Contains the UMBC Policy on Records Management. Supplementary pages include guidelines, procedures, tips and an online form for transferring records and other material to the University Archives. Contact the Archivist if you would like to schedule a records management consultation. Learn more...
This guide contains a comprehensive timeline and information about the available resources for conducting research on the history of UMBC's origins, people, departments, and traditions. View the guide at http://lib.guides.umbc.edu/umbchistory.
Other resources
Sharing the Past, Building the Future: UMBC at 50 online exhibit
UMBC timeline (1955-2009)
UMBC: An Evolution, a ten part essay series from The Retriever exploring the development of UMBC from 1955 to 1981.
Archives Gold: 50 Objects for UMBC's 50th
UMBC50: Grit & Greatness
Explore Baltimore Heritage UMBC campus tour
University Archives
Search descriptions of the holdings using the Special Collections Search. Search tip: enter Coll* in the Call Number field and "University Archives" (with quotes) in the Collection field to limit your results to the university records and papers. You may browse the catalog records for processed and unprocessed records or review our completed finding aids below.
The University Archives collects departmental records that document the history of our campus. Faculty paper collections, which cover the careers of individuals who played key roles in the history of UMBC and/or their field, are also collected on a limited basis. The University Archives collecting policy is available online and a faculty papers collecting policy is in development. Contact the Archivist with questions about these collections. Please note that that majority of the University Archives records and papers are unprocessed. Unprocessed collections are still open for research with permission and prior review by the Archivist.
Department records
- President's Office records, University Archives, Collection 50
- University Senate records, University Archives, Collection 52
- Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences records, University Archives, Collection 53
- UMBC Oral History collection, University Archives, Collection 55
- Africana Studies records, University Archives, Collection 56
- Alumni Relations records, University Archives, Collection 57
- American Studies records, University Archives, Collection 58
- Ancient Studies records, University Archives, Collection 59
- Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation records, University Archives, Collection 60
- Biological Sciences records, University Archives, Collection 61
- Board of Regents records, University Archives, Collection 62
- Career Services Center records, University Archives, Collection 63
- Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture records, University Archives, Collection 64
- Campus Scheduling and Guest Services records, University Archives, Collection 65
- Visual and Performing Arts records, University Archives, Collection 66
- Dresher Center for the Humanities, University Archives, Collection 67
- English records, University Archives, Collection 68
- Facilities Management records, University Archives, Collection 71
- Graduate School records, University Archives, Collection 73
- Human Resources records, University Archives, Collection 74
- New Media records, University Archives, Collection 75
- Interdisciplinary Studies records, University Archives, Collection 76
- Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery records, University Archives, Collection 77
- Mathematics and Statistics records, University Archives, Collection 78
- Meyerhoff Scholars Program records, University Archives, Collection 79
- Ethnomusicology records, University Archives, Collection 80
- Political Science records, University Archives, Collection 81
- Provost Office records, University Archives, Collection 82
- Theatre Department records, University Archives, Collection 83
- Institutional Research records, University Archives, Collection 89
- Residential Life records, University Archives, Collection 90
- Women's Center records, University Archives, Collection 94
- Institutional Advancement records, University Archives, Collection 97
- UMBC historic documents, University Archives, Collection 107
- Student Affairs records, University Archives, Collection 129
- Public Policy records, University Archives, Collection 148
Faculty papers
On occasion, faculty paper collections are accepted into the University Archives. These collections may contain personal files relating to the faculty member's teaching, research, and administrative duties at UMBC.
- Jo Ann Argersinger manuscripts, University Archives, Collection 38
- Albin O. Kuhn papers, University Archives, Collection 44
- Gloria Oden papers, University Archives, Collection 69
- John Starr papers, University Archives, Collection 72
- James Arnquist papers, University Archives, Collection 84
- Morton Rubin papers, University Archives, Collection 88
- John M. Titchener papers, University Archives, Collection 91
- John Haskell papers, University Archives, Collection 93
- Sam McCready papers, University Archives, Collection 95
- Willie B. Lamouse-Smith papers, University Archives, Collection 96
- Sandra Herbert papers, University Archives, Collection 98
- Jonathan Finkelstein papers, University Archives, Collection 102
- Jaromir Stephany papers, University Archives, Collection 104
- Robert Burchard papers, University Archives, Collection 115
- Kuhn family scrapbook, University Archives, Collection 127
- Robert Gerle papers, University Archives, Collection 134
- Tim Ford photographs, University Archives, Collection 149
- Jim Mohr papers, University Archives, Collection 194
- Hugh Davis Graham papers, University Archives, Collection 195
- W. Edward Orser papers, University Archives, Collection 196
- Raymond Starr papers, University Archives, Collection 197
- Slobodan B. Petrovich papers, University Archives, Collection 198
- Renate Fischetti papers, University Archives, Collection 199
- France-TV records, University Archives, Collection 205
- George La Noue papers, University Archives, Collection 207
- David Lewis papers, University Archives, Collection 208
- Will Backstrom collection, University Archives, Collection 209
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University Photographs
Search tip: Use the Special Collections Search and enter University Photographs as the "Collection title" to limit your search to the University Photographs. Box level records are available through the Special Collections Search, as well as item-level records for any digitized photos. If you would only like to browse our digitized photographs, please use the Digital Collections search.
The University photographs document the growth of our physical campus, the active student life, and the many faculty and staff that have contributed to UMBC since the groundbreaking in 1965. Photographs have been donated to the University Archives by the student newspaper, Institutional Advancement, and staff, students, and alumni. Photographs can be viewed in the Special Collections reading room or scanned on request per our Rights & Reproductions policy.
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University Publications
Search tip: Use the Special Collections Search and enter UPUB in the Call Number field to limit your results to the university publications. Additional publications may not yet be cataloged, so please contact the Archivist for additional assistance.
The university publications collection includes campus catalogs, newsletters, annual reports, brochures, The Retriever Weekly (the student newspaper), and student publications as well as scientific and technical reports published by the research organizations within UMBC.
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Faculty/Staff publications
Use the Library Catalog (catalogusmai) to access these publications. To limit your search to the faculty and staff publications, select "UMBC Faculty/Staff Publications" from the Named Collections drop-down menu. Faculty and staff authored publications are not a part of the university publications but they are actively collected by the Special Collections department.
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Theses and Dissertations
- Library Catalog (catalogusmai): One copy of all UMBC masters theses and doctoral dissertations are stored in the University Archives; additional copies may be available in the Library Stacks (call numbers FOLIO LD3231).
- ScholarWorks@UMBC: The Library began collecting digital copies of theses and dissertations in 2007.
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Oral Histories
Oral history interviews have been conducted with UMBC faculty, staff, and alumni in the context of several different initiatives. Dr. Edward Orser led an oral history project in the 1990s in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of UMBC. Following the success of this project, the UMBC Founders Oral History Project was established and managed through the Martha Ross Center for Oral History. Most recently, additional oral histories are being conducted in preparation for the 50th anniversary in 2016 and an anticipated published history of UMBC.
Several use restrictions guide access to the oral history collection; please review the document, "Use of UMBC Oral Histories," for additional information. If you have further questions or would like to schedule a time to review the oral history materials, please contact Special Collections Archivist Lindsey Loeper at lindseyloeper@umbc.edu or 410-455-6290.
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