Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
DEWEBER, Don
DEWEBER, Don. (Hastings, NB--Dubuque, IA, September 13, 2019). Deweber was the curator of the world's most extensive collection of checkers literature written in the English language. He began in 1979 with the acquisition of two major collections of English language checkers books known as the JOHN CALDWELL-IRVING WINDT LIBRARY OF CHECKERS. Members of the worldwide checkers community may have been amazed when a novice player gained such control, but over the years he had become regarded as the expert when hunting down or pricing a checkers book. (1)
Deweber's interest in checkers started with his purchase of a checkers computer and membership in the American Checkers Federation. Faced with limited income because of a life-long battle with cerebral palsy, he eventually needed to sell his books. Finding he could easily sell them in classified advertisements led Deweber to search out other volumes in sales and book stores. (2) His sale of these volumes led him to open Checker Book World.
With the success of Checker Book World and the acquisition of the John Caldwell-Irving Windt Library, Deweber in 1980 began making checkers books available to those who needed the information, but could not afford the books. He founded The World of Checkers Museum in his apartment. (3) The checkers books in the research library are held by a private Dubuque non-profit corporation and are not for sale. (4)
Deweber wrote "The John Caldwell Directory of Classical Checker Works and Miscellany," an unpublished manuscript in 1982 that was said to be the most complete chronological description of checkers works.
In 1995 DeWeber was looking for donations with which to purchase a computer to catalogue the collection. Those who donated $25 or more would receive a print of Norman Rockwell's "Last Move" depicting a checker game. The collection would eventually be willed to LORAS COLLEGE. (5)
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Source:
1. Pritchard, Ken, "Checkers Not Just a Game to Collector," Telegraph Herald, August 28, 1989, p. 1
2. Ibid.
3. Piper, Andy, "Characters Spice Up City's History," 175 Years, Volume Three, Telegraph Herald, September 9, 2015, p. 164
4. Pritchard
5. Gilligan, Amy, "World's Biggest" Maybe, But Caretaker Won't King His Collection," Telegraph Herald, February 19, 1995, p. 13