Collections Overview

Inquiries are welcomed from both the Marquette community and the public.

University Archives |  Catholic Social Action Collections |  Christianity in Native North America
Tolkien Manuscript, Literary Holdings, and Rare Books |  Politics and Popular Entertainment
Access and Services

University Archives

The department collects and administers the archives of Marquette University and its various units, including office administrative files, publications, and the papers of faculty, students, staff, and alumni,
and their respective organizations. Published holdings include retrospective files of the Marquette Tribune, the Hilltop yearbook, course catalogs, commencement programs, faculty and student directories, and programs of musical concerts, lectures, dramatic performances, and athletic events. Other printed items include college and departmental reports, press releases, calendars of events, reports of the President, and alumni publications.

The department retains a bound copy of each Marquette dissertation and thesis, in addition to many undergraduate and graduate essays. A growing file of faculty publications contains journal articles, reprints, and books. The extensive photographic collection includes prints of faculty, students, class reunions, laboratories, classrooms, buildings, and campus scenes. Slides, negatives, and audio/videotape records are also available. An excellent collection of football and basketball films dates from the 1930s.

The University Archives staff seeks to identify and preserve all University records that have long term administrative, legal, financial, or historical value. On-site consultations often are the best method for surveying and selecting records for continued retention. Specific information on the retention and the disposition of University records may be obtained by contacting a staff member. All records transfers should be accompanied by a transfer form and a typed list of folders in each box is extremely helpful in appraising the records and in retrieving files prior to processing.

Those involved in the creation of visual resources on campus are encouraged to use Approved Photographic Keywords in their metadata creation.

[University Records home page]

Catholic Social Action Collections

The department holds collections of national and international significance relating to social action, particularly involving Catholic organizations, movements, and individuals in the United States during the 20th century. Major holdings document the role of the Church and its members in promoting basic human rights, interracial justice, agrarian reform, women's rights, and world peace, and in responding to the immediate needs of the poor. Notable collections include the records of the Catholic Association for International Peace, the Catholic Worker movement (incorporating the papers of its co-founder, Dorothy Day), the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, the National Coalition of American Nuns, Project Equality, the Sister Formation/Religious Formation Conference, and the Women's Ordination Conference, and the personal papers of Monsignor Luigi G. Ligutti and Sister Margaret Ellen Traxler.

[Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection home page]

Christianity in Native North America

The Archives is committed to documenting the ongoing story of Christianity in Native North America. Since 1977, the department has acquired the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records (1848-present, 600+ cubic feet) and more than 50 other collections. This material documents the histories of urban and rural missions and parishes; the values and attitudes of clergy, religious, and laity; the history and customs of Indian tribes; and the cultural interaction among Indians, church leaders, and U.S. Government officials. Documentation is particularly strong on tribes within Alberta, Canada, Chiapas, Mexico, and 16 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

[Christianity and Native America home page]

Tolkien Manuscripts, Literary Holdings, and Rare Books

The J.R.R. Tolkien Collection represents an extraordinary body of literary papers. The collection includes 11,000 original manuscripts and multiple working drafts of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as books, periodicals, and other material by and about Tolkien. Other holdings include the papers of Catholic poets Jessica Powers and Joyce Kilmer, books by and about James Joyce, and the papers of Milwaukee artist Karl J. Priebe. The Music Collection, 1846-1963, contains 4,000 pieces of printed and manuscript music. Reflecting Marquette's institutional character, the Rare Book Collection of over 8,000 volumes is strong in philosophy, religion, and Jesuitica.

[J.R.R. Tolkien Collection home page]

Politics and Popular Entertainment

The department holds the papers of two alumni who represented Wisconsin in Congress and changed the course of post-war American politics: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and Congressman Clement J. Zablocki. The papers of Wisconsin's longest serving governor, Tommy G. Thompson, are also preserved. Modern political history is further chronicled in FBI records (110 cubic feet of photocopies) relating to the investigation and surveillance of activist organizations and individuals. Popular entertainment in the 20th century is documented in the papers of alumni Don McNeill and Hildegarde Sell.

Access and Services

Visitors are advised that some form of photographic identification is required for access to Raynor Library. Archival holdings are available for public use, subject to some restrictions placed by offices and donors. Access to records is provided by descriptive inventories, available in the Archives, and via the Libraries' web site, at www.marquette.edu/library. Although all materials must be used in the department's reading room, photocopies maybe obtained. To insure the immediate availability of collections, researchers visiting from outside the Marquette campus are advised to write or phone in advance.

Service Hours: By appointment only.

ALL VISITORS AND RESEARCHERS ARE WELCOME

Archives and IR Joint Mission Statement

Read the Joint Mission Statement from the IR and Special Collections and University Archives.