At the end of each school year, I do my best to review the newly available collection finding aids. Special Collections’ student assistants have been working at such a pace this year that I’m not done updating online finding aids for all the collections that they worked on! In December 2023, I published 28 new finding aids. Since January 2024, I’ve published 35 new finding aids and updated about 20 more – and about 50 on a spreadsheet waiting for me to do final edits and put them into our finding aid platform. Whew!

As Collections Archivist, this school year I have been prioritizing the University record collections. These cover everything from the President’s records to single-box collections related to student groups or small departments. We have approaching 500 possible record group collections, allocated to programs, offices, student organizations, administrative functions, University centers – they run the gamut. Not every record group actually has records – the University’s first formal records transfer program began under current director Tanya Zanish Belcher after her arrival in 2013, so our predecessors were not transferring records from every office regularly. Even currently we can only add to our collections what comes into our hands.

Many of these collections are small, some even totaling a single folder of physical information about a University unit. Record groups have a tendency to grow over time, as folks clean out their records or we come across additional materials in our unprocessed backlog. So although these finding aids are published, the collecting is still only beginning. Personnel changes, office moves, and building projects often bring administrative gems our way! If you’re reading this and thinking “do I have records?” check out this blog post about transfers and reach out – we’d love to help you answer that question.

Here is an abridged list of some of the newly processed and recently updated collections over the 2023-2024 school year:

• President’s Office. Nathan O. Hatch Records: Minimally processed materials (RG1.13.mp) A small amount of fully processed materials are listed as President’s Office. Nathan O. Hatch Records; as our capacity allows, the two collections will be fully processed and listed in one place.
• Alumni and Communications Development. Office of Family Engagement and Parents Council Records (RG3.16)
• Dean of the College. Michele Gillespie Records (RG4.1.13)
• Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Director’s Office. Ethel Taylor Crittenden Records (RG5.1.1)
• Z. Smith Reynolds Library. Director’s Office. Rhoda K. Channing Records (RG5.1.4)
• Publications. 3 to 4 Ounces Records (RG7.4)
• Student Organizations. Alpha Phi Omega Records (RG8.25)
• Student Organizations. Intramural and Club Sports Records (RG8.29)
• Student Organizations. Theta Chi Records (RG 8.51)
• General University Organizations. Civil Defense Committee Records (RG13.20)
• Academic Departments. American Ethnic Studies Program Records (RG16.37)
• Office of the Provost. David Brown Records (RG22.1.2)
• Office of the Provost. Sam T. Gladding Records (RG22.1.3)
• Office of the Provost. Office of Civic and Community Engagement Records (RG22.6)
• Office of the Provost. Slavery, Race, and Memory Project Records (RG22.19)
• Buildings and Grounds. Campus Maps Collection (RG28.1)
• Sesquicentennial. Committee on the First 150 Years Records (RG29.3)
• Sesquicentennial Commission. Visions and Dreams Sound and Light Show Records (RG29.4)
• Administration and Planning. Center for the Advancement of Teaching Records (RG39.39)
• Administration and Planning. University Shops Records (RG39.43)
• Student Life. Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Center Records (RG40.30)
• University History. 175th Anniversary Oral Histories Collection (RG 53.1.1)

All of our processed collections have finding aids available online. If you have a specific research request, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Special Collections and Archives to discuss your needs and schedule a visit to the Research Room.