Special Collections & Archives at Wesleyan University
A place for news and information about rare books, manuscripts and university archives.
NOW AVAILABLE AT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & ARCHIVES The official SC&A pencil for only 25¢ ●Everybody did you know for the small sum of 25¢ you can buy a writing instrument that writes under water, in zero gravity and upside down!!!!!!!!! ●Thesis writers did you know a pencil can write 45,000 words. ●Art majors did you … Read more
We recently posted a bunch of new finding aids (guides to collections) on our website Benjamin Arthur Caleb Papers, 1851-1861 Laban Clark Papers, 1794-1935 Deutsche Verein Records, 1909-1960 Monday Club Records, 1892-1995 Dana Plante (Class of 1959) Collection, 1954-1960 Phyllis Rose Collection, 1977-1984 Beatrice Witkin Papers, 1949-1988 With the help of our great student employees, … Read more
Next time you wonder when a Wesleyan building was constructed, or who this Davison guy was, or just how the Douglas Cannon came to be the unofficial Wesleyan mascot, stop by Special Collections & Archives and take a look at our Vertical Files. These are subject files where we keep clippings, memos, reports, notes, and … Read more
We are testing an online repository for the theses and dissertations of Wesleyan students. You can browse the uploaded theses here. Why are we putting these online? -Students’ work will be available around the world 24/7, not only at Wesleyan. Currently, paper copies of honors theses are only available in Special Collections & Archives during … Read more
Wesleyan has a terrific tradition of student activism and participation in campus groups. In Special Collections & Archives, we want to collect materials that document student activities so that future researchers can find out what Wesleyan was like back in 2007 (and 2006, 2005, etc.)! The only way for us to gather this material is … Read more
We now have an online finding aid for our collection of Nineteenth Century Administrative Records. A finding aid is like a super detailed catalog record, which gives you a description of the types of materials found in the collection, and a box by box description of where items can be found. Finding aids are a … Read more
In addition to collecting materials about Wesleyan, we also have a good amount of Middletown, Connecticut items. These include books, maps, personal papers, photographs, and scrapbooks. Our most recent scrapbook accession were the Marion Vaine scrapbooks. Marion Vaine was a longtime Middletown resident and Wesleyan employee, and through the sharp eyes of a local resident, … Read more
On this President’s Day weekend, we remember the architect Henry Bacon, who designed the Lincoln Memorial as well as Olin Library and Van Vleck Observatory, among other buildings on Wesleyan’s campus. Bacon worked with the Board of Trustees in the early 20th century to create a building development plan for Wesleyan’s future. Special Collections & … Read more
The Science Library now has brand new compact shelving to hold periodicals, books, and archival materials. With the growth of our collections, we’ve been scrambling for space for years, so the new shelving is much appreciated! As always, the archival material is in an enclosed area off limit to patrons, but just as before, any … Read more
In the 19th century, many students at Wesleyan made class albums. These were like yearbooks, but entirely comprised of photographs. Each student would choose the images of classmates, faculty, campus buildings, and Middletown scenes of their liking. This image of the class of 1886 is only one image of thousands in our over 150 album … Read more
