History of the Collection
Oberlin College Library Special Collections holds many of Thornton Wilder's works, including several signed first editions. Many of these were given as gifts to Professor of English Charles Wager (1869-1939) who taught at Oberlin College from 1900 to 1935.
Charles Wager
Photo Courtesy of the Oberlin College Archives
As a former student of Wager's, Thornton Wilder gave many copies of his books to his former mentor, and some of these have gift inscriptions and letters tipped in from Wilder. Most of Charles Wager's library, which included many rare books, was given as a gift to Oberlin College Library in 1949 by his widow Annie, and for many years occupied the shelves in the English seminar room (known as the Wager Room) of the old Carnegie Library.
A seminar class held in the Wager Room of Carnegie Library in the 1950s. A portrait of Charles Wager hangs on the wall.