Do you know who the first woman student was and what years she attended? Do you know what the dress code or the dormitory rules were for women in the 1950s? If not, then you need to visit the Ursinus College archives—Ursinusiana Room on the second floor of the Library.
The purpose of the Ursinusiana Collection is to collect, maintain, and promote materials about Ursinus College. The following materials regardless of medium are included:
- Official publications of the College and its Officers and Departments.
- Official student publications.
- Publications by and about faculty, administration, students, alumni.
- Bound copies of the Honors, Scholars and Summer Fellows Papers
- Certain museum pieces reflecting the history of the College.
Specific items found in the Ursinusiana Collection include:
- Ursinus College catalogs from 1869 to 2013;
- Alumni Magazines from 1937 to the present;
- The Lantern from its first issue in 1933 to the current issue;
- The RUBY from 1897 to 2020;
- The Ursinus Weekly from 1902 to 1978, when it became The Grizzly;
- The Grizzly from 1978 to the current issue;
- photographs of the college and its people;
- memoirs from several alumni members;
- the Richard P. Richter Papers.
And there’s more, too. Alumni find this collection particularly useful. Many students and faculty members are fascinated when they see copies of the RUBY or the newspapers from the early years. Through the Ursinusiana collection, visitors see the changes in everything from student attitudes and clothing to study habits and dating habits to the buildings on campus.
Recently several CIE classes gained new insight into life on campus today when they used the Ursinusiana collection to investigate student life fifty years ago. They found that the students were much like themselves, but that society had a set of stricter rules, regulations, and customs. They also learned how to use primary sources for their research.
Visit the Archives:
The Ursinusiana Room (Myrin Library 227) is open by appointment or whenever the archivist is available, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Contact Andy Prock at 610.409.3291 or e-mail at aprock@ursinus.edu.
View Digitized Archival Collections:
Many of the Archives’ collections have been digitized and made available in Digital Commons, our institutional repository: Ursinusiana Collection in Digital Commons