Columbia University Archives: Home

These Research Guides were put together to help you take advantage of the Columbia University Archives holdings. For each type of search, you will find the most popular resources available and how to access them: some online and some which are non-circulating and are available only at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room. These lists are not exhaustive; these are only the "top" or "most frequently consulted" resources. Each guide covers a different research area:

• Alumni, former students, graduates and non-graduates
• Faculty members, adjuncts, instructors, visiting professors
• Course descriptions, course numbers, instructors, credits, prerequisites
• Master's essays, MFA theses, PhD dissertations
• Photographs of people, events, and buildings and campus features
• Building and grounds, plans, maps, history of the various campuses
• Columbia history and traditions:
  • 1968 crisis
  • 49th Street Campus, 1857-1897
  • Athletics
  • Coeducation
  • Columbia and the Civil War
  • Core Curriculum
  • King's College, the early days of Columbia
  • LGBT Student Groups
  • Manhattan Project
  • Seth Low Junior College
  • Student Life
  • Varsity Show
  • WKCR radio station
• Notable Columbians, resources for learning about such Columbians as Bhimrao Ambedkar, Franz Boas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, V.K. Wellington Koo, Seth Low, C.S. Wu and the University Presidents.
• Schools and Departments
• Black Experience at Columbia
• Asian & Asian American Experience at Columbia
• Statistics

In order to use the University Archives collections at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML), visitors are required to register their own Special Collections Research Account before their visit and to validate the account in person with government-issued photo identification or Columbia ID card. Once you have created your Special Collections Research Account, you will be able to request the materials directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record. For more information on how to access our collections, check out our Research & Access website.

For additional resources or other topics you would like to be addressed here, please contact uarchives@columbia.edu.

Low Memorial Library exterior. (Scan #0664) Historical Photograph Collection, University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.