Columbia University Archives
Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Butler Library, 6th Floor
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212) 854-3786
Fax: (212) 854-1365
E-mail: uarchives@columbia.edu
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Barnard College
The Barnard Archives and Special Collections serves as the final repository for the historical records of Barnard College, from its founding in 1889 to the present day. For more information, please contact archives@barnard.edu.
Health Sciences Library
The Archives and Special Collections at the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library of Columbia University can help you find information about the schools of the Medical Center: College of Physicians & Surgeons, School of Nursing, College of Dental Medicine (formerly the School of Dental & Oral Surgery), Mailman School of Public Health, and the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences. For more information, please contact hslarchives@columbia.edu.
To learn about Columbia's numerous schools, divisions and academic departments, start your search with the following publications, mostly available online.
A number of Columbia-related publications are available online that contain valuable information about schools and departments. The student newspaper, the Spectator (1877-2015) and the University’s newspaper, the CU Record (1973-2016) have been digitized and are easily searchable. The Columbia College alumni magazine, Columbia College Today (1954-2016), has published articles on the undergraduate curriculum in different disciplines. These issues have been digitized and there is an index to help you identify relevant articles. For earlier materials, the Columbia University Quarterly (1898 to 1919 and 1930 to 1941) used to offer department histories and other education-related articles and those issues are also available online.
The University tasks different committees and commissions to conduct periodic reviews of its operations and to issue reports on their findings. The Macmahon Report, named after Arthur Whittier Macmahon, was issued in January 1958. This Report of the President's Committee on the Educational Future of the University called for the establishment of a Science and Engineering college; proposed that the School of General Studies be limited only to those students working towards a degree; urged a broad program of expansion of University facilities, including a new gymnasium and the formation of a graduate center; asked that the number of required courses be reduced; and called for the creation of a senior honors program. Similarly, in 1979, the Presidential Commission on Academic Priorities in the Arts and Sciences was published. This report is better known as the Marcus Report, named after the Commission Chair Steven Marcus, To learn more about other commissions and reports, see the Self-Studies tab above.
Archival collections are non-circulating and can only be viewed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reading room (RBML). In order to use the collections at the RBML, you will be required to register your own Special Collections Research Account before your 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 materials directly from the 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” in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request form.
Central Files
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 actively involved in all University matters and the letters in this collection can be quite candid. For information about a particular department, go to the Catalogues to find out the department’s executive officer or chair and look for the correspondence under that name. You can also try keyword searching on the name of the department (e.g., "economics") in the container list to see what is available. These records include discussions about personnel matters, budgets, requests, compensation, promotions, raises, leaves and replacements.
Faculty Meeting Minutes
This collection contains the minutes from the various faculties: Columbia College, Faculty of Political Science, School of Business, etc. There are general faculty meeting minutes but, for some divisions, there are also the Committee on Instruction (COI) minutes. The COI meetings discussed the affairs of school: student petitions, changes in requirements, new course proposals, courses eligible to fulfill requirements, student awards, and faculty appointments and leaves.
This collection also includes the University Council meeting minutes. From 1890-1968, the Council managed the academic organization and operations of the University, including admission criteria, degree requirements, the academic calendar, the date and order of Commencement exercises. In addition to the meeting minutes, the volumes include lists of recipients of Ph.D.s, M.A.s, fellowships, and awards, as well as reports prepared by/for the Council. The Council continued to serve until 1968, when it was replaced by the University Senate.
Historical Subject Files
Holdings about different departments and schools vary greatly but normally include newspaper and magazine clippings, press releases, and other printed matter regarding the various schools, departments, institutes, and centers that are currently or were previously associated with Columbia University. There are also records related to admissions, enrollment, academic calendars, curriculum, examinations, and syllabi.
Columbia University is made up of different colleges, faculties and schools. Below are the collections of records from the individual schools or division. In addition to the official school records, we have included some relevant resources, articles, books and even websites, but please note that these are not comprehensive lists.
Archival collections are non-circulating and can only be viewed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reading room (RBML). In order to use the collections at the RBML, you will be required to register your own Special Collections Research Account before your 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 materials directly from the 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” in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request form.
Below are the collections of records from the individual academic departments and disciplines. In addition to the official records, we have included the folder titles of materials available in the Historical Subject Files. These folders may include newspaper clippings, articles, publications, documents, etc. collected by the University Archives staff. Please note that these are not comprehensive lists. The list below does not include Faculty Papers which are available, organized by department, in the Faculty Search research guide.
Archival collections are non-circulating and can only be viewed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reading room (RBML). In order to use the collections at the RBML, you will be required to register your own Special Collections Research Account before your 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 materials directly from the 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” in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request form.
To learn more about schools and departments, there are a number of collections which offer summaries of previous year’s work and planning documents where departments are asked to look into their future. Below are the collections that include such materials. They are organized chronologically.
Although the University Archives is charged with preserving the institutional memory of Columbia University from its founding in 1754 to the present-day, the UA does not actively collect records from the following divisions and affiliates: Architecture, Law School, Health Sciences campus, Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union Theological Seminary. The repositories listed below may have records more closely related to these academic institutions and subject areas. Please note that most materials, whether at the University Archives or at any of the Columbia libraries, are searchable through the Archival Collections Portal and/or CLIO, the Columbia Libraries online catalog.
When researching the various schools at Columbia University it is often helpful to know who the Deans were over the years. The information presented here has been compiled by University Archives staff over the years and is an attempt to provide this information as fully as possible.
Prior to 1890, the President administered the duties later taken over by the Dean's office.
Engineering students attending a lecture inside Havemeyer Hall. Scan #1240. Historical Photograph Collection, University Archives. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.