About the Transportation Library
Founded in 1958, the Transportation Library supports the research and educational needs of Northwestern University students and faculty, as well as a global community of transportation researchers. Supporting the research of our students and faculty is central to our mission, activities, and the development of our collections, which number over 500,000 items, and which are curated to support cutting-edge research in all transportation modalities including air, rail, highway, water, urban transport and logistics. Our digitization efforts, online exhibits, and social media platforms are produced to connect and promote our collections to a worldwide audience.
Collections in this Exhibit
George M. Foster Timetable Collection
Lawrence M. Nagin Airline Menu and Memorabilia Collection
The Lawrence M. Nagin Airline Menu and Memorabilia Collection is a unique collection of transportation materials centered on the aviation industry of the late 20th century. Lawrence M. Nagin (1941-2009) was an airline executive with tenures at various airlines, notably Tiger Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways. The collection is not limited to materials related to Lawrence Nagin’s professional career; a second component of the collection includes various materials from the travels of Lawrence Nagin and his wife Sherrie Nagin.
Transportation Library Menu Collection
The Transportation Library Menu Collection is accessible in its entirety online. The collection comprises some 400 menus from 54 national and international airline carriers, cruise ships, and railroad companies, dating from 1929 to the present, beginning with a gift to the library by pioneering anthropologist and Northwestern University alumnus George M. Foster and later expanded from other sources. Foster collected hundreds of menus on travels around the world, both in his work as an anthropologist and as a consultant for such agencies as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Transportation Library Annual Report Collection
The library’s collection of more than 18,000 annual reports documents the financial and operational history of transportation companies around the world from the 1820s to the present, and is discoverable through the library’s catalog.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Transportation Library Director Roberto Sarmiento for enabling the library’s online exhibit program, as well for editorial support, advice, and input in executing 747 Anniversary.
Our exhibits would not be possible without the materials generously donated by library patrons including George M. Foster and Lawrence M. Nagin, whose thoughtfully curated collections are instrumental in our exhibit program and our efforts at making our collections interesting, accessible, and relevant to a broad audience.
Additional thanks to Northwestern University Libraries’ Copyright Librarian Liz Hamilton, as well as Clare Roccaforte, Lauren McKeen, and the rest of the Library Marketing & Communications team for their continued support of the Transportation Library’s exhibit program.
– Rachel Cole, Transportation Library Public Services Librarian, Exhibit Curator
Online Exhibits from the Transportation Library
Independence in the Air: African Aviation in the 1960s
As nations throughout Africa attained their independence in the 1960s and surrounding decades, the establishment of national airlines soon followed. These airlines served important functions in connecting regions underserved by rail and road infrastructure. Equally as important, they served as symbols of national identity, economic expansion, modernity, and technological advancement. Independence in the Air looks at the history of African airlines through materials from the collections of the Transportation Library and the Herskovits Library of African Studies.
On Board with Design
On Board with Design: Passenger Transportation and Graphic Design in the Mid-20th Century draws from the special and circulating collections at Northwestern University’s Transportation Library to highlight examples of branding and graphic design in the form of passenger ephemera such as menus, timetables, and ticket envelopes, as well as through the library’s extensive collection of annual reports.
Lovers of the Open Road and the Flying Wheel
In the spring of 1915, three motorists departed Iowa in a Model T for a journey to the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. This photo, taken between Woodbine and Logan on the Lincoln Highway, is the second photo in an album of over one hundred photos documenting the trip, which is in our collection and is the subject of the online exhibition Lovers of the Open Road and the Flying Wheel.
Bicycles on Paper
As it is today, the bicycle at the turn of the 20th century was a form of transportation, recreation, amusement, and a creator of community. The online exhibit Bicycles on Paper looks at bicycles in all of these forms through printed matter in the collection of Northwestern University’s Transportation Library.
O'Hare @ 50
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of O’Hare International Airport in 2013, the Northwestern University Transportation Library, using its collections and staff resources, developed the digital exhibit O’Hare @50, presenting copies of unique airport planning documents, research and archival resources.
Rights
Northwestern University Libraries is dedicated to the fair and ethical preservation, digitization, curation, and use of its collections. This exhibit is made available to the public under Fair Use (Section 107 of the Copyright Act) for learning and teaching purposes, as well as to promote the mission and activities of Northwestern University Libraries (ARL Code of Best Practices in Fair Use). Northwestern University Libraries does not claim the copyright of any materials in this collection. If you are the copyright holder of any item(s) in this collection or have questions, comments or concerns about this exhibit, please contact us via email at library@northwestern.edu.
More Information
Items in the exhibit are housed at Northwestern University’s Transportation Library. Email transportationlibrary@northwestern.edu with questions, or to schedule an appointment.