Documenting Davidson College - Records Management

How does the College Archives collect materials?

Everyone—staff, students, faculty, and administrators —plays a role in maintaining and preserving the records of Davidson College.

For example, in 1838, the Board of Trustees requested that President Morrison and Professor Sparrow provide copies of their addresses, and funding was set aside for the publication of the addresses of the speakers of the literary societies as well.  Several years later, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees established an “archives” in which to deposit the minutes and all the other papers belonging to the Trustees, entrusting these materials to the first President.

Today, the Archives receives transfers of official College records from the President's and Dean's offices as well as from individual academic and administrative departments. Student life, research, and creative endeavors are represented through the records of student organizations and selected collections of personal papers and theses.  Davidson alumni and their families offer personal memories and materials that reflect the history of the College and individual perceptions of the College's evolution.  ​  

Why does the College Archives collect materials? 

The College Archives serves as the recorded memory of Davidson College and its surroundings and as such is an important part of its community, providing cultural, official, and unofficial history.  The College Archives contains a considerable amount of  material about the people, buildings, and sites on campus, as well as information about important time periods or significant events that affected the people associated with Davidson College.  The types of materials that make up this recorded memory include letters, email, minutes, reports, photographs, artifacts, memorabilia, publications, and other documents—in both physical and digital forms.  The Archives chronicles the development and evolution of the College, and it is essential to the educational mission of the Archives to tell an inclusive, responsible, and historically accurate story.  The information contained in the College Archives can be very valuable to students, staff, faculty, researchers and the general public.