IIT Archives Valerie A. Metzler records, 1974-1993

In 1977 IIT created a university institutional archives in the basement (room 31) of Perlstein Hall, to which records were transferred. William T. Covington, a 1976 IIT graduate in Chemistry, was hired as its archivist and records manager. He remained in that position until June 1982. By around 1987 the "Perlstein Hall Archives" held 690 linear feet of manuscripts and 13 linear feet of publications.

At approximately the same time (1977) the Special Collections unit of Kemper (now Paul V. Galvin) Library listed archives as a component of its collecting scope. By 1987 that archives contained 120 linear feet of material.

In 1985 Special Collections Librarian Anita Anderson was charged with the task of integrating the Perstein Hall archives into her own archives. She assumed oversight of the Perlstein Hall collections, but shared de facto control with the IIT Centennial Office (under Elzabeth Kaye) from 1987 to 1989.

In 1988 Galvin Library resumed concerted efforts to create a single IIT Archives. Northwestern University Archivist Patrick Quinn was consulted and grant funds secured from the Joyce Foundation. Contractual archivist and historian Valerie A. Metzler was hired as the IIT University Archivist in April 1989 and reported to Jerome A. Lom, Assistant Director of IIT Libraries. Though there would not be a regular, full-time University Archivist until late 1998, Metzler (who served until December 1993) was clearly IIT's "establishing archivist" (a phrase offered by herself). She instituted professional archival standards and practices, which included assigning accession numbers to record transfers and donations.

Metzler's also coordinated the removal of the Perlstein Hall archives to the IITRI Tower (room 2C4-1), which was accomplished in October 1989. Containing 2033 square feet, the room was provided rent-free to Galvin Library for use by the IIT Archives. In January 1991 the expanded archives was finally moved to Galvin Library’s north central stacks—six years after initial plans to move it to Galvin--where it absorbed more of the archival materials formerly under the care of Special Collections. The archives' office, reading room and work area were placed in a ground floor room adjacent to the library's circulation desk.

In the April 1992 edition of "Booklines," the Galvin Library staff newsletter, Metzler wrote that the IIT Archives held "artifacts, art work, audiotapes, film, negatives, photographs, scrapbooks, slides, videotapes, documents and various IIT publications. There is approximately 600 cubic feet of archival material in the Archives with dates spanning IIT's 100 years of existence since the beginning of Lewis and Armour Institutes." She further stated that the archives was utilizing MINARET, a MARC-AM compatible software, before concluding that she was "processing the collection, establishing policies and procedures, and answering your reference inquiries on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. through 1:30 p.m." Another defining characteristic of the Metzler years was elimination of duplicates and “extraneous material” (her words). She was so effective in this that she kept the collection (even with new accessions) roughly the same size as inherited from W.T. Covington.

When Metzler left IIT at the end of 1993 the University Archives continued, but without a professional archivist until 1998; librarians (up to and including the Director of Libraries Sohair Elbaz Wastawy) provided reference service for its collections. This temporaryu lapse in staffing was no doubt connected with the larger institutional context. Lewis Collens, IIT’s president since 1990, inherited a precarious financial posture and sought new avenues for support. The National Commission for IIT was created; its 1994 report heralded a successful coordination of new philanthropy with cooperation from the City of Chicago and other governmental bodies. By the end of the decade the university was on much firmer ground, and among many new staff positions created was one for a permanent, full-time, professional University Archivist. In late 1998 Catherine Bruck was hired and served until her retirement on March 1, 2015.