USF Special Collections & University Archives Gleeson Library | Geschke Center

Donohue Rare Book Room, Gleeson Library, 3rd floor North

Open to students, faculty, the USF community, and outside researchers

Materials in the Special Collections & University Archives do not circulate like books in the main collection but they are available onsite in the Rare Book Room, pictured here. Staff will assist you in the proper handling of materials.

Special Collection materials are comprised of approximately 17,000 volumes and include: rare books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, maps, papyrus fragments, and artifacts related to the art and craft of the printed book.

Locate special collection materials through Ignacio, the library's online catalog. Materials may be searched and identified by title, author, subject as well as keyword (Illuminated Manuscript, Chertsey Breviary, ca 1300).

In the Rare Book Room, books are often studied as objects of material culture: their typographic design, illustrations, binding, and all aspects of their representation as physical objects (Tethys by Timothy C. Ely, 2014).

Digital Collections

Selected rare books and printed materials have been digitized and are available in Gleeson Library Digital Collections.

University Archives

What are Archives?

Archives are records of people, institutions, and governments that are the documentary evidence of past events. Archives tell the stories of their creators and hold them to account. They are often unique, specialized, or one of a kind and are non-circulating.

Examples include: Documents, scrapbooks, letters, photographs, moving image and sound recordings, artwork, reports, diaries, artifacts, and the digital equivalent of all of these materials.

Some of our archival collections like the student newspaper, yearbooks, and course catalogs have been digitized and can be found in Gleeson Library Digital Collections

The University of San Francisco Archives collects and preserves the records of faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni, as well as records created by university departments. They are accessible to the USF community and researchers for teaching and learning.

The stacks are closed, meaning that staff retrieve materials for you. Some records may be off-site, so plan ahead and contact the department to set up an appointment.

Gleeson Library, Lower Level, G12

We have approximately 1,400 linear feet of records of St. Ignatius College (USF), Jesuit Fathers, Campus building architectural plans, photographs, The Foghorn, The Don, course catalogs, commencement programs, Athletics, Gleeson Library, Alumni Relations, ASUSF, University Administration, Public Affairs, KUSF, Law School, faculty papers, ephemera, and memorabilia.

Why use Archives?

Often they are the primary sources i.e. original sources of information or eye-witness accounts that are used to interpret and gain insight into historical people, decisions, movements, and events.

For example, a researcher may be interested in urban development of San Francisco in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They could consult archival photographs in our collection that help to tell the story of the establishment of the Western neighborhoods.

Pictured here is Lone Mountain in 1862 which was then the Calvary and Laurel Hill Cemeteries.

1932 illustration of the new San Francisco College for Women, dedicated and opened in 1933 on Lone Mountain. Later known as Lone Mountain College, it was purchased by USF in 1978.

The Lone Mountain neighborhood and a portion of the Masonic Cemetery surrounding the San Francisco College for Women soon after construction was completed in late 1932.

San Francisco College for Women and the Lone Mountain neighborhood in the late 1930s or early 1940s, soon after the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937.

Contact Us

John Hawk, Head Librarian, Special Collections & University Archives ~ hawkj@usfca.edu

Annie Reid, University Archivist ~ areid1@usfca.edu

Gina Solares, Digital Collections Librarian ~ gsolares@usfca.edu

Marina Cuneo, Library Assistant for Digital Projects ~ mcuneo@usfca.edu

Maura Wilson, Special Collections & University Archives Assistant ~ mwilson15@usfca.edu

For research questions, use our online Inquiry Form

Special Collections / University Archives

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