Preserving History in the Marist Archives
Decades of Primary Source History in The Marist Archives and Special Collections
Perserving the history of Marist College, the Marist Archives offers extensive sources, like photos and newspapers, that depict what campus life has been like throughout the college's history. Source: Marist Archives and Special Collections
The Marist Archives and Special Collections house the history of the college campus, along with valuable primary sources and research materials used by students, faculty, researchers and even news outlets like CNN.
Located in the James A. Cannavino Library, the Marist Archives began only two decades ago. It preserves a recorded history of the college dating back to before 1905, when the Marist Brothers first came to Poughkeepsie, New York. It has information about the estates on which the Marist campus was built. Materials like newspapers, yearbooks and photos located in the Archives also reveal what campus life was like from past decades.
Covering decades worth of history for both the college and the world, the Archives offer insights for researchers, students and faculty. Source: Marist Archives and Special Collections
According to John Ansley, director of the Archives and Special Collections, the 1960s is one of the most exceptional periods to research in the Archives because it was an important decade for the college. During this time, the school transitioned from educating Christian Brothers to teaching male lay students, and by the end of the decade, the institution was completely co-educational. Marist also transitioned from being a Catholic school to a private college. Through the Archives, it’s possible to see how the college was affected by social upheavals like the civil rights and women’s rights movements, and how the course curriculums were adapted because of it.
One of the most interesting sources in the Archives is the collection of oral history. “I find the oral tradition to be fascinating. It's Interesting to hear all these different voices talking about the same time period,” Ansley said. “The campus has been collecting oral history for 19 years, and it serves as a great way to capture memories and what it was like to be a student during different decades.”
The Archives contains more than a century’s worth of history that is not only important for faculty and student use, but also utilized by individuals and professionals off-campus for research, books, documentaries, plays and websites.
A playwright from London once sought images from the Lowell Thomas collection for their production about T.E. Lawrence. “We gave them scans of the original images and they were projecting them as backdrops for a production a few years ago,” Ansley said. “T.E. Lawrence is a very popular guy in the Archives, so they wanted to use some of the images from our collection.”
Ansley also noted that CNN is working on a TV series about Jerusalem, using materials from the Archives. Several museums have also exhibited the Archive’s materials in the past. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has been put on hold for the time being.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, people from all over the world came to the Archives to conduct research. Now, it is limited to only faculty and staff, with many safety precautions being taken such as only allowing one researcher at a time in the Archives. However, information can also be found online and can be digitized by request.
Ansley enjoys working with students and researchers to put the information together in a meaningful way. “A neat aspect of the job is that you get to meet a lot of people from different universities or different kinds of researchers who want to use the collections.”