Wabash President Frank Sparks’ passport and the pocket watch that belonged to Professor Bill Placher’s father are among the artifacts and souvenirs from the Wabash Archives and other contributors on this map that once hung in a Baxter Hall classroom.

WM Designer Becky Wendt re-discovered the map in a Baxter Hall closet (thanks to Division III Senior Administrative Assistant Pam Sacco), where dozens of old maps were stored after the recent renovation.

Then she reached out to Archivist Beth Swift and others for items from the travels of members of the Wabash family.

Here are those contributors and the pieces they provided for the story:

Political Science Professor Ethan Hollander gave us coins and bills from his travels—coins and dollars from Hong Kong, yuan from China, pesos from Cuba, sheckels from Israel, franks from France and a reichsmark from Germany (the latter two no longer in circulations.

Ethan and Professor Dan Rogers led students on an immersion experience to Cuba in 2013.

Economics Professor Christie Byun contributed tickets from museums in Egypt and a business card from a bookbinder there. You can read about one of her most interesting moments in that country in “Take a Leap of Faith” in this edition, and hear more at Wabash On My Mind: http://apple.co/2i8IytN

WM Editor Steve Charles provided coins and bills from Kenya, Mexico, and Bangladesh. The money from Kenya and Mexico was left over from covering Wabash immersion experiences in Chiapas in 2001 and Africa in 2011 (see photos here.) Professors Bill Cook ’66 and Rick Warner will return to Kenya with students this coming spring semester.

Director of Communications and Marketing Kim Johnson contributed a rock from Matanuska Glacier, Alaska, which she acquired while covering Professor Byun’s class and immersion experience in that state. Our top photographer, Kim also lent some old cameras, lenses, and a lens case from the Communications “archives.”

Archivist Beth Swift came back with the visual and historical highlights of the layout. Among the artifacts:

•  Religion and Philosophy Professor Bill Placher’s father’s pocket watch, one of many pieces in the collection from the beloved professor’s collection (check out Placher’s parliament of owls the next time you visit the archives).

•  from the collection of Will Hays, Jr. ’37, a Guide to Paris and postcards from a trip to California Will took when he was a boy.

• Passports that belonged to President Frank Sparks ’56 and his wife, Abbie.

Associate Director of Communications Richard Paige offered a few pens from hotels where he stayed covering the University of Arizona basketball team.  Those travels include stops across the country and destinations like Australia and the Bahamas. Rich recalls some of the more memorable hotels and moments in a WM Online Exclusive.

Videographer and Digital Content Editor Adam Phipps ’11 offered his journal (written in Italian) from his study abroad in Italy and a ticket from train trip to Eastern Europe. Adam recalls that trip from Romanian castles to Auschwitz in this WM Online Exclusive.

WM Graphic Designer Becky Wendt included her mother’s Eiffel Tower souvenir, which her brother acquired while photographing the monument for the lighting design company for which he worked.