Keeping in Touch - Gustavus Postcards

The College and Lutheran Church Archives have brought you another exciting display! “Postcards from Gustavus Adolphus College” consists of many postcards that feature the college and the St. Peter community. Come and see what you can learn about how Gusties and our campus have changed in the last 150 years! You may be surprised at some of the similarities and differences of our community today! This appealing display was created by Lacie Micek, an archives student worker. It is located on the main floor of the library by the reference desk. Check it out!

Digital Gustavus

There are many exciting and new digital products being created and offered by the College and Lutheran Church Archives here at Gustavus. For example, you can browse nearly 500 digitized photographs going back to the 1800s, read civil war letters, study World War I propaganda
posters, peruse campus maps from bygone years, listen to oral history interviews, read all issues of the Gustavian Weekly from 1920 through spring 2005, and find your relatives in the 1947-48 alumni directory. In fact, there are so many interesting projects being tackled that you should visit the archives to learn more. If you have extra money, we are always looking for donations because history matters, and there is a cost to preserving our past. We are located in the library, directly above the main entrance. The webpage is here, and you'll need to click the link for digital collections to access the online materials. Have fun browsing! We have a history like no other because it's our history.

Archives Hours

The College and Lutheran Church Archives will be open extended hours this semester. We owe our thanks to Reverend Reuben and Edith M. Ford for an endowment supporting the Lutheran Church Archives. Adrianna Darden, the Archives Specialist, will be working an additional four hours each week.

Hours for Spring Semester 2011
Monday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30
Tuesday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30
Wednesday - 8:00-Noon and 1:00-4:30

Please contact Jeff Jenson, College and Lutheran Church Archivist, regarding other days and times. If you've never visited, hurry and join the hundreds of others who used the archives this past year. It's a fantastic experience!

Gusties are in the House! (and Senate) – Display

Several Gustavus Adolphus alumni and a faculty member were very successful in the past election on November 2^nd. Come see the new display brought to you by the College and Lutheran Church Archives, “Gusties in Minnesota Legislature.” The display features five former students (Mindy Greiling, David Hann, Kory Kath, Ted Lillie, and Paul Torkelson) and one current professor (Terry Morrow). Learn what these Gusties were up to back in the day, and in their current positions as state senators and representatives! This fun display was created by Lacie Micek, archives student worker. It is located on the main floor of the library by the reference desk. Be there or be square!

College Photographs

The College and Lutheran Church Archives has released a photo database documenting the college from the 1800s to the modern era. Currently, this resource contains 300 images from our main photograph collection. New content appears somewhat regularly. The archives retain thousands of images, and the primary limitation to adding additional photographs is time.
Researchers and those with avocational interests have a powerful research tool that allows for finding images from targeted decades or pictures concerning particular topics, groups, and individuals. Moreover, this resource makes historical inquiry fun and much more accessible for students, alumni, and staff.
Users can access the database via the archives page. You will want to click the link for photographs along the left column. Please visit the archives (located on the library's third floor) or call the archivist if you are unable to find an image in the database.

You Want to Be an Archivist: Requiem for a Dream

Here is a wonderful video about the reality, well sort of reality, of the archives profession and being an archivist. If you view life through the lens of "tough love" and think being an archivist would be the best thing ever, you'll love this eye-opening production.

Why you shouldn't become an archivist by Rebecca Goldman and Amy Schindler

Even with the non-stop dreary funniness provided in this clip, being an archivist is wonderful.

Archives Renovation: A Brave New World

The College and Lutheran Church Archives has been, for the most part, in its current location since the opening of the second Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library in late 1972. During that last thirty-eight years many items have been collected. Thousands of acid-free boxes serve as home to the unique documents, photographs, recordings, and numerous other miscellaneous materials created by and about the college and those who have called Gustavus home.

In an effort to improve the facility and gain additional storage space, Jeff Jenson and Michelle Twait applied for a Minnesota Historical & Cultural Grant made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Their application was successful. By mixing the award with money from the library and an archives endowment, archivally appropriate shelving will be installed. As a result, the entire space was emptied. With the room being bare for the first time in nearly forty years, the space is undergoing a much needed cleaning and painting with the help of physical plant staff.

The archives will remain open during this tumultuous upheaval. This is being done because it is the primary mission of the College and Lutheran Church Archives to make materials "available for use and study." Information access will continue, but minor delays may occur.

To learn more about the College and Lutheran Church Archives please contact Jeff Jenson or visit the website.