Blast from the Past
Buried treasure
(not anymore)
SOMETIME BETWEEN 2:00 A.M. AND 6:30 A.M. on November 13, 2007, an anonymous person left a purple Rubbermaid tub on the steps of Cudahy Library. A circulation worker found it when she arrived to open the building that morning. The box said only, "Donation for the Loyola University Archives." Kathy Young, University archivist, was the first to open the box, and she couldn't believe her eyes. Inside, there was a University account book dating back to 1858 detailing Father Damen's money collection for the original school parish building. There were scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about Loyola, scientific lectures, and commencements. There were collections of photographs from the 1890s and a register of pupils at Holy Family Parish that included a young Charles Comiskey.
The items contained in the tub are invaluable to the University—some of the documents were thought to have been lost forever. "It is truly a treasure," says Young. The identity of the donor remains unknown, but whoever cared for these documents was quite conscientious. They are in fantastic condition.
Top: St. Ignatius baseball team, 1903
Middle: Natural History collection, 1904
Bottom: President's Office, H. J. Dumbach, S.J., 1904, taken two years before he purchased the land that would become the Lake Shore Campus