An Exhibition of Materials from the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
John William Ward Exhibition Room, Frost Library, 2001
1826 | The Trustees direct the Secretary to record in the "Book of College Records" the College charter and the constitution of the Charity Fund | |
1833 | In order to preserve College records from destruction by fire and other accidents, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees is required to make a duplicate of each meeting's minutes, and to lodge some with the President | |
1836 | The Trustees vote to transcribe a manuscript history of Amherst College prepared for them by Noah Webster | |
1838 | In February 1838 a fire in Amherst town center which included the offices of the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Lucius Boltwood, destroyed College materials. An iron safe preserved some books and papers of the College | |
1851 | The Faculty vote to accept a plan created by Professors C. B. Adams and George Jewett to collect and preserve "all documents pertaining to the history of the college including all literary published productions of the officers and alumni." They constitute Professor Adams a committee of one to carry out the plan | |
1858 | The President and Treasurer are voted by the Trustees to be a committee to collect and transcribe in whole or part all documents and papers relating to the foundation and endowment of Amherst College, with authority to employ necessary help, at the expense of the Corporation. Joseph Vaill (the Charity Fund's chief fundraiser) was later added to this committee | |
1859 | The Trustees vote that former College President Heman Humphrey and Joseph Vaill provide facts and reminiscences relating to the origins and early history of the College. President Humphrey's sketch was published in 1905. Vaill's was recorded as "not available" | |
1862 | The Trustees vote to place the manuscripts by Noah Webster and Heman Humphrey relative to the history of the College with the President | |
1866 | The Trustees vote that the Presidential Committee be authorized to purchase an iron safe, to be kept in the Library, or other convenient place, under the care of the President, for the preservation of the records and other valuable documents of the College | |
1882 | Walker Hall burns for the second time. Only items in the vault were saved. Among the items lost was the second volume of the "Records of the Board of Trustees" containing the minutes of their meetings between Commencement 1868 and Commencement 1881. Only scattered portions of draft minutes were found anywhere else | |
c. 1900 | Edward "Doc" Hitchcock (AC 1849), Professor of Hygiene and Physical Education took an increasingly active interest in developing a memorabilia collection for the College. Before his death in 1911 he did more than any other individual to collect and to encourage others to contribute to the College's collections | |
c.1917-1934 | The College Memorabilia Collection is housed in the basement of Converse Library | |
1935 | The Edward Hitchcock Memorial Room provides a new home for the Memorabilia Collection. Conceived of by President Stanley King and funded by Arthur N. Milliken (AC 1880), the empty stacks in the rear of Morgan Hall are converted to a mahogany-paneled room with storage space below | |
1942 | The Trustees vote that the curator of the Edward Hitchcock Memorial Room shall be the official custodian of all books, pamphlets, and manuscripts on the campus belonging to the College and dealing with the history of the College | |
1966 | The Memorabilia Collection is moved to the new Robert Frost Library and combined with the newly created Special Collections Department | |
1979 | The Board of Trustees issue a mandate creating the official Amherst College Archives for the permanent preservation of records of academic programs and courses, official records of administrators and administrative offices, and those materials with permanent historical value. The mandate also provides guidelines for deposit, retention and access | |
2001 | Happy 150th! |
Sketches of the Early History of Amherst College, prepared by President Heman Humphrey, 1860. This is the 1905 printed edition.
(click on image to open full size)
Here Professors Adams and Jewett lay out plans to collect and preserve materials documenting the history of the College. These were subsequently approved at meetings of the Faculty in September 1851.
September 11, 1851 | September 17, 1851 |
At these meetings the Faculty voted to accept a plan created by Professors C. B. Adams and George Jewett to collect and preserve "all documents pertaining to the history of the college including all literary published productions of the officers and alumni." They constituted Professor Adams a committee of one to carry out the plan.
(Click image to open full size) |
Edward "Old Doc" Hitchcock (AC 1849), son of geologist and Amherst College President Edward Hitchcock, served on the faculty as Professor of Hygiene and Physical Education for fifty years, beginning in 1861. He took an increasingly active interest in developing a memorabilia collection for the College. Before his death in 1911 he did more than any other individual to collect and to encourage others to contribute to the College's collections.
(Click image to open full size) |
In this six-page letter to the "Boys of '83," Hitchcock reports on some recent innovations at Amherst and, on page 4, writes, "I only want to beg of you to send Mr. Fletcher [the Librarian] or myself any printed memorabilia about yourself that we may have ... and also remember that we have the alcove where we place ... every production of yours, whether it is be a bound volume or a newspaper scrap."
He explains that this material "not only the future historian will want, but ... every newspaper reporter will consult for his material."
First page of the list of pamphlets prepared by Edward "Doc" Hitchcock.
After 18 years in the basement of Converse Library, the Edward Hitchcock Memorial Room in Morgan Hall provided a new home for the Memorabilia Collection in 1935. Conceived of by President Stanley King and funded by Arthur N. Milliken (AC 1880), the empty stacks in the rear of Morgan Hall were converted to a mahogany-paneled room with storage space below.
missing image
The Rare Book Room in Converse Memorial Library is shown here in a 1940 photograph.
With the renovation of the Robert Frost Library in 1994-95, it became possible to remove all of the collections to stack areas, and to separate the reading and exhibition functions of the department. In addition, a new College History Room (above right) was the gift of Judith and George W. Carmany III '62. The new reading room (above center) was named for the donor, Albert E. Barnett, M.D. '52.