Special Collections

General Information

Hours

All of Special Collections are open from 8:30am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday and closed on University Holidays.

Location

Rare Books and Manuscripts: Danforth Campus, Olin Library, Level 1
Film & Media Archive, Modern Graphic History Library, and University Archives: West Campus Library

Mailing address (for all units in Special Collections):
Department of Special Collections
Campus Box 1061
Washington University
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Phone: (314) 935-5495
Fax: (314) 935-4045
Email: spec@wumail.wustl.edu

Staff/Contacts

Anne Posega , Head of Special Collections - phone (314) 935-5487

Erin Davis, Curator of Rare Books - phone (314) 935-5583
John Hodge, Curator of Manuscripts / Modern Literature - phone (314) 935-5413
Skye Lacerte, Curator of Modern Graphic History Library - phone (314) 935-7741
Sonya Rooney, University Archivist - phone (314) 935-9730
David Rowntree, Special Media Collections Archivist (CRPI Film Archive) - phone (314) 935-6154
Jim Hone, Film and Media Digital Archivist - phone (314) 935-6993
Nadia Ghasedi, Film and Media Cataloguing and Preservation Archivist - phone (314) 935-6992
Joseph Thompson, Film and Media Education Archivist - phone (314) 935-6994

Alison Carrick, Special Collections Assistant - phone (314) 935-8679
Chris Pepus, Special Collections Assistant - phone (314) 935-8679
Miranda Rectenwald, Special Collections Assistant - phone (314) 935-5444
Sarah Patton, Special Collections Assistant - phone (314) 935-8158
Kelly Brown, Special Collections Assistant - phone (314) 935-4640

Directions to the Danforth Campus; local hotel information

Directions to West Campus

Exhibitions and other events in Special Collections

Collections & Resources

Film and Media Archive: The archive consists primarily of audio and audiovisual materials relating to the American Civil Rights Movement. The materials were collected in connection with the various documentary films made by the late Henry Hampton, a 1961 graduate of Washington University, and his production company Blackside, Inc. Included in the archive is his award winning series "Eyes on the Prize".

Manuscripts: Collections of literary papers, press archives, and magazine archives. The bulk of the collection consists of the papers of major twentieth-century literary figures including James Merrill, Samuel Beckett, Howard Nemerov, Stanley Elkin, William Gass, Mona Van Duyn, and many others.

Modern Graphic History Library - A collaborative effort of the Deparment of Special Collections and the College & Graduate School of Art, a part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. The MGHL contains archives of artists in the fields of modern illustration and pictorial graphic culture, focusing on the artists' working materials and sketches, as well as finished works.

Rare Books: Incunabula (books printed before 1501); Western European imprints produced in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries representing all the disciplines for which Olin Library collects; 19th and 20th century British and American Literature, including St. Louis and westward expansion; book arts and typography, semeiology.

University Archives: Washington University history; 20th century St. Louis history: politics, business, social welfare, architecture and urban planning, and transportation.

Kranzberg Illustrated Book Studio

Digital Exhibitions from Our Collections