Special Collections
104 Paterno Library
814.865.7931
UL-spcolref@lists.psu.edu
Jeanette Eisenhart
Title: Public Services Specialist
Special Collections
104 Paterno Library
814.865.7931
UL-spcolref@lists.psu.edu
Special Collections is located on the first floor of Paterno Library on the University Park Campus. Our mission is to provide primary source materials for researchers from Penn State and around the world.
Richard Pearce-Moses defines a primary source as: "Material that contains firsthand accounts of events and that was created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by an eyewitness." Examples include diaries, scrapbooks, oral histories, author's manuscripts, and meeting minutes.
Here, researchers can find more than 200,000 printed volumes, more than 25 million archival records and manuscripts, and another million photographs, maps, prints, and audio-visual items.
If you have not used a special collections library before, please note that we are open for fewer hours than some other parts of the library, and that you must use our materials in our reading room. For more information, please visit our brief online tutorial and tour.
Additional information on searching Special Collections can be found here.
A.E. Bye Papers, 1930-2000: The papers of Penn State alum and landscape architect Arthur Edwin Bye, Jr. include architectural drawings, articles, correspondence, plans, prints, brochures, invoices, contracts, reports, and photographs.
College of Arts & Architecture Records, 1950-2006: Includes clippings, newsletters, press releases, promotional publications, event programs, workbooks, urban and facility studies, graduate student and personnel files, meeting minutes, staff and student theses, faculty publication lists, and financial records.
Francis Ferguson Papers, 1901-1985: Contains reel-to-reel films, computer data printouts, maps (some oversize), photographs, and scrapbooks pertaining to Professor Ferguson’s career in architectural and regional planning, including the rescue and relocation of the town of Nelson, Pennsylvania.
John R. Bracken Papers, 1920-1965: Includes his publications, essays, drawings, photographs, and research files documentingthe career of Penn State landscape architect and professor John R. Bracken.
Landscape Architecture Correspondence, 1930-1957 1943: Includes correspondence between Dean Harry Parker Hammond and architectural firms and other universities discussing the future of landscape architecture curriculum.
Milton S. Osborne Papers, 1918-1979:This collection consists primarily of architectural drawings and photographs from Milton Osborne's architectural work on urban rejuvenation projects and the Dwight D. Eisenhower home at Gettysburg, PA. It includes correspondence, presentation-size images, and sketches, photographs and albums from his travels.
Albert Anderson Papers, 1896-1997 (bulk 1965-1980): Features handbooks and pamphlets regarding aesthetic education (1960s-1970s) and Disciplined Based Art Education (1988-1997), the published papers of Viktor Lowenfeld, and other materials. See also Grade School Teachers’ Art Education Collection (Anderson/Ellis).
Albert A. Anderson Jr. and Evelynn M. Ellis art education collection, 1783-2006 (bulk 1794-1950): Consists of approx. 620 rare American art instruction books, together with related printed materials on art. The collection includes drawing manuals, drawing cards, lithographs, copybooks, and other printed ephemera, as well as a small number of Canadian, European, and Asian publications.
Judy Chicago Art Education Collection, , 1970-2011: Consists of textual, photographic, graphic, and audio-visual materials related to art and pedagogy of the noted feminist artist, author, and educator. Includes The Dinner Party Curriculum.
Mary Godfrey Papers, 1940-1991: Documents Penn State assistant art education professor Mary Godfrey's career. Materials include artwork, classroom blueprints, course materials, photographs, and drawing manuals.
Dale Harris Papers, 1932-1990: Includes publications, papers, drawings, correspondence, scrapbooks, research studies and materials of Penn State psychology professor Dale B. Harris.
Dale Harris and Florence Goodenough Children’s Drawings, 1919-1924: Contains children’s drawings gathered by Goodenough to create intelligence tests. Tests were conducted nationwide and included immigrant and Native American children.
Al Hurwitz Papers, circa 1940-1995: Contains examples of children’s art from around the world assembled by educator and Penn State alum Albert Hurwitz.
Viktor Lowenfeld Papers, 1880-1985 (bulk 1930-1955): Materials consist of children and adult student artwork. Includes photographs of sculptures from blind and sighted, visual and haptic Austrian children; children's artwork from American psychiatric hospitals, schools for the blind, public schools, and Penn State Saturday art classes. Also includes clay sculptures, manuscripts for Creative and Mental Growth and other notes and writings, lectures, correspondence, photographs, digital audio recordings of lectures from 1958, biographical material, and personal items.
Edward Mattil Papers : Contact Special Collections
Harold McWhinnie Papers, 1901-2000 (bulk 1959-2000) Research papers on art, art education, and art theory, 1901 to 2000, and McWhinnie's brief comments about them. The papers include part of his published and unpublished work. Also papers, presentations, and dissertations. Harold J. McWhinnie was a Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Maryland, from 1970 until he retired in 1997. He is a ceramic artist.
Alice Schwartz Papers, 1934-1997: Contains extensive materials from the Penn State History of Art Education course, as taught by Viktor Lowenfeld, Alice Schwartz and others. Materials include international historical perspectives and timelines, student papers, course records, photographs, biographical material and class notes.
Mabel Spofford, 1947-1982 (bulk 1947-1948): Contains Spofford’s album of black-and-white photographs of Penn State buildings with identifying captions pointing out architectural features. Also includes class notes for courses taught by Viktor Lowenfeld; postcards sent home from Penn State; and an Art Education special issue on Lowenfeld.
David Van Dommelen Papers, 1924-2003: Documents Dommelen's artwork and publications. Items include manuscripts, magazine articles, publications and papers, designs, correspondence, photographs, course materials, and sketchbooks.
Brent Wilson Papers and Drawings, 1969-2001: Documents Wilson’s service as an administrator and faculty researcher on children in art education. Include material related to children’s drawings, Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), National Art Education Association (NAEA), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and Wilson’s research and publications.
Edwin Zoller Papers, 1927-1967: Contains lecture notes and texts, articles, and a diary. Zoller presented lectures to groups throughout Pennsylvania and on the radio, and published articles on art. His diary, 1950-1959, contains ideas on philosophy, art, and art education. Also includes text from a panel discussion on art appreciation and convocation addresses.
National Art Education Association Records, 1893-2000: Contains minutes, financial reports, membership records, convention proceedings, correspondence, research papers, theses, and publications.
Penn State University, Art Education Department Records, 1952-2010: This collection consists primarily of audiovisual recordings of the Performative Arts Symposium (1996-2001) hosted by the Art Education Program, and oral history interviews of art educators Bea Card Kettlewood and Ted Simanek.
Penn State University, Art Education Department Records, Lowenfeld Seminar, 1965: Contact Special Collections
Pennsylvania Art Education Association Records, 1917-1997: The collection contains the constitution, minutes, financial records, correspondence, publications, photographs and slides, and conference matierals. Documents small, county-based art education affiliates’ efforts to unify and pursue the goals of art education through a separate, specialized organization: the Pennsylvania Art Education Association.
Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education 1973-1995 Materials include annual reports, correspondence, programs, meeting minutes, constitution and by-laws, financial records, publications, conference materials, and press release. Documents efforts to coordinate statewide arts education organizations.
Charles Wakefield Cadman Collection, 1905-1936: This collection focuses on musical and operatic scores written by the American composer, pianist, and teacher Charles Wakefield Cadman during during the early 1900s.
Hugo Weisgall Music Sketchbooks, 1941-1952: Photographic reproductions (and 3x5 negatives) of five holograph manuscript music sketchbooks that Weisgall used to draft ideas and pieces of his musical compositions.
Delphine Seyrig Collection, 1952-1977: This collection includes newspaper clippings, photographs, articles, theater playbills, the script for a film, an autographed book, and a biographic essay about Delphine Seyrig, the French stage and film actress famous for her roles in Last Year at Marienbad, Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and The Day of the Jackal.
Samuel Gallu Papers, 1935-1991 (bulk 1965-1991): Contains Gallu's professional papers, including drafts and final copies for fifty-six plays and screenplays . Also included are materials about Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians with whom Gallu sang.
Edwige Feuillère Photograph Collection, 1937-1978: Contains clippings, books, and photographs of the French actress Edwige Feuillère.
Meinhart Grünbaum Maur Papers, 1888-1968 (bulk 1909-1955): Documents the Hungarian actor's career in Germany and England. Includes over 400 photographs, programs, posters, reviews, newspaper clippings, and several scripts used, and written by Maur.
Edwin S. Childs Playbills Collection, 1950-2000: Contains theatrical playbills from every play Childs had seen in Boston, New York City, and State College, Pennsylvania, as well other cities.
Carmen Finestra Television Show Scripts: Home Improvement, Soul Man, and Thunder Alley, 1991-1998: Outlines, drafts, and shooting scripts for the three television series.
Don Taylor Movie Scripts and Photos, 1967-1988: Contains shooting scripts for films and television movies that Don Taylor produced and/or directed, and publicity and candid photographs from some of the films.
George C. Izenour Architectural Drawings, 1960-1978: Drafts, final drawings, blueprints, and sepia prints on paper, mylar, and architectural vellum for theaters and performing arts centers designed by Izenour for communities and universities in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Venezuela.
George C. Izenour Drawings of the Theater, 1938-1988: Architectural drawings for three of Izenour's books, and exhibition drawings and negatives.
George C. Izenour WPA Projection Slides Charcoal Drawings, 1932-1938: Original drawings by Izenour, mostly charcoal, but also including pen and ink, crayon, and watercolor, to be used as projection slides for theatrical backdrops for popular and classical plays produced at the WPA Federal Theatre Project in Los Angeles, California.
Photography and the Civil War, Ansco Civil War Centennial Exhibit, 1961: This collection contains blueprint sheets, news releases, exhibit catalog, broadside with photographic reproductions, and clipping from the Centre Daily Times related to the Ansco Company’s travelling Civil War exhibit.
Robert Beese Photographs and Other Materials, 1964-1976: This collection consists of photographs, slides, and framed pictures of Penn State photographer Robert Beese.
William C. Darrah Collection of Cartes-de-visite, 1860-1900: Includes a collection of 62,608 cartes-de-visite assembled by Mr. Darrah in order to document the existence of as many nineteenth-century photographers as possible by examining imprinted images. Darrah chose to collect the carte format because daguerreotypes and ambrotypes were seldom imprinted or signed.
Berry & Homer Commercial Photography Portfolio, circa 1933: This album contains twenty-eight 8x10 in. photographs used as samples in the company's portfolio. Founded in 1898 in Philadelphia, Berry & Homer became known for their commercial photography work nationwide.
Heinz K. and Bridget A. Henisch History of Photography Collection, 1842-1995: Contains albumen prints, ambrotypes, cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, daguerreotypes, gelatin silver prints, ivorytypes, opalotypes, panotypes on leather, prints on canvas and silk, salted paper prints, stereo cards, and tintypes. Dr. Heinz K. Henisch was professor in Physics and Art History at Penn State University. He and his wife, professor of Medieval History Bridget A. Henisch, collaborated on three photo-history books, all published by Penn State Press.
Charles W. Mann Art Deco and the classical style, the Rockefeller Center photography of Wendell MacRae, 1977: Sound recording of talk to the Penn State Comparative Literature Luncheon Club on art deco architecture and the Rockefeller Center photographs of Wendell MacRae. Call Number: 1977-0063R/GCS
Irwin Richman Papers, 1964-2003: Includes research notes and files of the historian Irwin Richman concerning American arts and architecture, Pennsylvania Dutch arts and crafts, the history of the Hudson River Valley and Catskills, and history of medicine in Pennsylvania. The collection also contains his correspondence and some academic and administrative records.
Jay Ruby Collection on the Photographic Representation of Death, 1840-1993: Contains a wide variety of materials (postmortem photographs, advertisements, videotapes, and memorabilia) focusing on the graphic representation of death in the United States, 1840-1993.
Greg Grieco Photograph Archives, 1990-2005: This collection contains thousands of photographic images: black and white and color prints, color slides, negatives, and contact sheets of landscapes, the environment, culture, and distinguished guests at Penn State.
Fay S. Lincoln Photograph Collection, 1920-1968: The collection contains prints, negatives, glass slides, books, card files, and negative logs of primarily of building exteriors and interiors, especially of banks and churches and other man-made structures, and passenger steamships.
Juniata County History Project Collection, 1850-2009: Consists of research files, photographic materials, oral histories on tape, and a recording of the documentary, "A Country Auction" (1983) and "A Country Auction Study Film--Reflexive Musings" (2008). Online exhibit here. Contact Special Collections for more information.
Nelson F. Wood Family Papers and Island Steamers Photograph Collection, 1815-2004: Retired assistant professor of engineering research in ordnance research at Penn State, Wood served in the U.S. navy for twenty-four years. He had an interest in the sea, ships, and maritime history and collected historical maritime prints, stamps, and ephemera. Contact Special Collections for more information.
Andre Breton, Pour un Art Revolutionnaire Independant, 1938: Includes a 4 page leaflet demanding complete freedom of artistic expression, jointly authored by French philosopher and Surrealist Andre Breton and Diego Rivera (Leon Trotsky).
Reva Kern woodcut bookplates and woodblocks, 1990-2006: Consists of a portfolio of bookplates and woodblocks created by Kern. The collection also contains related exhibition catalogs, reference books, letters, awards, certificates, clipping, and announcements regarding exhibitions/competitions.
Axial Press silk screen collection, 1966-1989: Contains limited edition hand silk screened prints and booklets of poems, designed by Richard Rutkowski. Booklets include Will Inman’s In Jail with God and the Others, Richard Rutkowski’s Marianne My Love, Hollie’s The God Story, and Richard Rutkowski’s Politico's Child.
Bon-Ton Wall Papers Sample Book, 1936: Contains No. 1 & 2 samples of "imperial washable wallpapers fast to light" in patterned, solid, floral, geometric, and pictorial designs. Sidewall number, decoration number, tint ceiling number, width, and number of yards to a roll are stamped on the back of each sample.
Childrens' Snowflake Paper Cutouts, 1915: Paper cutouts of snowflakes based on Friedrich Fröbel's patterns. Each one is signed with a full name or initials.
Harry Henderson Papers, 1865-2002 (bulk 1960-2000): Consists of Henderson’s research on African-American artists, 115 audio recordings (primarily oral history interviews with artists and medical topics), and topical research on African-American history.
Al Hurwitz Papers, circa 1940-1995: Consists primarily of examples of children’s art from around the world assembled by educator and Penn State alum Albert Hurwitz.
Irwin Richman Papers, 1964-2003: Includes research notes and files of the historian Irwin Richman concerning American arts and architecture, Pennsylvania Dutch arts and crafts, the history of the Hudson River Valley and Catskills, and history of medicine in Pennsylvania. The collection also contains correspondence and some academic and administrative records.
Artist's Series Records, 1957-1985: The artist’s series was inaugurated in September 1957 to provide access to ideas, art forms, programs, and performances for students and the community. Contains records of summer arts festivals, performers, films, music, entertainment and management correspondence. Also, artists series administration, surveys by the artists series, and finances.
Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts Records, 1967-2010: Contains the corporation’s bylaws, financial documents, minutes, correspondences, programs, film footage, photographs, and memorabilia. It also includes some records from the winter festival, First Night State College.
Central Pennsylvania Arts Council Records, 1980-1990: Contains the council’s constitution and by-laws, meeting minutes, financial reports, grant information, newsletters, correspondence, and information on Summerfest
College of Arts & Architecture Records, 1950-2002: Includes a newspaper clippings, newsletters, press releases, promotional publications, event programs, workbooks, urban and facility studies, graduate student and personnel files, meeting minutes, staff and student theses, faculty publication lists, and financial records.
Photographic Vertical Files - Arts: Photographic vertical files include images collected by University Archives staff around specific subjects. Images in this collection document the arts at Penn State, and have been organized into the following series: Art; College of Arts & Architecture; Dance; Dramatics; Museum of Art; and Music.
Contact Special Collections for more information about the following resources:
