One of the landmarks in Albertsons Library is the grandfather clock in the McBirney Room on the second floor. It was presented to the library when the university was still Boise Junior College by Irvin E. Rockwell, one of the school’s early benefactors.
A former state senator, Rockwell—known popularly as “Rock”—owned the Minnie Moore silver mine near Bellevue. He was a powerful and engaging personality, a tall man with a booming voice who was several times considered a potential candidate for governor.
Rockwell died in 1952 at the age of 89, and in 2001 his family presented his papers to Albertsons Library. The Special Collections Department has completed a guide to the papers and a biographical sketch of this important and colorful Idaho personality. They are posted online at http://library.boisestate.edu/Special/FindingAids/fa60.shtm