Collections in the SCRC

Information about finding materials in the SCRC's collections is available here.

Focused on Virginia history but with nationally-significant collections, the Manuscript Collections include letters, diaries, journals, scrapbooks, business records, organizational minutes, and other items.  From the papers of colonial merchants to antebellum plantation-owners to Civil War soldiers to late 19th-century writers to World War II doctors and nurses to 20th-century politicians to Hollywood actresses, the manuscript collections provide evidence of events great and small and the daily lives of Americans of all backgrounds. 

 

The Rare Books Collection, with volumes dating from the 15th century to the present, is strong in Virginiana, gardening and natural history, religion, book arts, travel, science, and medicine.  Among the SCRC’s unusual holdings are large collections of dog books and versions of The Night Before Christmas.

 

The University Archives collects material documenting the history of the College of William & Mary from the 1600s to the present.  From bursar’s records and other official papers to freshman caps, tapes of choir concerts and student publications, the University Archives has it all.  It also collects and preserves faculty and student research and the papers of alumni.

 

The Special Collections Research Center is located on the first floor in the east wing of Swem Library.  You are invited to stop by and find out how the SCRC’s unique materials can be used to enhance your research.  You also may visit the displays of treasures from the collections, including the Warren E. Burger office exhibit.  The Warren E. Burger Collection is Swem’s largest manuscript collection, but for privacy reasons will not be available until 2026.