Skip to Main Content

Macalester College Archives and Special Collections

An introductory guide to the Macalester College Archives and Special Collections.

Examples of Archive Materials

Photo of A.E. Evans, Macalester College student, class of 1897

WMCN digital files donated by Dan Szetela '19

Photo by Alese Halvorson, fall 2014 Rephotographic Projects

Draft of Native American Awareness Week from P.I.P.E.

Photo of Dr. Forbes' class in Chemistry Laboratory, 1889

Students in front of the Student Union with flags

Students in front of the Student Union, date unknown

Creation of Textbook Reserve Pilot Program Fund

MCSG Resolution: Creation of Textbook Reserve Pilot Program Fund 2008/2009

Water polo photos donated by Elizabeth Kelleher '17

Painting by Betty Olson

Photo of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2019 sign - Decolonizing land/buildings at Macalester

Photo of set/performance of As You Like It, 2015

Students tabling

Students tabling, date unknown

Donating to the Archive

 

Why donate to the Archives? Leave your mark on Macalester! Ensure your student experiences are represented in the Archives, including what you did and how you spent your time. Future students will be happy to discover them.

Who donates? You! Students, alumni, faculty, staff—anyone in the Macalester community.

What to donate? See examples in the photo gallery to the left. We're always looking for: event flyers and programs; meeting minutes, notes, and other materials from student orgs or college committees; activism and protest materials; materials from student bands; photos with captions or information; materials documenting EEO or the cultural houses; video or audio of events; journals or scrapbooks from your time at Macalester; correspondence between students and the administration; Springfest, WMCN, or other events or programs; traditions, official and unofficial; social media posts and threads, etc. We collect both print documents and digital files. What else documents YOUR time at Mac?

What not to donate? We have plenty of copies of yearbooks, Spotlight, and The Mac Weekly. And we're out of space, so unfortunately we can't take mass-produced items like t-shirts or mugs. We'd love to know what you have though, as sometimes pictures of designs on items can tell us a lot.

  • Exceptions--we lack or have very few copies of these things: Spotlight from 1952/1953, 1970/1971, 1972/1973, and 1974/1975

How to donate? Email archives@macalester.edu with specifics about what you would like to donate. We prefer donations of originals but are happy to chat about scanning. You can also forward emails, digital documents, etc., to archives@macalester.edu, or add us to your Google Drive/Shared Drive.

When to donate? Contact us any time! Email to set up a time to chat or bring things in.