Miscellaneous Articles and Papers 1967-1980

The John L. Debes III Collection includes correspondence, articles, papers, photographs, and ephemera. The collection, which runs from 1964 1985, is divided into five series and two subseries.

Series I: John L. Debes III contains copies of speeches and articles prepared by Debes on visual literacy as well as personal papers and articles about Debes. It also contains the rough draft and history of a book Debes attempted to publish, entitled A Communicator's Grammar, dealing with visual literacy and education.

Series II: International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) contains notes and papers relating to Debes' involvement in the organization during its early years. It also contains materials from the 10th Annual IVLA Conference and assorted visual literacy articles.

Series III: Visual Literacy, which contains articles Debes wrote and collected on visual literacy, is divided into two subseries. Sub-Series A: Visual Communication and Perception contains papers and articles Debes collected over the years on the general subject of visual communication and visual perception, two integral parts of the visual literacy concept. Sub-Series B: Media and Education contains articles and papers Debes collected on how the media (news, television, motion pictures, and photography) affects people, especially children, and how the media can be used interactively in education. Both subseries contain Debes' notes on visual literacy and letters between Debes and many of the authors of the articles and papers.

Series IV: Visual Literacy in Action contains information that Debes collected on various visual literacy based programs in practice around the country. Included are materials, notes, and teaching aids from the Bliss Symbolics Program, a symbolic language and communication organization in Canada, and notes on the establishment of the Visual Scholar's Program at the University of Iowa, which Debes supervised in the late 1970's.

Series V: Visual Literacy Researchers contains articles and papers that Debes collected that were written by researchers and instructors working in visual literacy or a related field. Included in this series are papers by Clarence M. Williams, a co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association.