Walter Havighurst Special Collections included in $2.3 million estate gift
By Josh Chapin, assistant director editorial services, university advancement
View full story at ForLoveandHonor.org
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OXFORD, Ohio — Miami University today announced an estate gift of more than $2.3 million to benefit both the Department of Geography and University Libraries. The gift will support the Walter Havighurst Special Collections housed at King Library, as well as enhance the teaching and research programs for the Department of Geography.
The gift was made by the late Ruth McConnell ’46, who graduated from Miami with a bachelor’s degree in literature and later obtained her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. She retired as an administrative assistant from Stanford University in 1985. The gift is part of the Wallace and Della McConnell Memorial Fund, established by Ruth to honor her parents. Wallace McConnell was the geography chair at Miami from 1946-52 and taught and researched at the university starting in 1918.
The Walter Havighurst Special Collections are named for a writer and professor of English at Miami from 1928-69. The Havighurst Special Collections preserve and make accessible volumes and documents covering a variety of subject areas and historical periods, ranging from rare collections of Russian history and English literature to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s Myaamia Collection and an extensive postcard collection.
“The Walter Havighurst Special Collections and our archival collections are laboratories for the humanities, offering our students hands-on experiences with records and treasures from the past,” said Jerome Conley, dean and university librarian. “Ms. McConnell’s gift joins the support of a long line of alumni and friends whose generosity allows us to preserve and enhance these rare and important collections that advance the liberal arts and help inspire informed citizens and lifelong learners.”
