N.I.U. Library, Monthly Reports, 1976

SCOPE AND CONTENT The papers of Clyde C. Walton, former Director of University Libraries, Northern Illinois University, consist of three major series:  (A) Library Administration, (B) Personal and Professional Activities, and (C) Illinois Historic Preservation. Types of materials in the first series are correspondence, minutes, reports, and financial records which document Mr. Walton’s administration of the Northern Illinois University Libraries from 1967 to 1977.  Important topics covered in the series include library holdings, services, budget allocations, and construction plans for building Founders Memorial Library. Included in the second series are correspondence, minutes, financial reports, and programs from the following groups: the Provost Search Committee, the N.I.U. Foundation, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Student Code Committee, the Illinois Sesquicentennial and U.S. Bicentennial Commissions, the Abraham Lincoln Association, and the DeKalb Rotary Club. The final record series relates to Mr. Walton’s special interest and active participation in federal and state historic preservation programs.  This series documents the activities of the National Park Service, the Illinois Department of Conservation, the Illinois Historic Site Advisory Council, the Illinois Landmarks and Archeological Survey, and Illinois Architectural Resources from 1968-1977.  Materials include guidelines on historic preservation legislation, national historic sites applications and registers, comprehensive plans for preservation, as well as types of records similar to those in the preceding record series. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Clyde C. Walton was born in Chicago on March 8, 1925, attended Chicago public schools and graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1942.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, in 1948, and a M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1950. Walton began his library career in 1950 at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City.  There he served as Curator of Rare Books and University Archivist and later as head of the Reference Department.  In 1956 Walton accepted the dual post of State Historian and Executive Director of the Illinois State Historical Society.  He held these positions until July 1, 1967.As the State Historian for Illinois, Walton was responsible for a $5,500,000 project to restore the Old State Capitol and the development of the New Historical Library in Springfield.  During his tenure, Walton also served as the Secretary of the Illinois State Records Commission, the Secretary of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and the Chairman of the Springfield Historic Sites Commission. In July of 1967 Clyde Walton replace Bernadine Hanby as Director of University Libraries at Northern Illinois University.  Shortly after assuming the directorship, Walton began the long process of planning a new library building to service the rapidly growing campus community.  The construction and furnishing of Founders Memorial Library was the realization of that planning.  On October 31, 1977 Clyde C. Walton announced his resignation to become Dean of Libraries at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Editor of numerous books and articles, Clyde Walton edited the quarterly Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” Address (1958), An Illinois Gold Hunter in the Black Hills (1960), The Indian War of 1864 (1960), Private Smith’s Journal (1963), Behind the Guns (1965), and An Illinois Reader (Northern Illinois University Press, 1970).  In addition Walton founded Civil War History, a quarterly magazine published by the State University of Iowa (1955), and contributed to the books, Lincoln Images (Augustana College Press, 1960), and Lincoln for the Ages (Doubleday & Company, 1960). Mr. Walton was a member of the Chicago and Springfield Civil War Round Tables, the Caxton Club, the Sangamo Club, the American and Illinois Library Associations, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the American Association for State and Local History. Walton died Jan. 4, 2000 in San Jose, California.