Archives

Find Archives

• Contact staff at the individual archival collection relevant to your area of research to get help with your search.
• Search collection guides (also called "finding aids"). Since not all archival collections are included, see the first bullet above.
• Search UMedia for digital images and records from the archives.
• Check the individual archives' web sites. These web sites often contain lists of collections, links to digital content, online exhibits and other resources.

What's in Andersen Library?

Homepage | Hours | Map

• Charles Babbage Institute
  Dedicated to preserving the history of information technology.

• Children's Literature Research Collection
  Rare books, manuscripts, and illustrations for children's literature; includes Kerlan and Hess Collections.

• Immigration History Research Center
  Personal papers, organizational records, books, newspapers, and other original sources documenting immigration and ethnicity throughout the United States.

• Kautz Family YMCA Archives
  Historical records, photographs, books, and journals documenting the U.S.A. YMCA's work in the U.S. and abroad from the 1850s to the present.

• Social Welfare History Archives
  Organizational records and personal papers on social reform and social service in the U.S.

• Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts
  Rare materials ranging from clay tablets and medieval manuscripts to modern printed books.

• Givens Collection of African American Literature
  African American literature, biography, social science, art, notes, manuscripts, and inscriptions.

• Jean Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies
  International collection in approximately 58 languages. Covers all time periods, from a 4,000-year-old phallic statuette from Egypt, up to current editions of GLBT periodicals.

• Northwest Architectural Archives
  Records of architects, engineers, contractors, landscape architects, and interior designers from a region which includes Minnesota, western Wisconsin, northern Iowa, and the eastern Dakotas.

• Performing Arts Archives
  Includes history of theatre, music, dance, and associated organizations in Minnesota.

• Sherlock Holmes Collections
  World’s largest gathering of material related to Sherlock Holmes and his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with over 15,000 books, journals, and a wide variety of other forms.

• Upper Midwest Literary Archives
  Personal papers and manuscripts of authors and poets either born in Minnesota or who resided in the state for a significant length of time.

• University Archives
  University records of faculty, staff, student, alumni, and personal, including organizational papers and audiovisual material.

• Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
  Holdings of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest (JHSUM) with records, photographs and stories of the earliest Jewish settlers in the Midwest.

What's in Wilson Library?

Homepage | Hours | Map

• James Ford Bell Library
  Rare books, maps, and manuscripts on the expansion of western commerce and civilization from the 14th to 18th century.

What's in the Arboretum?

Homepage | Hours | Map

• Andersen Horticultural Library
  Collection on horticulture and gardening, with emphasis on the upper Midwest. Approximately 9 miles west of I-494 on State Highway 5. No gate fee is charged.

What's in the Bio-Medical Library?

Homepage | Hours | Map

• Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine
  Rare and historical works in the health and biological sciences from 15th century to 1920.

About Archives

The books, documents, and artifacts that are part of the University of Minnesota's Department of Archives and Special Collections are among the most unique and valuable cultural documents available anywhere. Ranging from four thousand year old Babylonian clay tablets, to the latest illustrated children's books, these materials are important resources for projects ranging from term papers to dissertations, or just to satisfy your curiosity.