About Archives & Special Collections:

The Archives Centre of Hunter College was established in January 1966, with a stated purpose of acquiring and organizing institutional records that shed light on the history of the College. In addition, the Archives Centre was expected to house documents that were reflective of the educational, social and cultural history of New York City. In 1984, President Donna Shalala inaugurated the opening of the East and West towers of Hunter College and ushered in a new era both for the school and the repository. Hunter College Library came to occupy the first nine floors of the East tower while the Archives Centre (renamed Archives & Special Collections) came to occupy a secure and climate controlled facility on the second floor.

Mission Statement:

The division of Archives & Special Collections of the Hunter College Libraries functions as the institutional memory of the College. We are committed to acquiring, preserving, and providing access to the records of enduring value that primarily document the historical development of Hunter College of the City University of New York. The repository collects books and unpublished materials of historical value including records, correspondence, papers, and publications generated by the administration, academic departments, administrative offices, faculty, staff, and student organizations since 1869. Archives & Special Collections consists of two wings and its holdings have been grouped under the following categories:

Hunter College Archives:

The archival wing of the repository contain the records of Hunter College presidents; records of select administrative offices; annual reports, minutes, correspondence, and memoranda of select academic departments and studies programs; papers of noted faculty; the Alumni Archives; and student materials consisting of club constitutions and by-laws, newspapers, program announcements, memorabilia, photographs, notebooks, scrapbooks, and publications. In addition, the archival wing houses audio and video tapes; course bulletins, institutional publications, yearbooks, commencement programs, and master's theses written by graduate students in the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Education.

Affiliated Organizations:

In addition to housing institutional records, the archival wing of the repository also houses the records of several organizations that have an historical affiliation with Hunter College. Typical among these are the records of the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 1892–1994; the Records of the Women’s City Club of New York, 1916–2005; the Proceedings of the Board of Trustees of CUNY, 1928–2002; and the Board of Higher Education, 1938–1971 to name a few.

Special Collections:

The Special Collections wing of the repository houses rare and unique monographs, multi-volume works, encyclopedias, faculty publications, books greater than 14 centimeters in size, and non-book materials. The bulk of the book collection comprises early English and American literature. Two collections worth mentioning are the Eileen Cowe Historical Textbook Collection and the Muriel Fuller Book Collection. The former comprises historical textbooks in education while the latter consists of books by authors and illustrators of juvenile and young adult literature. Special Collections items are non-circulating and are accessible through the CUNY+ catalog. The inclusion of books and non-book materials in Special Collections should adhere to the following criteria:

* Works produced by administrative and academic units of Hunter College

* Books written by Hunter College administrators and faculty

* Books written about Hunter College administrators and faculty

* Books written about Hunter College history

* Books written by Hunter College alums

* Representative sample of books containing the Normal College bookplate, stamp, or embossed markings

* Books autographed by distinguished authors.