Bryn Mawr College

Archives Resources

• Buildings
• Faculty
• Alumnae
• Curriculum
• Summer School for Women Workers in Industry

Researching Bryn Mawr Buildings

Buildings Files

(Record Group 1K - 13 document boxes)

For most of the buildings you will find a folder containing clippings of articles or miscellaneous materials. These folders are meant for quick reference. They contain secondary source material that has been sent to the college archives over the years. All published or unpublished material about every building is not reproduced here.

Click here to browse a selection of campus maps.

Early Course Catalogs

Early course catalogs also served as promotional material for the college. They sometimes included pictures, drawings or floor plans of college buildings. A complete set of course catalogs can be found in Special Collections.

Bryn Mawr College Calendar

Click here to view the Bryn Mawr College Calendars and Bryn Mawr College Programs online at the Internet Archive.

 

(Record Groups 1AA [complete] and 1K [partial])

From 1907 until the 1940s, the college published a promotional brochure called the Bryn Mawr College Calendar or Academic Buildings and Halls of Residence. These brochures contained descriptions, drawings and floor plans of the various buildings.

 

Bryn Mawr College Alumnae Bulletin and the College News

Articles about some college buildings appeared in these publications in issues published around the time that the building was completed. The College News (first published in 1914) has been microfilmed and can be used in the microfilm room (look in the cabinet marked "Archives"). A complete set of the Alumnae Bulletin can be found in Special Collections.

Presidents' Correspondence

The correspondence of BMC presidents M. Carey Thomas, Marion Park and Katharine McBride is available to scholars. Indices for these collections can be found in the Special Collections reading area. Correspondence is generally filed by subject or correspondent, so you will need to review the index for the names of the building, architect, or builder.

Reports of the Presidents to the Board of Trustees

Click here to view the Annual Reports of the President of Bryn Mawr College online at the Internet Archive.

BMC buildings are sometimes mentioned in the report the president made to the board of trustees. However the reports were not made or published each and every year. Ask in Special Collections for the reports published around the time that a specific buildings was being planned, built and completed.

 

--top--

Researching Bryn Mawr Faculty

Public Information Files

When a faculty member retires, the Public Information Department transfers his or her file to the college archives. These files contain whatever information the faculty member shared with that department and any newspaper clippings that the department may have collected. It may contain a c.v. and in the case of deceased faculty members, possibly one or more obituaries. For information on faculty currently employed by the college, contact the Public Information Office.

The Alumnae Bulletin

If the faculty member wrote any articles for the Alumnae Bulletin these can be read in the back issues maintained inthe college archives. There are two indices to the back issues; ask for help in their use. The Alumnae Bulletin may also contain obituaries for deceased faculty members; look in the issues published soon after the date of death.

Course Catalogs

Click here to view the Bryn Mawr College Calendars and Bryn Mawr College Programs online at the Internet Archive.

The courses taught by Bryn Mawr faculty are described in the series of Bryn Mawr course catalogs maintained at the college archives.

Personal and Professional Papers

The manuscripts collection in the Special Collections Department contains personal and professional papers for some, but not all, Bryn Mawr faculty. Check the collected finding aids for the manuscripts collections. Please consult with us to see whether collections of papers for a particular faculty member might have been donated to another repository.

College News

Material by or about the faculty member may have appeared in the College News. The college archives has an index to College News articles from 1914 to 1954. Ask special collections staff for help in its use. Microfilm copies of the College News (and the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Bi-Co News) are available for use in the microfilm room of the library.

Yearbooks

Click here to view the Bryn Mawr College Yearbooks from 1901 - 1949 at the Internet Archive.

Bryn Mawr College Yearbooks may contain images and miscellaneous information on faculty members.

Publications

To find faculty publications, check Tripod (the library catalog) and consult the Reference desk for aid in finding and using the appropriate index for that faculty member's discipline.

President's Correspondence

 

The correspondence of presidents M. Carey Thomas, Marion Park and Katharine McBride is available to scholars. Indices for these collections can be found in the Special Collections reading area. Correspondence is generally filed by subject or correspondent, so you will need to review the index for the name of a correspondent.

--top--

Researching Bryn Mawr Alumnae

Alumnae Association Files

Biographical information collected by the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae Association is transferred to the college archives at the time of an alumna's death. For living alumnae, contact the Alumnae Association.

The Alumnae Bulletin

If the alumna wrote any articles or letters to the editor published in the Alumnae Bulletin, these can be read in the back issues maintained at the college archives. There are two indices to the back issues; ask special collections staff for help in their use. Additional unindexed information (including obituaries) can be found by reading the "Class Notes" section at the back of each issue for the alumna's year of graduation.

Class Information

While grades are permanently confidential, the college archivist may be able to access records indicating what classes a Bryn Mawr alumna took. Descriptions of those classes can be found in the collection of course catalogs maintained in the college archives.

Personal and Professional Papers

The manuscripts collection of the Special Collections Department contains personal and professional papers for some, but not all, Bryn Mawr alumnae. Check the collected finding aids for the manuscripts collections. Check the resource Archives USA, available through the library web site, to see whether collections of papers for a particular alumna might have been donated to another repository.

College News and Other Student Publications -

Material by or about the alum may have appeared in the College News. The college archives has an index to College News articles from 1914 to 1954. Ask the special collections staff for help in its use. Microfilm copies of the College News (and the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Bi-Co) are available for use in the microfilm room of the library. Other student publications such as literary journals may be found in the college archives; ask for help in determining which ones were published while your subject was a student.

Yearbooks

Bryn Mawr College Yearbooks

may contain images and miscellaneous information on alumnae. The yearbooks will also reflect the social environment during the subject's years at Bryn Mawr.

Publications -

To find alumnae publications, check Tripod (the tri-college library catalog) and consult the Reference desk for aid in finding and using appropriate indices for that alumna's discipline.

A selection of literary magazines (Fortnightly Philistine, The Lantern, Tipyn o'bob, Counterpoint, The Title) published bdtween 1894-1955 have been digitized and are available online. Click here to view the digital editions available online at the Internet Archive.

--top--

Researching the Bryn Mawr Curriculum

Course Catalogs

Click here to view the Bryn Mawr College Calendars and Bryn Mawr College Programs online at the Internet Archive.

Names and descriptions of courses can be found in the series of Bryn Mawr course catalogs maintained at the college archives.

Centennial Publications

The book titled A Century Recalled - Essays in Honor of Bryn Mawr College, published at the time of the college's centennial, contains several essays on the origins of various departments at Bryn Mawr.

Promotional material published by the college (Record Group 1AC)

These brochures contain general material describing the programs at Bryn Mawr. Consult the special collections staff in the use of this material.

Departmental materials (Record Group 4M)

Miscellaneous material by or about the various departments at Bryn Mawr. Note that this is by no means a complete record of the activities of any department. Consult the special collections staff in the use of this material.

Reports of the Presidents to the Board of Trustees

Click here to view the Annual Reports of the President of Bryn Mawr College online at the Internet Archive.

These may contain information on various departments. However the reports were not made and published each and every year.

Commencement Programs

These include dissertation titles and in most cases list each graduate's major.

--top--

Researching the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry

There is a separate finding aid for materials relating to the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry which are housed in a collection that occupies a total of thirteen boxes. The library stacks also include a number of secondary sources explaining this program.

--top--