Special Collections   Tags: archives, book arts, digital collections, exhibits, help guide, honors papers, memorabilia, rare books, rare journals, special collections, subject guide  

Students of the State Normal and Industrial School for Women, Fredericksburg, c. 1913

Founded in 1908 and named for the mother of our country’s founding father, the University of Mary Washington has a rich history of traditions and academic excellence. The institution has evolved from its beginnings as Fredericksburg’s State Normal and Industrial School for Women to one of the nation’s premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences universities today.

From 1944 to 1972, Mary Washington functioned as the women’s college of the University of Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary academic organization, established a Mary Washington chapter in 1971. Shortly after Mary Washington became coed in the early 1970s, it was reorganized as an independent college. In 2004 the General Assembly of Virginia renamed the institution, University of Mary Washington.

Collected in the archives is the non-current written and photographic history of the University of Mary Washington. This collection serves as the repository for archival and historical materials for all offices, departments, and divisions of the University. Issues of the University’s student newspaper, the Bullet (1922-present), and its yearbook, the Battlefield (1913-present), as well as departmental honors papers, are located here. The archives also contains the papers of renowned faculty members - Dr. James L. Farmer, founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Dr. Kurt F. Leidecker, founder of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for the Study of Religious Freedom.

The University Archives materials are arranged in divisions or "record groups" that correspond to the administrative, student, faculty, or alumni organization which originally created the materials. The collection listing (below) designates the record group number needed to locate University records in the archives. Other collections, such as records of the University presidents, are part of the archives additional collections.

The University Archives collects publications by UMW faculty and staff. Search the UMW Libraries’ catalog by Author to find titles by a particular faculty or staff member.

Receiving departmental honors at Mary Washington had its beginning in 1946 when the Board of Visitors approved the honors plan adopted by faculty. Betty Bowles and Charlotte Dean Smith were the first students to graduate with honors, respectively in French and History, in 1948. Today all students' undergraduate honors papers are fully accessible to researchers in the University Archives.

UMW Libraries' long-term plans are to digitize and make available the honors papers and the EDCI 589 and 590 graduate projects in our digital repository, Digital Archives@UMW.    If you are interested in also electronically submitting your paper, so it can be added to our online repository in the future, see our Projects Submission FAQ.

Guidelines governing the physical format and submission process for print honors papers are listed here.

Felt Goat from traditional Devil-Goat Day, Class of 1936

Special Collections houses a small collection of artifacts related to the University's history.