Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center

03/27/2026

Something new is coming…

Downtown Davenport Business District Greetings, Dear Primary Selections from Special Collections Readers, We have bittersweet news to share about our blog. Due to the upcoming Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA requirements for state and local governments to ensure digital accessibility, we have been developing a new blog that will make our content "Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR)." …...

Downtown Davenport Business District Greetings, Dear Primary Selections from Special Collections Readers, We have bittersweet news to share about our blog. Due to the upcoming Web Content Accessibi…

03/26/2026

Marlys Svendsen and kids on tour, "Kids and Architecture," Summer 1987.

From her obituary, published in the Quad-City Times on Tuesday, March 24, 2026:

"A noted historian, author, and historic preservationist, Marlys worked for both local and state governments in Iowa before starting her own consulting business, Svendsen Tyler, Inc., in 1988. She authored multiple books on history and architecture, including Davenport: A Pictorial History. During her long career, she worked on numerous projects across the Midwest and successfully nominated scores of residential neighborhoods and downtown areas for official recognition as historic districts, as well as taking major roles in historic preservation projects such as Brucemore in Cedar Rapids, Terrace Hill in Des Moines, Bishop's House Inn in Davenport, and multiple projects in Iowa City. She was later recruited by Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management and helped coordinate flood mitigation and other historic preservation assistance to communities after natural disasters. Marlys' focus was on buildings, but she believed that historic preservation was first and foremost about people."

02/20/2026

Preserving Local Music: Louis Bellson in the Fredlo Collection

Davenport’s Historic Fredlo Studio Shows its Roots Through an Historic Undocumented Jazz Recording In May 2023, Special Collections staff applied and were awarded the State Historical Society of Iowa's Historical Resource Development Program (HRDP) Grant. With this grant, we strove to digitize and make the Fredlo Recording Studios Collection accessible. The project was completed in 2025. Now, we are ready to share this collection of Quad Cities music history through stories about individuals, groups/bands, ensembles, and other unique contributions....

Davenport’s Historic Fredlo Studio Shows its Roots Through an Historic Undocumented Jazz Recording In May 2023, Special Collections staff applied and were awarded the State Historical Society of Io…

02/09/2026

Celebrate Week by picking up a take-home kit! We have designed a coloring kit for you to enjoy and learn more about our area's local history collections in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. Twenty kits will be available for pick up at Davenport Public Library at Main, Davenport Public Library at Fairmount, and Davenport Public Library at Eastern. Kits are available to pick up through Friday, February 13th, while supplies last!

Included in each kit is:

a 4-count package of crayons
a coloring booklet
a black and white sticker to color
a mystery bonus prize

https://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/colorourcollections/

02/02/2026

Read our blog post about Groundhog Day 1875 in Davenport https://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/2011/02/01/the-groundhogs-revenge/

01/30/2026

The Contemporary Club Papers

The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center is pleased to be working with the Contemporary Club to make its papers more readily available to the public for research. Since the autumn of 1896, the members of the Contemporary Club have gathered in Davenport, as their chosen name would suggest, "for the purpose of studying and discussing topics of timely interest." The first series of papers read before the Club (1896-1897) was printed so that they "should be preserved in a more permanent shape" in a limited edition of 100 copies....

The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center is pleased to be working with the Contemporary Club to make its papers more readily available to the public for research. Since the autumn of 1896, …

01/16/2026

Davenport’s West Side Branch: Fairmount’s 20th Anniversary!

On January 14, 2006, Davenport's new library branch opened to the public! It was the first new addition to the Davenport Public Library's facilities since the additions of the bookmobile and Annie Wittenmyer Branch. The Davenport Public Library desired to expand its services since the 1960s. With the 2001 Branching Out Campaign agreement between the City of Davenport, the Davenport Public Library's Board of Trustees, and the Friends of the Davenport Public Library, this dream was coming to fruition....

On January 14, 2006, Davenport’s new library branch opened to the public! It was the first new addition to the Davenport Public Library’s facilities since the additions of the bookmobil…

01/08/2026

100 Years of Father Edward Catich

Edward Michael Catich was born in Stevensville, Montana on January 4, 1906. Father Catich began working at St. Ambrose University in 1939, where he was professor of math & engineering as well as art & music. He became internationally renowned as a calligrapher, typographer, stone-cutter, and stained glass artist. The Rev. Edward M. Catich died April 14, 1979 in Davenport, Iowa....

Edward Michael Catich was born in Stevensville, Montana on January 4, 1906. Father Catich began working at St. Ambrose University in 1939, where he was professor of math & engineering…

12/30/2025

Ringing in the Old

As we approach the New Year, we are featuring some old-but-new books in the RSSC Center’s collection. They are “old” because they have been here in the library for many years, and more obviously, because they were published in the mid-1800s. Yet they are “new” to us because during our recent move, we discovered them amongst materials belonging to our longtime partners, the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society (SCIGS), and also because they give us fresh information about the reading lives of 19th-century Davenporters....

As we approach the New Year, we are featuring some old-but-new books in the RSSC Center’s collection. They are “old” because they have been here in the library for many years, and more obviously, b…

12/23/2025

Celebrating the Richardson-Sloane Special Collection Center’s Grand Reopening

On December 12, 2025, the staff of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center celebrated their new space on the second floor with an open house. Many wonderful guests joined us in marking this momentous event for the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. From a single room on the first floor in 1982, the Special Collections’ original location, Special Collections expanded after years of effort and dedication....

On December 12, 2025, the staff of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center celebrated their new space on the second floor with an open house. Many wonderful guests joined us in marking thi…

12/19/2025

Happy Holidays from Special Collections: Christmas images from Velma Schmidt

Velma Schmidt was born in Davenport, Iowa on March 6, 1886 to Oswald and Agatha (Bruhn) Schmidt. Her father, one of the owners of the Roddewig-Schmidt Candy Company, named a chocolate candy after his oldest child and only daughter. "Velma" chocolates became very popular locally and were sold in sweet, bitter-sweet, and milk chocolate varieties. The Roddewig and Schmidt families also owned the highly successful…...

Velma Schmidt was born in Davenport, Iowa on March 6, 1886 to Oswald and Agatha (Bruhn) Schmidt. Her father, one of the owners of the Roddewig-Schmidt Candy Company, named a chocolate candy after h…

12/11/2025

Just Shelved: 2025 County & City Directories

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The 2025 Scott County Iowa Farm & Home Plat & Directory and the 2025 Davenport City Directory are now available in Special Collections. The Scott County Plat & Directory has been published by Farm and Home Publishers since 1987. We also have older Scott County directories by various other publishers. Published by…...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The 2025 Scott County Iowa Farm & Home Plat & Directory and the 2025 Davenport City Directory are now available in Special Collections. The S…