Rod Serling Archives, Ithaca College Library

Screenwriter, television producer and playwright Rod Serling taught at Ithaca College from 1967-1975. Many alumni were influenced by his teaching. The college houses the Rod Serling Archives in the campus library, and displays some of his Emmy awards on the main floor of the Park School of Communications near the Park Auditorium. Serling created the popular television series The Twilight Zone. He hosted the series and wrote many of the scripts. Following his death in 1975, his wife Carol Serling, a member of the College's Board of Trustees, began donating her husband’s work to the College. The Rod Serling Archives at Ithaca College is the largest single collection of his television scripts and screenplays. The collection also includes movie scripts, scripts for stage plays, scripts for unproduced works, 16 mm films of productions, awards, and photos. Much of his work, including The Twilight Zone, focused on issues of civil rights. His work didn't directly center LGBTQ issues. However, common themes included our shared humanity, treating everyone with dignity and respect, and calling out injustice and evil. These themes resonated then and now with LGBTQ people and individuals who are members of marginalized communities.