David Letterman donates 1,000 items to Ball State University
MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Ball State University employees are working to preserve and document hundreds of items donated to the university by David Letterman.
He’s giving items from his comedic career as a late-night host to his alma mater. Letterman was a student at Ball State University in the 1960s.
According to the university, the collection includes around 1,000 items. They include memorabilia from the time Letterman was a student at Ball State all the way to his retirement.
Photos, recordings, awards and set pieces are just some of the donated items. Ball State is now working to document and preserve them all.
“It is awe inspiring to think about all the history here,” said Michael Szajewski, assistant dean for Digital Scholarship and Special Collections at Ball State University.
On Monday, he showed 24-Hour News 8 some of the most notable items in the collection.
“It is fascinating. Just the people, the celebrities, the influential people who are documented in this collection, who you see intersecting and interacting with Dave and his life and career. … It really speaks to how prominent he was, how successful he was,” said Szajewski.
Now pieces of that successful career are back on the campus where it all started.
“There’s any number of institutions that David Letterman could’ve contributed these to, so for him to contribute them to his alma mater at Ball State, it is just a special relationship that we have, and we are very thankful,” said Sazjewski.
The university is still working to figure out the best way to display all of these items but say they will be available for students, community members and researchers to view.
Many of the old air checks from early in his career will also be digitized.
This story will be updated as soon as more information about the exhibit is released.