CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image: Eastern Illinois State Normal, Charleston, Ill.

The Booth Library Postcard Collection has as its focus the rich history of Illinois communities. The collection is especially rich in both interior and exterior views of buildings for schools, institutes, colleges, and universities. Additionally, photographs of students and teachers are included when available. This collection was developed in conjunction with the Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries project resident at Booth Library. Funded by the LSTA program of the Illinois State Library in 2006 and 2009 and by Eastern Illinois University, these postcards illustrate the history of libraries across the state.

At present, the digital collection contains images of nearly 4,000 postcards, front and back, more than 40% of which were used for correspondence. The collection home page features custom searches retrieving results for public libraries in Illinois, academic libraries in Illinois, Carnegie libraries in Illinois, and library interiors.

The featured postcard is an example of a Litho-Chrome, a continuous tone lithography card printed in Germany between 1906 and 1909 for the American News Company of New York, N.Y. The front of the card depicts the north façade of “Old Main,” now named the Livingston C. Lord Administration Building, on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. Built under the auspices of Governor Altgeld, George H. Miller and Alexander Briggs ultimately served as supervising architect and contractor, respectively, for the project. The building was designed in the Castellated Gothic style and constructed of Indiana Bedford limestone. The cornerstone was laid in 1896, and construction on the building was completed shortly before the opening of the Eastern Illinois State Normal School in September, 1899. The postmark on the divided back of the card shows that it was mailed from Charleston on May 16, 1911; the back also features a flag cancellation mark and a green, one-cent U.S. postage stamp bearing the profile of Benjamin Franklin.

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