Collections & Exhibits

Digital Collections

We have digitized a number of our collections and made them available online. See our Digital Collections.

Manuscripts Collection

Special Collections houses over 800 collections of unpublished primary source material generated by individuals, families, and organizations with connections or relevance to Wake Forest University and its curriculum. Types of materials in these manuscript collections include writings, correspondence, photographs, architectural drawings, audio-visual materials, and computer files.

Manuscript finding aids and inventories provide more detailed information about personal and literary manuscript collections. Many of these finding aids are available online. A few collections do not yet have electronic finding aids; paper indexes for these collections are available in the Special Collections Department.

NC Baptist Historical Collection

The North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection (also known as the Ethel Taylor Crittenden Collection in Baptist History) documents the history of North Carolina Baptist churches, institutions, and individuals.

Rare Books Collection

The Rare Books Collection emphasis is American, Irish, and British authors of the eighteenth through twenty-first centuries (including African American literature); and cultural and social history, with particular emphasis on North Carolina history and regional Americana. The collection also supports study in the area of the book arts, including papermaking, marbling, and the history of printing.

Wake Forest University Archives

The University Archives maintains the records of the University as a whole. These record groups include administrative materials, student organization records, university publications, university historical materials, photographs, president’s papers, and alumni papers. The University Archives actively collects materials relating to the record of the university, both current and historical.

Exhibits

Special Collections & Archives hosts a number of physical and online exhibits. Our physical exhibit space is located in the Special Collections & Archives Research Room (ZSR Room 625) and is accessible to the public during our normal business hours. Please read more more about our current, upcoming, past, and online exhibits.