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Manuscript Collections
About the Manuscript Collections
Special Collections houses over 500 collections of unpublished primary source material generated by individuals, families, and organizations with connections or relevance to Wake Forest University and its curriculum.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.
Back to topHighlights of the Collections include:
- African-American author and Wake Forest Reynolds Professor Maya Angelou
- Former Esquire magazine editor Harold T.P. Hayes (Wake Forest Class of 1948)
- Pastoral counselor and teacher Dr. Wayne Oates (Wake Forest Class of 1940)
- Journalist Wilbur J. Cash, author of The Mind of the South
- Irish printer and publisher Liam Miller and his Dolmen Press including the Printing Blocks Series
- Italian filmmaker Giuseppe De Santis
- Publisher's archive for Gertrude Stein's What are Masterpieces?
- Joseph E. Smith Music Manuscript Collection
- Samuel Wait (first president of Wake Forest) and his wife Sarah Merriam Wait
- Lloyd Winchell Biebigheiser Collection of photographs documenting the construction of the Reynolda Campus in the 1950s
- Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina, an auxiliary organization of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention
How to Find Materials
Rare books and other Special Collections monographs and published serials are fully cataloged in the library's online catalog. By employing the Search Limits function in the catalog, you can limit your search to only Special Collections materials (please note that the Search Limits function does not work with author searches).
Manuscript collections are indexed by finding aids, all of which are available in paper in the Special Collections Department. Also, many of these Finding Aids are also available online.
Back to topUse of the Collections
These collections are open to the public, except for particular collections, or parts of collections, marked as restricted or confidential. In the case of confidential records, permission of the originating body must be obtained to view the papers. Please see our information page for other use policies and details on the location and open hours of the collection.
** If you're planning to use one of our manuscript collections, you may wish to fill out our online manuscript request form before you arrive at the library. Please be sure to indicate which collection(s) you are interested in when you fill out the request form.
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