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We are excited to share our new Library catalog and search tool! We hope that you will find it easy to search and explore our collections. If you need help, have questions, or want to share feedback, visit the Ask a Librarian page.

Make a Research Schedule

Submit a form to schedule a consultation with a librarian. Meeting with a librarian is a companion conversation with the office hours you have with your HIST 160 professor. The librarians will take care of directing your request to an archivist or Academic Engagement Librarian, depending on the primary source base for your project.

Visiting Archives & Special Collections

The Archives and Special Collections site has a full list of Policies and Procedures , but the following policies should be noted before beginning a research project:

Research is by appointment only
During the regular semester we are open M - F: 10-5 (closed 12-1)
Special Collections material does not circulate; all material must be used in our Reading Room

Using Main Library and Online Materials

There are a number of sources, both primary and secondary, available in the Main Library and online. Finding out what's available outside the Archives and Special Collections Library (which has limited hours and requires an appointment) will help you make the best use of your time.

Exploring the Vassar College Digital Library

The VC Digital Library digitizes, makes available, and preserves materials important to the library and Vassar College. Below is a list of just a few of the collections that might be helpful if you choose a Vassar topic. You can also view a full list of the collections in the Digital Library. Please note that the paper originals for these digital collections are available in the Archives & Special Collections Library, and that there are many more diaries, letters, photographs and publications that have NOT been digitized.

Newspaper Archive
Provides access to newspapers and magazines published by Vassar College students, staff and alumnae/i from 1872-present. The publications provide an overview of ideas, issues, and events happening on- and off-campus throughout Vassar's history.
Student Diaries
Provides access to more than fifty diaries from Vassar students from the nineteenth century. The diaries concern life on campus, other students, classes, relationships with their professors, vacations, family news, and other subjects; some volumes have short entries on daily activities while others have longer, more reflective entries.

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Students include Florence Wislocki, 1922; Frances M. Bromley, 1875-1877; Abby Holden, 1871-1872; Bertha Keffer, 1868-1871; Elma G. Martin, 1892-1893; Anne Page Brydon, 1922-1923; Helen Hartley Pease, 1914-1915; Anne Wyman, 1878-1880; Marjorie Anthony Markwich, 1914; and Constance E. Anthony, 1915.
Student Letters
Contains letters from Vassar students primarily during the nineteenth century. The letters were written by students to family, friends, and Vassar faculty, with some letters received by students from family and friends, concerning life at Vassar, their studies, social events, and family affairs.

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Students include Ruth Adams, 1900-1904; Grace Louise Fletcher Chase, 1907-1916; Muriel Tilden Eldridge, 1911-1914; Roberta T. Johns, 1901-1903; Marjorie Newell MacCoy, 1907-1910; Sybil Huntington May, 1911-1922; Alice Thurston McGirr, 1902-1906; Margaret M. Shipp, 1901-1911; Laura A. Skinner, correspondence with Frances M. Bromley, 1876-1882; Sidney Lewis Smith, 1902-1906; Fanny Simpson Townsend, 1898-1903; and Gertrude C. Valentine, 1908-1911
Images of Early Vassar
This collection consists of materials relating to the early history of Vassar College, from its founding in 1861 to the early years of the 20th century. The images provide visual documentation of Raymond Avenue, college buildings and buildings relating to Matthew Vassar, class groups, faculty, presidents, students, trustees, Vassar Lake, and Matthew Vassar and his relatives.
Glass Plate Negatives
Contains materials from 1904-1935, depicting events, students, alumnae, and buildings at Vassar College.
Scrapbooks
A selection of digitized student scrapbooks from the late 19th-early 20th c. Many more are kept in Archives/Special Collections.

Last Updated: Feb 21, 2022 4:24 PM
URL: https://library.vassar.edu/HIST160
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Subjects: History

Tags: course