Cataloging History: The Papers of Frank E. Stevens

The Dixon Public Library has a local history archival collection of letters and other papers of Frank E. Stevens. The collection consists of book contracts, correspondence, notes, newspaper articles, documents, and ancillary materials of Frank E. Stevens from the years 1832 to 1938.

Frank E. Stevens was a lawyer, banker, newspaper editor and writer based in Illinois. Stevens was born and educated in Dixon, Illinois. He studied law in Sycamore, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in 1877. Shortly after that he moved to South Dakota where he operated the Beadle County National Bank until 1890 when he moved to Chicago and worked in a brokerage business. In 1907, Stevens returned to Sycamore where he published the Dixon Weekly Citizen and later the Sycamore Tribune. He retired from the newspaper business in 1928 and was elected mayor of Sycamore in 1931. Governor Henry Horner appointed Stevens to the War Records Division of the office of the Adjutant General. Stevens was a historian who authored several historical works including The Black Hawk War.

One of the services of the Cataloging Maintenance Center is helping Illinois libraries catalog local history collections to make them available to the public. Eligible collections of material in most modern European languages can be accommodated. If you have such an item, the CMC may be able to help. Contact them at 618.656.3216 or visit their webpage.

Funding for the Cataloging Maintenance Center is provided through the Illinois State Library and the Secretary of State and administered by Illinois Heartland Library System. The CMC provides statewide cataloging support for Illinois libraries including free original and copy cataloging of eligible special collections, consultation on metadata projects, database cleanup for LLSAPs, cataloging training, and more. Learn more at www.illinoisheartland.org/cmc.