Start: November 14, 2025 3 p.m.
End: November 14, 2025 4 p.m.
Location: Bracken Library, second floor
Learn More about the Exhibit
Contact Details
Lindsey Vesperry
(765) 285-5078
This year the Archives and Special Collections put on a display of Steve Bell’s collection. "From the Newsroom to the Classroom: The Life and Lessons of Professor Steve Bell” at the Archives and Special Collections is more than a tribute, it’s a living archive of a journalist whose life and career mirrored the most pivotal moments in American history. The display follows his life through the items Bell and his family donated to the archives and was curated by his granddaughter, Samantha Politinsky, who is the current E. Ruth Dunning Graduate Assistant for the Archives and Special Collections. The exhibit’s first cases trace Bell’s origins, a small-town football player from Iowa who married his high school sweetheart who happened to have a knack for public speaking. His first major story was in Omaha, Nebraska where his Emmy-winning documentary The Outsiders spotlighted high school dropouts. He soon left Omaha to start reporting from New York and Washington.
The University Libraries will hold an opening ceremony commemorating Bell and the newly installed exhibit on Friday, November 14th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, located at the Archives and Special Collections, Bracken Library Room 210. Refreshments will be served.
The exhibit will be on display outside of the Archives and Special Collections on the second floor of Bracken Library until June 30th, 2026.