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 University Archives 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” button in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request form.

• John D. Cannon papers 1900-1984
  The collection consists of correspondence, memos, publications, reports, press clippings, press releases, sermons and speeches retained by the Rev. John D. Cannon, University Chaplain at Columbia University, 1966-1969. In the course of his tenure at Columbia, Rev. Cannon was considered a new breed of clergyman, whose liberal politics and theology fostered a strong orientation toward progressive social action. In this regard, he was closely identified with many campus protest organizations. Rev. Cannon supported the creation of the Student Homophile League, now the Columbia Queer Alliance, protested the Vietnam War and racial inequality.

• The Historical Photograph Collection is our largest collection of images and includes portraits of individuals (ca. 34,000 items), images of buildings and grounds (ca. 12,000 items), various university events, student activities and student life, athletics, academics, university symbols, university administration, and campus activity during WWI and WWII. Series XI: Student Activities and Student Life contains images of Columbia student clubs, fraternities, performing groups, publications and student traditions from the 1890s to the 1970s. Search the finding aid for keywords and you can find, for example, the Student Homophile League, ca. 1970s (Box 196)

• Columbiana Manuscripts, 1572-1986
  This is an artificial collection comprised of correspondence, diaries, lecture notes, essays, administrative documents, minutes, and other documents related to Columbia University. Materials were created by or for students, alumni, faculty, administrators, staff, trustees, and honorary degree recipients.

There are a number of publications which have been digitized and are now easily searchable online.

• Columbia Daily Spectator
  You can search the issues of the student newspaper, either by date or by keyword, by visiting the Columbia Spectator Digital Archive. The paper provides articles, opinion pieces and even cartoons to give you a sense of the LGBT issues on campus during the publication's long run (1877 to the present).

• Columbia University Record Archive
  Beginning as the University Record (September 1973-May 1975) and continuing to this day as the Columbia University Record (July 1975-present), this important university-wide publication, now scanned and fully searchable, is an incredibly rich resource of past Columbia activities, events, scientific research, trustee and faculty appointments, awards and honors, libraries news, departmental achievements, budget and financial reporting, faculty and staff updates, as well as containing informative profiles of campus personalities from 1973 to June 2016.

• Blue and White Archive
  Columbia University's undergraduate magazine ran in the 1890s and was revived in the 1990s. You can access the digitized copies of  The Blue and White from 1998 to 2013. The University Archives has a mostly completely collection from 1890 to 1893, unfortunately in fragile condition. These older issues have now been digitized for preservation.

  • Blue and White, 1890-1891
  • Blue and White, 1891-1982
  • Blue and White, 1892-1893