Special Collections
Explore Our Collections
WashU Libraries collect, preserve, promote, and make accessible rare, archival, and primary source materials that enrich teaching, learning, and research for the university community and beyond.
The Julian Edison Department of Special Collections focuses on six primary areas: the Dowd Illustration Research Archive, Film & Media Archive, Local History, Manuscripts, Rare Books, and the University Archives. An active program of class visits, exhibitions, workshops, and public events highlights the department’s vital role in scholarship at WashU and the wider community.
To search our collections, visit the Special Collections Research & Access page.
To learn more about giving to Special Collections, visit the Donating to Special Collections page.
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Collection Unreal City
19th century St. Louis fire insurance maps produced by Alphonso Whipple.View Collection about Unreal City -
Collection Music Manuscript Collections
Originating with the purchase of Ernest C. Krohn library in 1966, the archival materials in the Krohn Collection include notebooks,...View Collection about Music Manuscript Collections -
Collection Music Rare Books and Scores
The Gaylord Music Library's Special Collections continues to grow to add many 18th and 19th century items to increase holdings.View Collection about Music Rare Books and Scores -
Collection Sheet Music Collections
The Gaylord Sheet Music Collection represents the accumulation of many private and publisher’s collections, a large segment of which is...View Collection about Sheet Music Collections -
Collection Digital Projects in Music
Include a number of digital projects, including exhibits, publications, and sheet music collections.View Collection about Digital Projects in Music -
Collection Thomas Temple Hoopes Collection
Consists of various materials of Japanese and Chinese art, history, languages, literature, and Japanese arms and armors.View Collection about Thomas Temple Hoopes Collection -
Collection Robert S. Elegant Collection
The collection covers the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1971.View Collection about Robert S. Elegant Collection -
Collection Chinese Almanac Collection
The collection consists of representative examples of Chinese almanacs.View Collection about Chinese Almanac Collection -
Collection Grotesques, Glass, & Graham
A history of the Benjamin Brown Graham Memorial Chapel on the WashU Danforth Campus.View Collection about Grotesques, Glass, & Graham -
Collection Eames & Young Architectural Photographs
Contains unique photographs of the firm's buildings under various stages of construction.View Collection about Eames & Young Architectural Photographs -
Collection 19th Century Architectural Photography Collection
The 19th Century Architectural Photography Collection is primarily related to document period travel, archaeological, and portraiture conventions.View Collection about 19th Century Architectural Photography Collection -
Collection 1904 World’s Fair
Researchers interested in the history of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition will find a variety of materials in several collections.View Collection about 1904 World’s Fair
Collecting Areas
Digital Collections
Digital Collections highlight those portions of the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections that have been made or born-digital.
Dowd Illustration Research Archive
The Dowd Illustration Research Archive (formerly Dowd Modern Graphic History Library) at WashU includes original art and printed material from many popular American pictorial graphic culture fields.
East Asian Library Special Collections
The East Asian Library's special collection includes about 900 volumes of rare and special books, manuscripts, and other materials.
Film & Media Archive
The Archive is committed to the preservation of documentary film and other media which chronicles America's great political and social movements with a particular emphasis on the African-American experience.
Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library Special Collections
The Art & Architecture Special Collections is a 4,200-volume collection of rare and unique art and design printed materials located at the Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library. The main focus is illustrated books, prints, and photographs from the 18th and 19th centuries and contemporary book design.
Local History Collections
The local history collecting area focuses on the history of St. Louis and the surrounding region.
Manuscript Collections
WashU Libraries' Julian Edison Department of Special Collections Manuscript collections contain a broad range of materials dating from the 2nd century BC through the present.
Modern Literature Collection
The Modern Literature Collection includes more than 175 authors, presses, and journals, more than 125 of which are represented by manuscript materials.
Music Special Collections
Special Collections at the Gaylord Music Library include sheet music, manuscripts, rare books, and digital materials.
Rare Book Collections
The Rare Book Collections include books from all Special Collection areas. The collections’ primary strengths are in literature, the material culture of the book, including the history of printing, graphic design, and the book arts, and aspects of American and world history.
Washington University Archives
The University Archives chronicles the history of WashU from 1853 to today with over 300 unique collections, including campus publications, reports, photographic prints and negatives, books, film, sound recordings, oral histories, architectural plans, and artifacts.