Lorado Taft Library/Materials Center, 1988, 1996, no date

The Lorado Taft Field Campus records are divided into four series: Eagle’s Nest Art Colony, Lorado Taft Field Campus, Outdoor Education Programs and National Camp, and Oral History Tapes. The first series consists of records documenting life at the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony which occupied the campus site near Oregon, Illinois from 1898 to 1942. Articles by and about Lorado Taft and the other members of the Eagle’s Nest Association, as well as photographs of the members and scenes of life in the colony make up this series. Also included here is information on Taft’s “Blackhawk” statue and other artworks produced by members of the colony. A collection of original glass lantern slides of the Eagle’s Nest Colony, donated by Lorado Taft’s grandson Bertram Taft Smith in 1984, completes this series. The Lorado Taft Field Campus materials comprise the major portion of this collection. The earliest records date to 1950 with the acquisition of the property, and continues through the 1990's. Histories of the campus, publications including newsletters and journals, meeting minutes, course descriptions and handbooks, information on the Masters Program in Outdoor Teacher Education, program reviews, correspondence, biographical information, as well as photographs of the campus, faculty, students and activities are included in this series. The materials in series three date from 1931 to 1993 and focus on the broader theme of outdoor education and the National Camp for Professional Leadership in Camping. Also found in this series is material donated by Dr. E. DeAlton Partridge, a leader in outdoor education, which includes documents and photographs relating to the 1942 national camp, and others involved in outdoor education. Oral history tapes made during the 1960's through 1980's make up the bulk of the final series. Also included are tapes on various subjects relating to outdoor education and recordings of sounds in nature. An inventory listing the titles or subjects of the tapes is found in Folder 1, of Box 19. Additional information on the Outdoor Education Program at the Lorado Taft Field Campus, and the original deed to Eagle’s Nest can be found in the Education College Records (UA 22). Other University Archives collections which contain related information include the Presidents’ Papers (UA 4), Provost Office (UA 16), the papers of Paul E. Harrison, first director of the Lorado Taft Field Campus (UA 18), and a thesis by Nancy C. Swanson, “The Acquisition and Development of the Lorado Taft Field Campus,” 1968.