Archival Collection
The archival collections
document the history of Davidson College from its establishment in 1837
to present day. All official administrative records are housed within
the collections, including the official records of the presidents of Davidson
College, minutes of the Board of Trustees, academic department files,
and faculty committee minutes.
In addition, copies of all
College publications are located in the Archives. Researchers will find
original copies of the Davidsonian, College Catalogue, alumni journal,
student yearbook and Davidson's literary magazines. Information is available
on publications such as The Chameleon, Scripts and Pranks, Inklings,
and the Davidson College Magazine.
Student life and the importance
of extracurricular activities are integral parts of the history of Davidson
College. Through alumni donations of scrapbooks, photos, letters and
publications, the College Archives has an extensive collection of materials
on the history of the student experience. Information can be found on
fraternities, eating clubs, Philanthropic and Eumenean societies, and
other student organizations. Copies of student honor theses are also
housed within the archival collections.
Historic treasures of the
college, such as the college mace, class flags and the college bell,
are located in the Davidson College Archives. Researchers will find
copies of the College constitution and the faculty by-laws. Information
on the history of the Davidson Honor Code and the Code of Responsibility
is also available to researchers. Alumni may be interested in a collection
of materials on the generation of students that attended Davidson College.
Archives
Arranged by Department
Researching
Davidson History
A
Guide to Citing Archival Resources
Information
on Donating Materials to the Archives
Manuscript Collection
The Manuscript Collections
of the Davidson College Archives consist primarily of unpublished documents
such as diaries, letters, speeches and sermons. Several collections also
contain published information as well. Manuscript collections can be about
an individual, a family or a group. The majority of the collections relate
to Davidson students and alumni and to the town of Davidson, North
Carolina.
Two of the most popular collections
are the Omar Ibn Sayyid Collection and the Peter Stuart Ney Collections.
Born in 1770 in the country of Senegal, Omar Ibn Sayyid was sold to
James Owen of Balden County, North Carolina in 1810. Davidson College
owns the Arabic Bible used by Omar as well as several manuscript pages
written by him. Peter Stuart Ney was the mysterious Frenchman who
designed the college seal and who also claimed to be Marshal Ney
of France. The information is divided into three collections: the Smoot
collection, the Quynn collection, and the Ney collection.
Manuscript Collections are
organized by the name of the individual or organization that created
the materials. Below are links to an alphabetical list of manuscript
collections and to subject categories essays. To search the finding
aids of these collections, use the Collections
Database.
Alphabetical
List of Manuscripts Collections
Subject List of Manuscripts Collections
A
Guide to Citing Archival Resources
Information
on Donating Materials to the Archives
Photograph
Collection
In
addition to printed material, photograph collections also play a large
role in the history of Davidson College.The Davidson College Archives
contains a substantial amount of photographs pertaining to life at Davidson
College from the institution’s early years to the present day.Arranged
by subject and size, the Archives photograph collection is comprised
of topics such as college buildings and architecture, personnel, students,
athletics, commencement, curricula, music, student activities, and many
more. The Archives is also
fortunate to have a collection of photographs on various aspects of
the town of Davidson throughout the years and photographs in many of
our manuscript collections. Descriptions
of these photographs are available through the Collections
Database. To locate
a listing in the database, simply perform a search using the name of
a person or organization in which you are interested.
A sampling
of scanned images arranged by Subjects
and by Collection
are also available online.
Photo
Duplication Policy
Although
the majority of the photographs in the Davidson College Archives were
produced by the college, the Archives does not hold copyright on all
photographs in the collection. The Archives, for example, does
not hold copyright on any donated photographs. Researchers are
responsible for obtaining the appropriate permission and are responsible
for conforming with the laws of libel, copyright, and literary property
rights. For photographs produced by the college, the Archives
adheres to the following duplication and use policies:
1) Duplicate
photographs may be ordered from the Davidson College Archives for a
fee. The Archives provides photocopy and photo reproduction services,
but reserves the right to restrict reproduction of its photographs due
to condition or donor restrictions. The Archives will retain all
negatives created as a result of reproduction.
2) When
reproducing a photograph produced by the college, researchers should
credit the Davidson College Archives, Davidson, North Carolina.
3)
If possible, the Davidson College Archives requires that researchers
publishing works using Archives photographs donate one copy to the Archives.
Audio/Video
Collection
Audio and
Video materials also comprise a portion of the resources available at
the Davidson College Archives. The Archives contain a sizeable collection of audiocassette
and videocassette tapes ranging in subject from annual retirement dinners
to building dedications to basic Davidson College history and much more.
In addition, the Archives house a collection of oral history
interviews with important Davidson figures, as well as a collection
of videocassettes on the life of one of our most distinguished alumni,
former Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
Descriptions of these photographs are available through the Collections
Database. To locate
a listing in the database, simply perform a search using the name of
a person or organization in which you are interested.
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