Smith College Special Collections records
Scope and Contents
The Smith College Special Collections records document more than a century of archival work and rare book librarianship at Smith College, including the College Archives, the Sophia Smith Collection, and the Mortimer Rare Book Collection.The collection contains records of archival holdings at Smith, the correspondence of Special Collections staff, event and exhibition records, staff files, and other records.
Materials include legacy collection description, correspondence, photographs, reports, research for exhibitions, grant information, project records, newsletters, sound recordings, and video recordings. Catalogs, photographs, and annual reports can be found in series 5, general files, and may be of particular interest.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1868 - 2018
Creator
- Smith College Special Collections (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for use with following restrictions on access:
"Office Files," files of records created for the use of the administrative unit that created them, are closed to research for a period of 10 years following their creation.
Accession, gift, and other donor records are closed permanently.
Conditions Governing Use
Smith College retains copyright of materials created as part of its business operations; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by Smith College, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Biographical / Historical
Smith College Special Collections (SCSC) is a steward of historical materials of enduring value that fosters inquiry, critical thinking, and knowledge building through an active engagement with the past and a focus on the future. This mission is supported by five core values: access, collaboration, excellence, learning, and social responsibility. The SCSC is an internationally recognized repository of women’s history, long dedicated to documenting the voices of women working on behalf of other women and gender minorities. It was created in 2014 under Director Beth Myers to unite the Smith College Archives (founded 1921), the Mortimer Rare Book Collection (founded 1936), and the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History (founded 1942).
College Archives
The Smith College Archives document the life of the College by collecting materials created by students, faculty, administrative and departmental staff during the course of their time here.
List of College Archivists
- Nina Eliza Browne
- 1921-1940
- Margaret Storrs Grierson
- 1940-1965
- Marcia Williams Bradley
- 1965-1970
- Mary-Elizabeth Murdock
- 1970-1984
- Mary B. Trott
- 1984-1987
- Margery Sly
- 1987-1997
- Nanci Young
- 1998
Sophia Smith Collection
The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, archives, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. It was founded in 1942 to be the library's distinctive contribution to the college's mission of educating women.
List of Curators of the Sophia Smith Collection (title varies)
- Margaret Storrs Grierson
- 1942-1965
- Marcia Williams Bradley
- 1965-1969
- Katherine Baldwin Sawyer
- 1969-1970
- Mary-Elizabeth Murdock
- 1970-1971
- Virginia Christenson
- 1971-1977
- Susan L. Boone
- 1977-1992
- Sherrill Redmon
- 1993-2012
- Vacant
- 2013-2015
- Maureen Callahan
- 2016-
List of CA/SSC Heads (title varies)
- Margaret Storrs Grierson
- 1942-1965
- Marcia Williams Bradley
- 1965-1970
- Mary-Elizabeth Murdock
- 1970-1984
- Virginia Christenson
- 1984-1985
- Susan Grigg
- 1985-1992
- Margery Sly (acting)
- 1992-1993
- Position abolished
- 1993
Mortimer Rare Book Collection
(taken from https://libraries.smith.edu/special-collections/about/mortimer-rare-book-collection/history)
The Mortimer Rare Book Collection contains Smith College’s rare books and literary manuscripts. The collection scope is chronologically and geographically broad, with substantial holdings in English and American literature, botany, history of science, economics, early children's literature, English drama and political pamphlets, early lithographic books, and artists’ books.
Smith College created its first Rare Book Room in the 1937 addition to Neilson Library, where it was located on the first floor mezzanine. In the 1962 Neilson Library renovation, the Rare Book Room was enlarged and moved to the third floor to accommodate further growth. It was renamed the Mortimer Rare Book Room in 1994, in honor of curator and teacher Ruth Mortimer, who significantly broadened collection use for teaching and learning. Now known as the Mortimer Rare Book Collection, the collection continues to grow and contribute to the curriculum as part of Smith College Special Collections.
List of Curators of Rare Books
- ?
- 1937-1941
- Marion Elizabeth Brown
- 1942-1946
- Dorothy King
- 1946-1975
- Ruth Mortimer
- 1975-1994
- Michele Cloonan
- 1995-1996
- Martin Antonetti
- 1997-2016
- Shannon Supple
- 2017-
Extent
33 Gigabytes (2,350 digital files)
155.738 linear feet (297 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Smith College Special Collections (SCSC) is a steward of historical materials of enduring value that fosters inquiry, critical thinking, and knowledge building through an active engagement with the past and a focus on the future. The Smith College Special Collections records document more than a century of archival work and rare book librarianship at Smith College, including the College Archives, the Sophia Smith Collection, and the Mortimer Rare Book Collection.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
This collection contains materials received in digital form that are not currently available online. Please consult with Special Collections staff to request access to this digital content.
As a preservation measure, researchers must use digital copies of audiovisual materials in this collection. Please consult with Special Collections staff or email specialcollections@smith.edu to request the creation of and access to digital copies.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Portions of the collection were formally accessioned from individual Special Collections staff members after their departure or when files were inactive. Other portions were used as an active file until this process was officially stopped in 2021.
Appraisal
During the processing of the collection in 2023, reference correspondence, exhibition labels and display materials, records of unsuccessful grants and canceled events, and routine administrative files were discarded, while personnel and student records were shredded. Roughly 53 linear feet were disposed of. A few folders of material related to collection management were transferred back to the active files of the Collections Archivist.
Processing Information
In 2023 the collection was processed by Collections Archivist Dan Michelson and student assistant Grace Phippard. Following the processing plan written by Dan Michelson in 2022, the collection was intellectually arranged into six series, based on type of material and previous archival descriptions. Existing description was corrected and improved, while access restrictions were standardized. Low-value material was discarded and boxes were consolidated, but rehousing and refoldering was deemed unnecessary. Three collections from the Mortimer Rare Book Collection (Mortimer Rare Book Room dedication collection, MRBC-MS-00298; Books Illustrated symposium on Ruth Mortimer collection, MRBC-MS-00299; Nuremberg Chronicle conservation collection, MRBC-MS-00408) were transferred to College Archives and incorporated into the collection.
Subject
- Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History (Organization)
- Smith College Archives (Organization)
- Smith College Special Collections (Organization)
Source
- Smith College Special Collections (Organization)
- Title
- Finding aid to the Smith College Special Collections records
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Dan Michelson and Grace Phippard
- Date
- 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 10/1/2018: First version of finding aid published
- 2018-11-5: Finding aid updated as part of the College Archives Survey
- 2019-04-24: Resource name changed from "Smith College Archives and Sophia Smith Collection records" to "Smith College Special Collections records"
- 2019-07-11: Special collections events (av and photos) added
- 2020-07-01: Added 11 flat file folders, updated scope and contents note
- 2020-11-17: Added 61 boxes and updated 11 boxes, updated dates and extents and S and C note
- 2021-01-25: Added Accession 2020-A-0015 and 2020-A-0016
- 2021-05-05: Added Accession 2021-A-0003
- 2022-03-03: Added Accession 2022-A-0012
- 2022-04-05: Added Accession 2022-A-0034 and Accession 2022-A-0035
- 2022-04-19: Added Accession 2022-A-0045
- 2022-10-05: Added Accession 2022-A-0091 and 2022-A-0092
- 2022-10-11: Added Accession 2022-A-0094 and 2022-A-0095
Repository Details
Part of the Smith College Archives Repository
