THE BARNARD COLLEGE ARCHIVES
Located on the ground level of Adele Lehman Hall, the Barnard College
Archives was founded in 1963 as the permanent repository for the records
of the College from the 1880’s to the present day. Originally consisting
almost entirely of written records and photographs, the collection now
incorporates documents in a host of formats, including audiotape, color
slides, and motion picture film, as well as an assortment of ephemera,
and artifacts ranging from caps and gowns to plaques and ceremonial
trowels. Most of these items fall into the broad classes described
below.
Incunabula
The earliest records chronicle the events leading up to the founding of
Barnard College in 1889 as the first secular four-year college in the
City of New York to grant baccalaureate degrees to women, and one of the
first women’s colleges in the United States to offer a course of
instruction equal in breadth and quality to the best all-male
institutions of the day, e.g., Columbia College. Two early leaders in
the movement to secure higher educational opportunity for New York’s
women were Columbia College President Frederick A.P. Barnard
(1809-1889), a tireless advocate of co-education; and Annie Nathan Meyer
(1867-1951), one of Barnard College’s founding trustees, who championed
the College and the larger cause of women’s education for more than
sixty years. The Archives houses a number of letters, reports, and
monographs authored by President Barnard, as well as novels, plays,
essays, and hundreds of personal letters collected and authored by Meyer
during her prolific career as a writer, antisuffrage feminist, and
pioneering advocate of educational diversity. This portion of the
collection also includes such early records as the 1883 Memorial to the
Columbia College Board of Trustees to admit women, the original charters
and statutes of Barnard College, and administrative records, financial
appeals, minutes of the Board of Trustees, and Dean's reports dating
from 1890. Correspondents represented in the letter files include, apart
from Meyer, such notable figures as Seth Low, John D. Rockefeller Sr.,
Jacob Schiff, Nicholas Murray Butler, Melvil Dewey, and Barnard's first
chief administrators, Ella Weed (served 1889-1894), Emily James Putnam
(served 1894-1900), and Laura Drake Gill (served 1901-1907).
Administrative
and Departmental Records
Later College records are arranged by major record group, and include
documents of the Administration, Associate Alumnae, Office of Development, Office of Public Relations (now Public
Affairs), Occupation Bureau (now Career Development), and Ella Weed (now Barnard) Library. The Archives also houses
certain records of the Departments of History, Anthropology, Botany,
English, Psychology, Physical Education, and Dance; and of
the Center for Research on Women, the First-Year Seminar Program, the
Experimental College, and the Program in the Arts.
Barnard
Serials Collection
From the very beginning, generations of Barnard women have put pen to
paper, and their efforts have resulted in a number of serial publications.
Titles retained by the Archives include the College yearbook, Mortarboard
(1894-present);
Barnard Bulletin (1901-present);
Barnard Bear (1903-1922, 1944-1948); Barnard Alumnae Magazine
(1912-present); Barnard Barnacle (1923-1927); Barnard
Quarterly (1926-1944); Focus (1948-1969);
Emanon (1969-1973); Barnard Literary Magazine (1974-1985);
Calendula (1979-1981); Black Heights (1981-1985); and Soul
Sister (1992-1994). Here may be found the youthful efforts of such
renowned American authors as Alice Duer Miller, Hortense Calisher,
Margaret Mead, Helen Deutsch, Patricia Highsmith, June Jordan, Mary
Gordon, and Ntozake Shange.
Dean's
and President's Correspondence
Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve '99 became the Dean of Barnard College
in 1911, and held that post for thirty-six years. Her extensive
correspondence includes letters exchanged with fellow administrative
officers, trustees, faculty, officers of Columbia University, and
representatives of organizations which reflected her interests in
women's education and international affairs. Her successor, Millicent C.
McIntosh, served from 1947 to 1952 as dean, and from 1952 to 1962 as
president.
Scrapbooks
A number of alumnae have donated their college scrapbooks to the
Archives. These contain old photographs, programs for college plays and
musicals, reviews of Broadway shows, and clippings about Barnard from
the daily press, as well as the notices, invitations, and programs
created for teas, receptions, concerts, lectures, and dances. The
majority date from before the Second World War.
Undergraduate
Association Papers
Dating from 1904 onward, the papers of the Barnard College Undergraduate Association
record the activities of the student government, as well as those of
a changing roster of clubs. Documents include the Reports of the Student
Curriculum Committee for 1938-1958 and a student poll on the curriculum
conducted in 1948-1949.
American
Woman’s Association Papers
Through a special arrangement, the Barnard College Archives is the repository
of a substantial portion of the records of this independent national
women’s organization. The collection includes administrative and
committee documents, correspondence, programs, brochures, and several
hundred photographs, all created between 1911 and 1974.
Special
Collections
In addition to the above, the Archives maintains collections of
biographical material on faculty, trustees, and alumnae; programs of the
Greek Games, theatrical, and dance productions; course catalogs; alumnae
directories; and histories of the College written for her 50th and 75th
anniversaries. The Archives also has a sizable visual materials
collection, which includes over ten thousand negatives and prints; one
hundred lantern slides; several thousand color slides; seven thousand
feet of motion picture film; scores of framed artworks and
three-dimensional artifacts; and hundreds of architectural drawings,
posters, and prints. The audiotape collection includes hundreds of
speeches, lectures, and radio programs dating from the 1930’s to the
present.
Hours
and Access Policy
The Barnard College Archives is open to researchers by appointment
only. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All materials
must be retrieved and handled by the Archives staff. In order to ensure the
preservation of the collections, neither browsing nor borrowing is permitted.
Photocopies and other reproductions may be purchased at cost, with an
average turnaround time of 15 days. Some materials are restricted,
and therefore unavailable for examination or photocopying.
To ask a question or to make an appointment, please contact
Marcia
Bassett
Interim Archivist
e-mail:mbassett@barnard.edu
Astrid
Cravens
Image Archivist
e-mail:acravens@barnard.edu
telephone:
212-854-4079
fax: 212-854-7340
Barnard
College Archives
23 Lehman Hall
Wollman Library
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027-6598
Copies of photographs may be ordered through the Archives. There is a handling fee of $10 per image, in addition to processing fees. Photographs used for reproduction are subject to an additional fee, as described below.
All fees must be paid in a single check or money order made out to Barnard College.
Turnaround time for photo orders is approximately one week; rush orders may sometimes be accommodated.
Processing fees (reproduction quality, fiber paper and safety film):
--8
x 10 print: $24
--11 x 14 print: $51
--16 x 20 print: $91
--20 x 24 print: $111
--24 x 30 print: $166
--30 x 40 print: $236
--copy negative: $15
--slide made from print: $20
[Note: All processing fees include the production of one 8x10 print for the Archives; some jobs will also require the production of a copy negative.]
Handling fee: $10 per image
Photocopies: 20¢ per exposure + $10 for orders of more than twenty pages
Digitization of photos and other archival documents: $2 per scan;
$5 for
blank CD (if not provided by client)
Filming of still images: $100 per hour for non-profit use; $200 per hour for commercial use
Moving images: $10 per second for non-profit use; $20 per second for commercial use
One-Time Reproduction Rights:
--$25
per image for non-profit use
--$50 per image for commercial use; or for non-profit web sites,
films, calendars, postcards, etc.
--$100 per image for commercial web sites, films, calendars, book
jackets, postcards, etc.
Other fees may be negotiated according to project. Non-profit organizations must supply letter or form certifying tax-exempt status.
For more information, please contact:
Marcia
Bassett
Interim Archivist
e-mail:mbassett@barnard.edu
Astrid
Cravens
Image Archivist
e-mail:acravens@barnard.edu
telephone:
212-854-4079
fax: 212-854-7340
Barnard
College Archives
23 Lehman Hall
Wollman Library
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027-6598
webdesigners: AE Melendez '08 and Donald Glassman
revised
5/29/08
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