Emory University Archives

The Emory University Archives collects, organizes, preserves, and provides access to records and materials that document over 180 years of Emory history. 

As the official repository of the records of the university and its affiliated organizations, we collect materials that document the history of Emory, including its founders, administration, faculty, students, and alumni/ae. For more information and topical access, please visit our Emory University History Guide, Emory University and Slavery Resource Guide, Naming Honors Research Guide, and Black Student Activism Topic Guide.

The University Archives is also home to the Emory Oral History Program, which is committed to the production, preservation, and promotion of oral history recordings. The program supports students, teachers, and community partners with resources and guidance to conduct oral history interviews and research. Another important function is our records management program, which sets official policies and provides guidance and resources for all stages in the records and information lifecycle.

    Records of administrative offices and academic departments include meeting minutes, annual reports, policy documents, subject/topical/project files, committee and task force materials, handbooks, manuals, curriculum and teaching materials, and other documentation about decision-making and development of the unit itself.

    The University Archives also collects the papers of faculty and administrators who are influential in the history of the University. Some individuals represented in the collection are James T. Laney, seventeenth president serving during the formative period from 1977 to 1993; Henry L. Bowden, Trustee and legal counsel for the University during racial desegregation at Emory; and Judson C. Ward, who held served in roles such as Dean of Faculties and Executive Vice President.

    Records of student organizations include meeting minutes, constitutions, by-laws, correspondence, rosters and membership documents, flyers, posters, and photographs. Other sources for documenting students and student life include yearbooks, the Wheel student newspaper, other student publications such as The Emory Phoenix, and matriculation cards of incoming students from the Office of the Registrar. Minutes books of proceedings of student societies, Few Literary Society and Phi Gamma Society, provide a glimpse into nineteenth century student life.

    Publications from University sources are cataloged and searchable in Library Search. These include Catalogues and Bulletins from the earliest years of Emory College to the present day, The Emory Alumnus and Emory Magazine, the Campus Report and Emory Report, student handbooks, alumni directories, school and departmental publications, newsletters, and many others.

    Documents related to the founding of Emory College in 1836 are also part of University Archives collections. Minute books from the Board of Trustees and the faculty, matriculation books from the Registrar, ledgers the Treasurer, as well as many other foundational documents provide a thorough perspective on Emory College in the nineteenth century.

    Beginning in February 2012, the Emory University Archives began to document Emory University’s evolving web presence and collect, preserve, and make accessible websites that reflect Emory’s every changing academic, administrative, research, and student activities and culture. Many publications and information that had previously been printed on a regular basis now exist only in an online context. Capturing this information has become essential to the collecting mandate of the Emory University Archives. Currently, the Emory University Archives contracts with the Internet Archive's Archive-It service for web archiving services.