About
The University Archives documents the intellectual, social, cultural, and visual history of Brown University from its beginnings in 1764 to the present through the university’s official records, the papers of Brown’s presidents, administrators, faculty and alumni, the records of related student, alumni and faculty organizations, and university publications.
From the University Archives’ mission statement:
The University Archives serves as the institutional memory of Brown University by collecting, preserving, and making accessible the materials that provide evidence of past University actions and contribute to an understanding of the university’s structure and its history.
In support of research, teaching, and the dissemination of Brown University’s rich history, the University Archives offers reference services to the Brown University community, including administrators, faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as the general public.”
Boxes with archival records in the University Archives office at the Hay
University archival materials include correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks, as well as yearbooks, organizations’ papers, and museum objects such as military uniforms and commencement objects. Collections include the Presidents’ papers, administrative, faculty, student, and alumni papers, University publication records, photographs and prints, museum objects, sound and video documentation, the Edward North Robinson Collection of Brown Athletics, and the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive.
Current Uses
The Archives provide excellent material for research on the University’s history. Previous areas of interest include the University’s tunnels and bunkers, protest and activism on campus, and Brown’s athletics history.
Exhibitions drawn from the University Archives are on display in the Willis Reading Room at the John Hay Library and the Sidney E. Frank Digital Studio in the Rockefeller Library.
Exhibition “Protest & Perspectives: Students at Brown 1960s-90s” on display in the Sidney E. Frank Digital Studio in the Rockefeller Library.
Access
- Read more information about the Archives’ collections
- Related Brown Library Guides: