Archives and Special Collections: College Archives

College Archives

The Macalester College Archives collects, preserves, and makes available for research materials that document the origins, developments, activities, achievements, and people of the College.

Collections include:  college publications, photographs, audio and video recordings, posters and blueprints, oral histories, meeting minutes, planning studies and reports, student life materials, faculty monograph publications, and student honors projects.

Featured Digital Collections:

• Oral Histories:  oral history interviews conducted with Macalester emeritus and newly-tenured faculty, long-time staff, former administrators and trustees, and alumni
• Archival Photos:  historical photos of the college and its community members
• Student and College Newspapers:  issues of The Mac Weekly, Macalester Echo, and Macalester Bulletin dating back to 1886
  For help see this quick Guide to Searching The Mac Weekly
• Historical College Catalogs:  annual college catalogs from 1885-1923
• Honors Projects:  scholarly and creative works of senior Macalester students;  older honors projects in print are findable in Macalester WorldCat but please Contact Us to actually access;  newer honors projects are available in DigitalCommons

Other Collections of Note:

Neill Collection Macalester College founder Rev. Dr. Edward Duffield Neill was a pioneer clergyman and educator in Minnesota.  The Archives holds books and articles written by Neill, as well as his personal collection of books on Native American culture;  the early history of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and the west;  and history and geography of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

History of the Archives:

The beginnings of the College Archives date back to 1947 and the previous Weyerhaeuser Library.  The Neill Room was created to house the books and papers written and collected by the Reverend Doctor Edward Duffield Neill, the founder and first president of Macalester College.  These collections were later incorporated into Weyerhaeuser Library’s Tartan Room, which was begun in the early 1960s as a college memorabilia room of sorts.  These collections, along with papers and additional materials from around campus, were brought together in 1988, with the opening of the DeWitt Wallace Library.