Yesterday, we had the honor and privilege to share our special collections with Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, famous leader of several nonviolent protests that helped effect India’s independence from Great Britain in 1947.
The Special Collections & Archives tour was the kickoff of a full day’s schedule of events for Mr. Gandhi to enjoy here at Wright State University. Just after our tour, Mr. Gandhi delivered the 2024 Earl H. Morris Endowed Lecture on the impact of Mahatma Gandhi on Dr. Martin Luther King’s fight for human rights and his efforts to address global health care disparities.
We shared a specially curated selection of items from our more than 1200 manuscript collections, focusing on the themes of peace, global health and nutrition, and of course the Wright Brothers. We highlighted materials from collections such as the Reed Smith Wright State University Peace Studies Collection; Dayton Peace Action Committee Records; Dayton Council on World Affairs Records; Dayton: A Peace Process Collection; the Ambassador Tony Hall Papers; and the Alice Carr Papers, just to name a few. We even have original photographic negatives documenting the proceedings at the Dayton Peace Agreement, held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1995, in the Dayton Daily News Archive.
A great lover of history, Mr. Gandhi has been touring various libraries, archives, museums, and historical sites throughout the Miami Valley during his two-week visit, including the International Peace Museum and the Dayton Metro Library.
For more information about Mr. Tushar Gandhi’s visit to Wright State, please see the Wright State News Room.