New Exhibit & Online Gallery Highlight 1974 Xenia Tornado

Fifty years ago – on April 3, 1974 – an F-5 tornado tore through the heart of Xenia, killing 33 people and injuring more than 1,300 others. It bulldozed a path more than a half-mile wide, destroying or damaging more than 1,400 buildings, including 1,200 homes, dozens of businesses, 10 churches, and several schools. By the time it lifted into the sky near Cedarville, it left behind more than $100 million of damage in Greene County.

The Xenia tornado was part of a super outbreak, when 148 twisters swept across several states, killing 335 people in a 16-hour period on April 3-4, 1974. It still ranks as one of the largest natural disasters in American history, with Xenia the hardest hit community.

A new exhibit in our reading room commemorates the 1974 Xenia tornado, with photographs from our Dayton Daily News Archive. The exhibit was created by one of our student assistants, Darrell Blevins, who is also a graduate student in the Wright State University Master of History, Public History concentration, which trains future archivists and museum professionals.

Xenia Tornado 50th Anniversary Exhibit by Darrell Blevins

In addition to a curated display of photographs and information, more than 100 additional tornado photographs will also available for visitors to browse during their visit. No appointment is needed, just stop by any time during our open hours. This exhibit is free and open to the public.

Archival photo binders with more than 100 additional pictures will also be available for visitors to browse if they wish. No appointment (and no gloves!) required.

This exhibit will be available through at least the end of April 2024.

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A more permanent and widely accessible visual resource is our 1974 Xenia Tornado online gallery in CORE Scholar, the university’s institutional repository. This online resource, available for free worldwide to anyone with internet access, includes more than 50 specially selected photographs, also from the Dayton Daily News Archive.

Screen shot of CORE Scholar 1974 Xenia tornado online gallery landing page

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Additional sources of interest for history of the 1974 Xenia tornado:

If you have questions about the exhibit, the digital gallery, the tornado, or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

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SCA Head Jane Wildermuth Named Interim University Librarian

Please join us in congratulating Jane Wildermuth, our Head of Special Collections & Archives, on being named Interim University Librarian here at the Wright State University Libraries.

The email communication below was sent this afternoon by Dr. Amy Thompson, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and we look forward to a WSU News Room article coming out soon!

Jane Wildermuth

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Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Jane Wildermuth, head of Special Collections and Archives in the Wright State University Libraries, has agreed to serve as interim university librarian. Ms. Wildermuth will oversee the University Libraries’ daily operations until a permanent university librarian is appointed.

She replaces Karen Wilhoit, who retired at the end of February.

Ms. Wildermuth has worked for the Wright State University Libraries for 25 years. In 2020, she was named the head of Special Collections and Archives, overseeing Wright State’s world-class historical collections, digitization projects for the Libraries and Wright State, and CORE Scholar, the university’s institutional repository.

Ms. Wildermuth joined the University Libraries in 1999 as an archivist in Special Collections and Archives. In 2006, she created and served as the head of Digital Initiatives and Repository Services.

Please join me in welcoming Jane Wildermuth to her new role at Wright State University.

Best, Amy Thompson, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

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If you would like to contact Jane directly to share your congratulations, view Jane’s contact information in the university directory.

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Great-Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi Visits the Archives

Yesterday, we had the honor and privilege to share our special collections with Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, famous leader of several nonviolent protests that helped effect India’s independence from Great Britain in 1947.

The Special Collections & Archives tour was the kickoff of a full day’s schedule of events for Mr. Gandhi to enjoy here at Wright State University. Just after our tour, Mr. Gandhi delivered the 2024 Earl H. Morris Endowed Lecture on the impact of Mahatma Gandhi on Dr. Martin Luther King’s fight for human rights and his efforts to address global health care disparities.

We shared a specially curated selection of items from our more than 1200 manuscript collections, focusing on the themes of peace, global health and nutrition, and of course the Wright Brothers. We highlighted materials from collections such as the Reed Smith Wright State University Peace Studies Collection; Dayton Peace Action Committee Records; Dayton Council on World Affairs Records; Dayton: A Peace Process Collection; the Ambassador Tony Hall Papers; and the Alice Carr Papers, just to name a few. We even have original photographic negatives documenting the proceedings at the Dayton Peace Agreement, held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1995, in the Dayton Daily News Archive.

A great lover of history, Mr. Gandhi has been touring various libraries, archives, museums, and historical sites throughout the Miami Valley during his two-week visit, including the International Peace Museum and the Dayton Metro Library.

For more information about Mr. Tushar Gandhi’s visit to Wright State, please see the Wright State News Room.

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