The Special Archives… Personal Histories of Thousands
The visit to the special archives section of the library was a fun surprise for me because I had no idea where it was in the ZSR or what it was about but it is truly a hidden gem. I was actually thinking about going to study there later today and flipping through the yearbooks. For people who are unaware that special archives exists basically it contains bookshelves and storage of very special and distinct collections. It contains “rare” books i.e. printed materials that may be hard to come across and that could be in the form of books, maps, or journals. They have about 40,000 pieces in the rare books collection. It also contains university archives which contains the historical references for Wake Forest and all of its important documents and records over the years. My favorite part of this was looking at the yearbooks because I am involved in a “secret” society now called Strings which was the first ever all women’s group on WF campus. I saw a picture of the Strings ladies from 1970 something which was very cool to see. Since WF is historically a baptist school and there are a wide variety of baptists in NC — it is the largest and most diverse Christian group- WF holds the NC Baptist Historical Collection as well. On top of these there are also personal collections and special manuscripts from WF alumni and baptist missionaries. There are drafts of peoples writings and there are also digital formats of many of these special collected items. An archive is a collection of a person it tells a narrative a history and shows the very beginning of how we began to collect data on people in the historical era. Now if you want archives of someone you search all their social media sites to discover these artifacts.
The special archives keeps its collections in the special archives. Nothing can leave the room due to the relevance, rarity, value, or date. You can go into special archives from 8am to 5pm any week day and study in there or do a special reading for primary docs for a class. Anyone can use the special archives from the public. Another one of my favorite items was a first edition Pride and Prejudice — my sister would’ve tried to take it. There is a website and some sources have been digitized such as all the Old Gold & Blacks have copies online. You are also allowed to photograph almost anything in the collection.
The special archives offer something unique to research and those who are lovers of history and culture. They offer an unfiltered perspective that adds a lot of interest and depth because it is either the first edition, hand written, or whatever it is a lot of work and time and effort and knowledge was put into the production of it. A lot of the material in special archives comes from the University Departments, its also donated, and purchased. Some things are half a million dollars and others, even if there is only one of it in existence, may not even be as special.
This brought me back into thinking about the history of the book and the printing press that we got to see at the beginning of the year. New technology is crazy. Good thing we don’t have to write these blog posts by hand. The printing press revolutionized access to information but so did the internet. I hope that information continues to be even more freely distributed so that every person may have the chance to get their hands on digital primary sources and even academic journals. The more free flow of information, the smarter we will be. I truly enjoyed this class and it made me remember how interested I am in books, history, and forms of communication. It brought me back to why I am a liberal arts major at Wake Forest.
Thanks for an eye opening first half of the semester!
Liz