Columbia has welcomed Asian students to its campus since the 1870s. The following resources will provide interested individuals with information about the various materials found in our collections focused on the Columbia experience of such students over the years at the University.
Please note that the physical collections noted here are non-circulating materials available only at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room. 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 schedule an appointment and request the boxes directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record.
This collection consists of clippings, press releases, programs, and other printed matter compiled over the years by curators of the Columbiana Collection and staff of the University Archives. The files contain an assortment of information on numerous topics related to Columbia University history and are a very good reference source and starting point for research on many areas of Columbia's past. You can find the following folders related to Asian students, student publications and student groups:
To find news coverage of life on campus, you can search the archives of the student newspaper, the Spectator, and the University’s paper, the Record. Both publications have been scanned and are easily searchable. In addition to the newspapers, the University’s alumni magazines include class notes but also contain profiles on faculty members and former students. The Columbia Alumni News (1910 to 1948) and Columbia College Today (1954 to 2021) are both available online.
Yearbooks, Facebooks, and Class Books are a good source of information about former students, student activities, and the composition of the student body over the years. The University Archives collections include an extensive run of yearbooks from Columbia College (The Columbiad and later The Columbian) dating from 1869 to the present, as well as a representation of yearbooks from other schools of the University and a complete run of those for the Midshipmen's School (Side Boy), which was on campus during World War II. Incomplete runs of yearbooks for the School of Engineering and Applied Science (The Miner and later The Engineer), the Graduate School of Journalism, and the Graduate School of Business are also available. We have a compiled a list noting which yearbooks are available in our collections for consultation. To find instruction on how to request these volumes, please consult our research guide about Student Life resources.
The Annual Reports of the President to the Trustees offer a yearly "state of the University" from 1865 to 1948. The tradition of a printed "Annual report of the President of Columbia College made to the Board of Trustees" started with University President Frederick A.P. Barnard. The reports include current events, facts and figures of students enrolled and degrees conferred, and as well as trends in each school. In addition to the President's remarks, the later reports include the Treasurer's financial reports and also each Dean reports to the President on the previous academic year at their school or division (Columbia College, Law, Business, Journalism, Barnard, Teachers College, etc.) as well as reports from the Librarian, the Registrar, the Secretary and other senior administrators. You can find access to the paper copies and links to the online reports from 1865-1948 in the President's Annual Reports finding aid.
The following are the major Asian student groups currently operating, as self-identified on the Cultural and Identity Based Student Organizations webpage. Where archived versions of these sites exist, links have been provided to the University Archives Archive-It captures back to 2010 via the link in the title. Current website addresses are listed as well the links to Facebook pages - sometimes the only online presence for these clubs.
For older versions of student group websites, we recommend using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to search for older captures of www.columbia.edu and then navigating the archived Columbia University website to the appropriate student group page.
The following resources will provide interested individuals with information about the study of Asian languages, cultures and history over the years at the University.
Please note that the physical collections noted here are non-circulating materials available only at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room. 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 schedule an appointment and request the boxes directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record.
This collection consists of clippings, press releases, programs, and other printed matter compiled over the years by curators of the Columbiana Collection and staff of the University Archives. The files contain an assortment of information on numerous topics related to Columbia University history and are a very good reference source and starting point for research on many areas of Columbia's past. You can find the following folders related to Asian studies and the East Asian Library at Columbia:
While these are officially the Office of the President records, that description does not fully capture the breadth and depth of these records. President Nicholas Murray Butler and his surrogates were closely involved in all University matters. These records are closed for 25 years after the date of their creation.
In the Horace W. Carpentier files (Box 320, folders 4-6) there is correspondence concerning the establishment of both the Department of Chinese Languages and Literatures as well as the Dean Lung Professorship. We previously scanned the Dean Lung Professorship documents from these files. You can access the PDF containing these materials at the link provided.
As the chief academic officer, the Provost is in charge of the academic program, faculty hiring, advancement and retention, and even student recruitment and enrollment. The Office of the Provost also includes the Office of Institutional Research and Planning which publishes statistical abstract covering the yearly roundup of the University’s facts and figures.
The yearly bulletins or bulletins of information are the course catalogues for each school and/or division. These volumes include department course offerings, with full descriptions of the courses and the faculty assigned to teach those courses as well as degree requirements, prizes and honors, etc. You can find our holdings, organized by school or faculty, in the Columbia University Bulletins finding aid. There are also many volumes available online.
The Annual Reports of the President to the Trustees offer a yearly "state of the University" from 1865 to 1948. The tradition of a printed "Annual report of the President of Columbia College made to the Board of Trustees" started with University President Frederick A.P. Barnard. The reports include current events, facts and figures of students enrolled and degrees conferred, and as well as trends in each school. In addition to the President's remarks, the later reports include the Treasurer's financial reports and also each Dean reports to the President on the previous academic year at their school or division (Columbia College, Law, Business, Journalism, Barnard, Teachers College, etc.) as well as reports from the Librarian, the Registrar, the Secretary and other senior administrators. You can find access to the paper copies and links to the online reports from 1865-1948 in the President's Annual Reports finding aid.
To find Asian authors and/or topics in older Masters Essays and Dissertations one can consult a set of publications printed by the University listing authors alphabetically and arranging essays by department for a particular year. In the Research Guide linked to above, look to the “Online Essays and Theses Links” tab for digitized versions of these publications as well as other resources for finding these academic publications.
Columbia University masters' essays and doctoral dissertations on Asia, 1875-1956. (call# COA F57a )
To find news coverage of life on campus, you can search the archives of the student newspaper, the Spectator, and the University’s paper, the Record. Both publications have been scanned and are easily searchable. In addition to the newspapers, the University’s alumni magazines include class notes but also profiles on faculty members and former students. The Columbia Alumni News (1910-1948) and Columbia College Today (1954 to 2021) are both available online.
The Spring 1969 issue of Columbia College Today features articles about what was then called the "Oriental Studies" program at Columbia
Announce Oriental Course (February 1956, p. 3; article about the new Oriental studies program and the annual Dean’s report for the academic year; Nicholas McKnight '21)
$185,000 Carnegie Grant Extends Teaching, Research, Publications in Oriental Civilizations (November 1958, p. 2; Successes and description of the Oriental Studies Program)
Scholarly Studies Can Lead To "Balanced View" of Orient (November 1958, p. 2; Jacques Barzun '27's views on the Oriental Studies program and warns that the interest in Oriental studies should be balanced and true)
Inception of the Program (November 1958, p. 2; Summary of the beginning of the Oriental Studies program)
The Explosion in Oriental Studies (Spring 1969, p. 18; The rise in interest in the study of Asia both generally and specifically at Columbia)
Nine Men Who Guide the Oriental Studies Boom (Spring 1969, p. 29; Profiles on: Chih-tsing Hsia, Ivan Morris, Donald Keene, Burton Watson, Alex Wayman, William Theodore de Bary, John Meskill, Mason Gentzler, and Herschel Webb)
The Strange Affair of America and Asia by Wm. Theodore de Bary (Spring 1969, p. 32; An argument for creating a new vision of ourselves (Americans), looking to Asia for inspiration)
Asian Classics and the Humanities by Wm. Theodore de Bary (Spring/Summer 1990, p. 19)
Disputatious Learning: Asian Humanities and Civilizations at Columbia by Wm. Theodore de Bary (Columbia College Today, January 2004, p. 31)
Did You Know?: The East Asian Library Features a Law-Themed Stained Glass (Columbia College Today, Spring 2020, Around the Quads, p. 12)
If you are interested in finding information on specific Asian-American alumni, faculty, and other Columbians, the following resources are good places to start your search. For additional resources please consult our research guides for Alumni Searches and Faculty Searches.
Please note that the physical collections noted here are non-circulating materials available only at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room. 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 schedule an appointment and request the boxes directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record.
Alumni registers and directories can confirm dates and degrees, but also offer some information about the alum’s life after graduation. Registers often have geographical indexes but do not normally include demographic information. However, in the 1990s, Columbia College published three such directories, including the Asian Alumni Directory of Columbia College (1992).
Compiled by the Columbiana curators and University Archives staff, this collection contains information on alumni, faculty, officers and other notable Columbians. You can request materials directly from HBF Finding Aid: click the check box located on the right for the box(es) you need, and then scroll back to the top of the container list document and click “Submit Request” button in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request form.
Staff and student directories, from 1893-1894 to 1943-1944, can be found in the back of the yearly Catalogues of Officers and Students. The Catalogues often include student registers (list of students in each division or school) and lists of degrees conferred.
To find news coverage of life on campus, you can search the archives of the student newspaper, the Spectator, and the University’s paper, the Record. Both publications have been scanned and are easily searchable. In addition to the newspapers, the University’s alumni magazines include class notes but also profiles on faculty members and former students. The Columbia Alumni News (1910-1948) and Columbia College Today (1954 to 2021) are both available online.