Introduction
Our mission is to collect, preserve, and provide access to special collections and archives for discovery, teaching, scholarship, creativity and critical thinking. Our priority is the safekeeping of the historical and cultural record of Queens College. Additional collecting areas – civil rights, social justice, politics, and music and the arts – reflect areas of excellence in our institution and among our faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
For more information on what and how we collect archival materials in this repository, please read our Collection Development Policy.
Queens College
Special Collections and Archives collects records, publications, photographs, and ephemera documenting the administrative, scholarly, and social history of the campus from the college’s founding in 1937 to the present day, as well as papers of prominent alumni, faculty, and administrators.
Civil Rights and Social Justice
Queens College students and faculty have a rich history of participation in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, as well as other struggles for social justice. Starting in 2009, Queens College Library’s Special Collections and Archives began collecting materials from alumni, faculty, and community members involved in these movements. We continue to expand in this area, documenting a broader array of voices, organizations, and time periods in the fight for a better world.
Mark Levy Papers
GLASA Collection
Phyllis Padow-Sederbaum Papers
Music & the Arts
Queens College alumni and faculty have strong records of achievement in the creative fields, while the Kupferberg Center for the Arts and Godwin-Ternbach Museum provide world-class arts opportunities to the residents of Queens. Special Collections and Archives holds manuscripts and personal papers of musicians, composers, cultural critics, artists, and literary figures.
Karol Rathaus Papers
Alexander Kouguell Papers
RARE BOOKS & Print History
Special Collections and Archives maintains a collection of over 2000 volumes which trace the history of publishing and print culture. The collection also includes modern zines, chapbooks, and artists’ books. Collections of note include the The James J. Periconi Collection of Italian-language American imprints and the Comedias Sueltas Collection (plays of the Spanish Golden Age).
Zines Collection
Comedias Sueltas Collection
James J. Periconi Collection of Italian Language American Imprints
Political Papers
Special Collections and Archives holds the political papers of several elected officials with origins in, and roots and ties to, Queens, including Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal, Congressman Gary Ackerman, Speaker of the New York State Assembly Saul Weprin, and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. Many of these collections are partially processed, and the department is seeking grant and/or private funding to make these collections more accessible.