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Annie Oelschlager works for the Regional History Center and she took the following photos. Annie graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in Art History from NIU and subsequently earned a Museum Studies Certificate from NIU in December of 2007. She also has an associate's from Illinois Valley Community College.
The photos show a small number of the numerous thoughtful and caring items left at spontaneous memorials hundreds of people created on campus that are now saved in the Regional History Center.
Five ceramic angels, one for Gayle, Julianna, Catalina, Ryanne, and Daniel:
Five angel figurines holding roses:
Beanie Babies, one for Valentine's Day and another with angel wings:
Dan R., who signed as the Disc Golfing Man, left five discs, each addressed to all of the family members. In each message, he wrote,"I join in your sorrow yet have hope for tomorrow. God's Peace."
A knitted scarf which appears handmade with six hearts, creator unknown:
A stuffed bulldog wearing military fatigues, a hat, and a red and black ribbon, probably for Julianna Gehant, who served in the Army as a Sergeant First Class:
Two teddy bears wearing shirts that read: "DeKalb Firefighters, We Care, DeKalb Fire Department":
A Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity hat, in remembrance of Dan Parmenter:
A Huskie wearing an NIU scarf, with "Forward, Together Forward" written in black marker:
A rose constructed out of metal:
A pink stuffed bunny wears a Jesus Loves Me shirt. If one squeezes the paw it still plays the song, "Jesus Loves Me," despite being outside in the elements:
The pink stuffed bunny in context, where someone left it in the snow. Candles from a vigil melted holes in the snow, leaving behind a little wax next to red carnations. Photo by Kay Shelton:
A stained glass cross rests on a wooden stand. The words are from Matthew 11:28 from the Bible, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burderend, and I will give you rest." Someone added a Huskie ribbon sticker with the date 2.14.08. The sticker shows some wear from being outside in the elements:
Paper rainbows that someone or a group of people made appeared all over campus, including tucked into the door frames at Altgeld Hall, the site of several press conferences, and the Office of the President:
A Hokies for Huskies T-shirt from Virginia Tech, one of the countless actions that students and staff there did to help provide support and advice to NIU:
A red and black heart memorial:
Red and black NIU ribbons which appear handmade:
A stuffed dog with a red rose in its mouth:
A bear with a heart that reads, "We'll miss you Daniel Parmenter, Cathedral of Praise":
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