Dunn, O. C. (Oliver Charles), 1909-

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: August 11, 1909 - July 21, 1998

Biographical Information

Oliver C. Dunn was born in 1909 in California. He earned his Bachelors (1930) and Masters (1934) from Stanford and his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1937. In 1948, he also earned a Bachelors of Library Science from Berkeley. Dunn began his career as associate director of libraries at the California Institute of Technology. In 1953, he moved to West Lafayette and became the assistant director and later associate director of libraries at Purdue until his retirement in 1975. After retiring, he was granted professor emeritus status at Purdue.

Notable points of his career include the planning and developing of libraries in Peru, India, Columbia, and Lebanon. Dunn's interests included architecture, landscape design, antiquarian books, and the history of exploration, and he was a member of the Hakluyt Society and the Society for the History of Discoveries. He passed away at age 88 on July 21, 1998.

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:

Collection of Tycho Brahe engravings

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSP 326

Scope and Contents

The Collection of Tycho Brahe engravings (1 flat case file; 1662) contains 15 engravings (all on paper) that were once pages from Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Major. The engravings illustrate Brahe’s astronomical instruments and observations from his observatories, Uraniborg and Stjerneborg, in Hven, Sweden. Some of the paper contains two different watermarks: an elephant and Christ.

Dates: 1662; Majority of material found in 1662; Other: Date acquired: 07/11/2013

Found in: Purdue University Archives and Special Collections

Oliver C. Dunn papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSF 526

Scope and Contents This collection includes a brief history of Purdue University Libraries as well as correspondence, floor plans, purchase orders, statistics, and related materials on various Purdue Libraries: Aero Library, Agricultural Economics Library, Black Cultural Center, Chemistry Library Expansion, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Library, Civil Engineering Library in Grissom, Electrical Engineering Library, Engineering Library collections, Engineering Science Library, Home Economics Library,...

Dates: 1951-1972

Found in: Purdue University Archives and Special Collections

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 0000IIT1

Scope and Contents Materials relating to Purdue University's work with the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. Records appear to primarily relate to the activities of Oliver Dunn (Purdue Libraries) and other library staff in contributing to the planning and creation for the library at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. The majority of papers relate to purchasing books for the new library, as well as procedures for library staff. Information is also included on the early years of the Indian...

Dates: 1962 - 1972

Found in: Purdue University Archives and Special Collections