Letterman memorabilia donated to BSU extensive

MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State University is still inventorying, appraising and researching more than 1,000 items donated to it by alumnus David Letterman.

The gift was announced during Letterman's appearance on campus with filmmakers Bennett Miller and Spike Jonze on Nov. 30, 2015. 

Inventory began to arrive in August of last year, "and we've also had … a couple of additional shipments come, some in January, some in May," said Stephanie Arrington, a member of the Ball State president's staff. "It's exciting."

The university library's archives and special collections office recently released a Top Ten list of things in the collection:

10. Twenty-seven commemorative "Late Night with David Letterman" and "Late Show with David Letterman" jackets, a limited number of which were handed out every year as Christmas gifts to staff and close friends.

9. Sixteen early-career photographs of Letterman as a stand-up comic and newscaster, 1970s.

8. A blue and gold "Late Show" marquee from the Ed Sullivan Theater.

7. Host desk, guest chairs, stage platform, etc.,from the set of "Late Show" at the Sullivan theater.

6. A collection of more than 50 audio, video and film recordings mostly documenting Letterman's early career, including his work at Ball State's WBST radio station and his work as a broadcaster and weather reporter at Indianapolis television station WLWI (now WTHR).

5. Photographs of Letterman with mentor Johnny Carson.

4. A letter from Letterman to radio announcer Gary Owens (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) seeking career advice, 1969.

3. Signed photographs from President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama of their guest appearances on the "Late Show."

2. Letterman's Kennedy Center Honor medal from 2012. Other honorees that year included actor Dustin Hoffman and Led Zeppelin's lead singer Robert Plant.

1. Fifteen Emmy Awards won by Letterman from "The David Letterman Show," "Late Night" and "The Late Show."

"This was the desk he used at the very end, the final set of the show," said Michael Szajewski, head of Ball State's archives and special collections. "Think about how many prominent celebrities have sat in those chairs."

Onstage in Muncie when the gift was announced, Letterman joked about how meaningful it would be for people to sit at the desk "and pretend to talk to an actor."

In reality, Ball State isn't the only institution that coveted such memorabilia from a man who eclipsed Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in America.

"… there was no question in his mind where he wanted this to go," Letterman's publicist Tom Keaney told The Star Press recently. "It was not even a discussion. He really felt strongly that it should all go to Ball State. As you can imagine, there were inquiries from esteemed institutions in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, but it was not a consideration."

How much is the collection worth? "We don't know," said Phil Repp, dean of the college of architecture and chairman of a committee in charge of the collection. "We brought in consultants from Chicago to help us determine the value … and they're still kind of in the  middle of that process. We are finding out there is a market value and an insurance value."

A lot of work remains before any parts of the collection can be made available for public display and pop-culture/political research purposes.

"We've been working away in archives to describe, to arrange, to organize and to preserve the material in archival housing and folders and boxes to ensure its safety, security and long-term preservation," Szajewski said. 

For example, the Emmy awards will be stored in acid-free, custom-size boxes with foam "and the whole nine yards" to house them "professionally and securely according to archival and museum standards," he said.

Most of the collection is being housed at Bracken Library, but some items, like the "Late Show" marquee, are being stored elsewhere on campus because of their size.

RELATED: Letterman's nephew earns degree from Ball State

Szajewski's department is also conducting historical research on the collection "to contextualize what these items are, so that's one of the next steps."

For example, audio, video, photographs and film from Letterman's early career need to be placed in context.

"We've got some air checks he did for WBST and auditions or samples of his work," Szajewski said. "We'll have to see when we get it digitized for access and preservation purposes what's on it. We have some 16-mm film and some U-matic tape of some of his earlier work he did on TV in Indianapolis. He did like a late-night movie kind of thing, weather reporting, he did a show where he interviews 4-H kids and they did like a little children's news kind of program about it. It all obviously meant something to him because he would have moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, and he took it with him."

When he was a senior at BSU living off campus, at 2024 W. Main St., Letterman wrote a letter to Gary Owens at KMPC, an AM radio station in Southern California, asking advice on how to become a comedy writer.

"The problem is … that I don't know how to get a job as a writer," Letterman wrote. "I have had several occasions to perform my material successfully, but unfortunately I don't pay myself to write jokes."

He also wrote: "When I graduate in June, I have a job waiting in Indianapolis with the ABC Television affiliate, where I have worked for the last two summers as a booth announcer and weekend weatherman. 'Hot Diggity,' you may be saying to yourself by now, but I would rather be a writer."

Besides Jonze and Miller, Letterman has brought Oprah Winfrey, Rachel Maddow and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone to the Emens stage at BSU for interviews. His contributions to the university include the Letterman scholarships, the Letterman lecture series, and aiding in the startup of the student-run radio station WCRD in 1986. The university chose him as the namesake for the David Letterman Communication and Media Building.

Will he be returning to Emens someday? "I think he'd love to do that, yes," said Keaney, Letterman's publicist. But he added, "There is nothing to announce at this time."

Why did Letterman choose to give his memorabilia to his alma mater?

"If you go back to when Dave endowed the speaker series at Ball State, it's clear he wanted students to have opportunities to see and experience things he did not have when he was a student. I think this donation fits into that category."

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.