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Archives at Lehigh University: Gifts, Donations and Transfers

Library guide for identifying, understanding and using archival collections, including personal papers, organizational and institutional records; primary and secondary sources.

Gifts and Donations

Lehigh University Special Collections welcomes donations in the areas of our scope of collecting.  These are memorabilia, artifacts and archives concerning:
 

  • Lehigh University history
  • Publications by Lehigh University community
  • Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem (especially South Bethlehem)
  • Northampton and Lehigh Counties (including Upper Saucon Township and Center Valley)
  • Genealogy (especially of regionally based families and families associated with the local churches in South Bethlehem)
     

We are unable to accept donations of materials that are badly damaged, molded, outside our scope of collecting or that duplicate other items in the collection; however, would be glad to advice on where and how to donate them.
 
The Special Collections Librarian looks forward to speaking with you about potential donations.  Please contact Ilhan Citak at inspc@lehigh.edu or by telephone at 610-758-4506.

 

Financial contributions are welcomed to help preserve your donation. Giving to the Libraries page contains more information about gift policies.

Transferring Records to the Archives

The University Archives, as part of Special Collections, serves as the institutional memory of Lehigh University by preserving a variety of records, documents, publications, memorabilia and other materials. When kept unattended in closets, basements, and corners, official and historical records are inaccessible and can easily be overlooked, lost or destroyed. But, if records of permanent historical, administrative, fiscal and/or legal value are transferred in an orderly way, the University Archives can provide safe storage, quick retrieval of files when needed, and assistance with information or research requests.

All the records, including electronic records, should be properly labeled and include information on the creator or office where the records originated from, date span of the records, and a description of the contents. For assistance, contact Special Collections.

Guidelines for Student Organizations Archives

The Student Organization Records Toolkit, or SORT, is designed to assist student organizations in developing their recordkeeping practices to preserve their group’s history by identifying significant documents and those that can be discarded, as well as best practices for storing, organizing and making them accessible.

Because students spend a relatively short amount of time on campus, SORT offers easy to use solutions for maintaining the organization’s history that can be passed down to future members. By implementing SORT and working with the University Archivist, you can be sure that your group’s accomplishments are being preserved as part of Lehigh's history.