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“Columbia University Archives: 100 Years of Collecting” Begins the First of a Three-Part Series

NEW YORK, March 23, 2011 –

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the University Archives are pleased to present a yearlong exhibit, “Columbia University: 100 Years of Collecting.”  The exhibit, which opened on February 15, 2011 and runs until December 23, 2011, assembles pieces commemorating a century of the university’s past.


origins

An exhibit in three parts, part one, “Alma Mater: Origins,” explores the establishment of King’s College, what student life was like, the various incarnations of campuses the school saw as it marched its way uptown, the origins of the core curriculum, the movement to coeducation, and the strong draw Columbia had for international students dating back it’s earliest days.

Among the materials on display is a lottery book that recorded the funds raised to establish the college in 1748; The Book of Misdemeanors, used to record student infractions in 1771; a Bill of Fare from 1763 detailing a week’s worth of meals for a student at King’s College; lecture admissions tickets from the late 1700s and early 1800s; and a Humanities A syllabus and exam from the 1937-1938 academic year.

Two distinguished international students from the college’s past are also profiled: Pixley ka Isaka Seme (CC ‘06), who became co-founder of the African National Congress in 1912 and V.K. Wellington Koo (CC ‘08, Ph.D. ‘12), who would go on to become a prominent diplomat for the Republic of China and a judge on the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 1956.

Part one is currently on display and will run until May 27, 2011 in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s Chang Octagon on the sixth floor of Butler Library.

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library owns over 500,000 rare books in some 20 book collections and almost 28 million manuscripts in nearly 3,000 separate manuscript collections. It is particularly strong in English and American literature and history, classical authors, children‘s literature, education, mathematics and astronomy, economics and banking, photography, the history of printing, New York City politics, librarianship, and the performing arts. Individual collections are as eclectic as they are extensive. For more information, please see: http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/rbml.html

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services is one of the top five academic research library systems in North America. The collections include over 11 million volumes, over 150,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials. The services and collections are organized into 22 libraries and various academic technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 500 professional and support staff. The website of the Libraries is the gateway to its services and resources: library.columbia.edu.

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3/23/11 EHD

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