Special Collections & Archives at Wesleyan University
A place for news and information about rare books, manuscripts and university archives.
Steven St. Onge, a Quinnipiac University student and history major, is working in Special Collections & Archives this summer, describing some of our 19th century diaries. His discoveries have been fascinating, and I asked him to share some of his findings: After a month of deciphering handwriting from the 1800s, I’ve finally produced two finding … Read more
Congratulations to the class of 2008! The upcoming weekend will be a celebration of our newest graduates, as well as a gathering time for alumni of all ages. There will be two WESeminars–presentations open to all students, alumni, parents, and visitors–related to Wesleyan University history. One is “A History of Wesleyan Presidents,” a look back … Read more
In March 1936, a severe flood struck Middletown. Especially hard hit were the low lying areas near the Connecticut River in Middletown’s North End. This is a photograph facing north with the river on the right-hand side. Wesleyan students, although safe on the high ground of the campus, helped with flood relief. Some worked with … Read more
Wesleyan generally prides itself on its reputation for political activity. Recently, according to the November, 30th edition of the Argus, 50 student, faculty, and citizen protesters marched down to the Army recruitment office in Metro Square in protest of the war in Iraq. Forty years ago, the University was in similar circumstances during the Vietnam … 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
Today is Spring Fling at Wesleyan, an annual event held after the end of regular classes. It appears to date back to 1975, when Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express and the John Payne Quartet played for crowds gathered on Foss Hill on a sunny day at the beginning of reading week. In the Argus … 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
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
