Columbia Resources
The following is a selection of websites and documents available online which can help you learn about the history of the University as well as the alumni and faculty.
Online Exhibits
1968: Columbia in Crisis
The occupation of five buildings in April 1968 marked a sea change in the relationships among Columbia University administration, its faculty, its student body, and its neighbors. Featuring original documents, photographs, and audio from the University Archives, this online exhibition examines the causes, actions, and aftermath of a protest that captivated the campus, the nation, and the world.
Butler 75: Butler Library's 75th Anniversary, 1934-2009
In celebration of Butler Library's 75th anniversary, we are pleased to present Butler 75, an online exhibition of Butler Library, 1934 – 2009. The exhibition features images from the University Archives highlighting the construction, art and architecture of Butler Library, and the people who've used and enjoyed the library over the years. Special features include a timeline of events and a "Tell Us Your Story" area of alumni memories.
Columbia Maison Française: Centennial 1913-2013
This online exhibition presents the expanded digital format of the physical exhibition Columbia Maison Française: Centennial 1913–2013: Celebrating a Century of French Culture and Ideas at Columbia University in New York, on display at the Columbia Maison Française, September 5 to October 30, 2013. The exhibition was curated by Shanny Peer and co-presented by the Maison Française and Columbia's Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The exhibit documents the history, development and major events of this important cultural institution at Columbia University.
Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition
Initially conceived as a fundraiser for the University's athletics teams, The Varsity Show has grown into Columbia University's oldest performing arts tradition. This online exhibition, highlighting the history and some of the more notable elements of this tradition, is an expansion of a physical exhibit created by the University Archives in 2004 to mark the 110th anniversary of The Varsity Show.
Web Archive
King's College
Alumni Registers
Columbia University Alumni Register 1754-1931
Containing 99,721 names of both graduates and non-graduates from 1754 through 1931, this register may include for each former student: name, academic connection with Columbia (degree, class, school), one address and occupation as of 1931. The volume also contains information about honorary degree recipients and types of degrees offered by the University through 1931.
Before the Alumni Register of 1932, there are 16 earlier editions of the Register or sometimes called the Catalogue. These include the names of all the graduates of the University and their degrees, organized by school and by year and a list of honorary degree recipients. Volumes also contain geographical and alphabetical indexes of graduates. Here is a list of some of the catalogues which have been scanned and are available online.
President Profiles
President Profiles
Created by the staff of the University Archives, these pages provide information on all of Columbia's presidents from 1754 to the present.
Publications
Columbia Spectator Digital Archive
This online resource is the result of a partnership between the Spectator and Columbia University Libraries, and funded jointly by the Libraries and through generous gifts from Spectator alumni and friends, especially members of the class of 1958. You can now search issues published from 1877 to 2012. Whenever possible pages were scanned from original paper copies and digitized using state of the art technology that provides full-page, searchable reproductions of articles, photographs, and advertisements. For articles published more recently, please search the main Spectator website.
There are a few issues missing from the Spectator Digital Archive. Here is a list of the issues on our Wish List. If you have any of these past issues, please contact the University Archives at uarchives@columbia.edu.
Columbia University Record Archive
The Record is the official weekly newspaper of Columbia University. Issues published from 1993 to 2009 are accessible through this site. The University Archives holds a mostly complete run of the paper copies. Issues from 1975 to 1998 are also available in microfilm at the Microform Reading Room in 401 Butler Library.
Blue and White Archive
This site provides access to digitized copies of Columbia University's undergraduate magazine The Blue and White from 1998 to 2013. The University Archives has a mostly completely collection from 1890 to 1893, unfortunately in fragile condition. Publication resumed in 1998 and those paper issues are available at the University Archives Reading Room. To see content from current issues please visit the magazine's main website.
Columbia Library Columns, 1951-1996
Columbia Library Columns was published from 1951 to 1996. Over the years contributors included faculty, University administrators, writers, historians and collectors, as well as Columbia librarians. Articles focused on individual collections, special acquisitions, literary topics and issues relating to the growth of Columbia's libraries and special collections generally. The University Archives hold paper copies of all issues, except Volume 29.
Columbia Quarterly
L:\RareBooks\UArchives\Web Site\UA Website 2015\Lists\Links to Columbia Quarterly.docx or CLIO record?
CLIO https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/850187
CLIO for Bulletin [electronic resource] https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/8040106
and again at https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/8465690
The Columbia Quarterly was published by the Alumni Federation of Columbia University from 1898 to 1941. The first issues from 1898 to 1919 (volumes 1 to 21) are available online. Publication was suspended from 1920 to 1929 and resumed from 1930 to 1941. The University Archives holds the entire run of the paper copies. All issues are also available in microfilm in the Microform Reading Room in 401 Butler Library. Also available online is the Quarterly’s predecessor University Bulletin (1890-1898).
Columbia College Today
CLIO https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/3090238
http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/past_issues
Published since November 1954, Columbia College's alumni magazine has issues starting from 1999 available on their website. These and earlier issues are available as paper copies at the University Archives.
The Columbiad and The Columbian Yearbooks
CLIO https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/9148640 (The Columbiad)
CLIO https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/784527 (The Columbian)
L:\RareBooks\UArchives\Web Site\UA Website 2015\Lists\Links to Columbiads and Columbians.docx
Early volumes of the yearbooks from Columbia College have been scanned and are available online. Please see the list of the volumes available, mostly from the years between 1871 and 1921).
Timelines
Links to a series of informative timelines created in 2004 for Columbia's 250th anniversary website:
- Columbia Through Time
- Women at Columbia Timeline
- Columbia College Student Life Timeline
- Columbia University and the City of New York Timeline
- Columbia and Higher Learning in America Timeline
Timeline created by the Health Sciences Library Archives & Special Collections:
Timeline created by staff at Columbia College:
Put together by Frank da Cruz, this site and photo gallery document the history of computing at Columbia University.
Honors & Prizes
Columbia University Honorary Degree List
Created by the staff of the University Archives, this MS Excel document lists all of the individuals who have received honorary degrees from Columbia since the 18th century. There is also a tab which lists those who have been awarded the University Medal for Excellence. The list is updated annually, after Commencement.
Columbia University Roll of Honor
Created in conjunction with the installation of a commemorative plaque in Butler Library, this website is intended to be a memorial acknowledging the sacrifice and contributions of each Columbia war casualty as an individual. The Honor Roll of names on this site will be amended as more information surfaces about Columbians engaged in past, present, and future military conflicts of the nation.
Bancroft Prizes Web Site
This is an informational web site for The Bancroft Prizes. Under the terms of the will of the late Frederic Bancroft, these prizes are awarded annually by Columbia University in the City of New York to the authors of distinguished works in either or both of the following categories: American History (including biography) and Diplomacy. This site includes a link to a list of all past winners of this distinguished award.
Edward M. Kennedy Prize
This is the official site of the Kennedy Prize for drama inspired by American History. The prize is given annually through Columbia University 'to a new play or musical of merit that enlists theater’s power to explore the past of the United States, to participate meaningfully in the great issues of our day through the public conversation, grounded in historical understanding, that is essential to the functioning of a democracy." Previous winners include Robert Schenkkan's All the Way, Dan O'Brien's The Body of an American, Dominique Morrisseau's Detroit '67, Suzan-Lori Parks's Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 and Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.
Pulitzer Prizes Web Site
This is the official website for The Pulitzer Prizes, which have been honoring excellence in Journalism and the Arts since 1917. The site contains the complete list of Pulitzer Prize winners from 1917 (the first year the Prizes were awarded) to the present. The site also lists Nominated Finalists from 1980 (the first year finalists were announced) through the present, the full text of winning entries in the Journalism categories from 1995 through the present, and selected material from winners in the Letters, Drama and Music and Special Awards and Citations categories. Also included are biographies of winners from 1995 through the present and information on Board members and Nominating Jurors.