from the archives spanning the 19^th-21^st centuries. We also hosted Public History student exhibits in the reading room, and partnered with the Wright State Marketing Club to present an interactive exhibit at Wright Brothers Day.                      

SCA staff contributed research, writing, and images in Wright State Magazine, showcasing the university's collections and history. We also joined the America 250-Ohio Air and Space Trail made up of 40 museums and historic sites available to visit and learn about Ohio's contributions to aviation and aerospace.

Grants

SCA was awarded three grants this year to enhance the preservation, accessibility, and visibility of our collections. The first grant from the Friends of the Libraries ($2,000) funded the acquisition of a 16mm film projector upgraded to digitize 16mm film to HD, providing SCA an in-house option for digitizing film in our most common format. The second was an LSTA Conservation and Preservation grant ($4,999) through the State Library of Ohio in partnership with the Ohio Preservation Council, funding conservation treatment to structurally stabilize three artifacts in the Wright Brothers Collection: Milton Wright's 1912 Diary documenting Wilbur Wright's death, the U.S. Army Signal Corps contract for the first airplane purchased by the U.S. military, and the Callizo Photograph Album of Wilbur Wright's demonstration flights in Pau, France, dated 1909. In addition, SCA mad significant progress in fulfilling the requirements of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) grant ($75,000) ending in the coming fiscal year, for facility renovations to improve the preservation environment. UV filter film was installed on windows in the archives, window roller shade installation, and contractor bids were received for work to install LED lights, enclose the atrium side of the collections area, and install a secure and more aesthetic entrance door. The third grant, an Echo Labs Captioning Grant (value of $49,490.90), provided 250 hours of transcription in multiple file formats to enhance accessibility for 466 digitized audio and video items. The transcriptions will allow us to share more audio and video content in CORE Scholar.

Collections

The Board of Trustees approved SCA's updated collection policy, providing clearer definitions of our collecting areas and criteria. Additionally, SCA is working with the State Archives to return the local government records--placed on deposit many years ago--to their originating offices, regional archives within the locality, or the State Archives.

Highlights of archival collections processed and made available this year include Marjorie Stinson's Diary(SC-393) dated June 1914 in which she wrote during her experience training at the Wright School of Aviation. Also processed was a digitized collection of postcards collected by Milton Wright (nephew of Wilbur and Orville Wright), the originals of which were temporarily loaned by the Wright family for SCA to digitize for online access in CORE Scholar. The postcards offer insight into the travels of Milton's famous family members spanning 1904-1912.

Materials Now in CORE Scholar

 

Katharine Wright's Correspondence with Agnes Beck (SC-97)

The collection consists of eight letters written by Katharine Wright to her friend, Agnes Beck, dating from September 22, 1908 through February 21, 1929. The letters discuss Wilbur and Orville Wright, their flights, the Wright Family, and other personal matters.

Katharine Wright Letters to Florence Guthrie (SC-117)

Personal letters from Katharine Wright to close friend, Mrs. J.B. Guthrie (Florence), written in 1911 and 1914 referencing daily life, family visitors, and news of Wilbur, Orville, and her father, Milton Wright.

Milton Wright Postcards (MS-711)

The collection features 111 postcards collected by Milton Wright (1892-1961), nephew of aviation pioneers Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine Wright. Milton was the eldest child of Lorin Wright and Ivonette (Stokes) Wright. Born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 8, 1892, Milton graduated from Steele High School in 1910 and later attended Miami University. In 1917, he married Ann Grosvenor (1896-1959), and the couple had two sons: Milton Wright Jr. (1920-2005) and George Wilkinson "Wick" Wright (1922-1999). The postcards primarily date from 1905 to 1912, with several undated. Many were sent by family and friends, including Milton's well-known uncles and aunt - Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine Wright - and were postmarked from both domestic and international locations. The original postcards remain in the possession of the Wright family. Digitization and online access were made possible with their permission.