University Libraries - Special Collections and Archives

Written in 2020 by the SC Collections Group. Reviewed with minor revisions in March 2024.

Purpose

Special Collections, as part of the University of Iowa Libraries, advances direct engagement in learning, research, and creative work through providing staff expertise and exceptional collections on our campus and worldwide. We acquire, preserve, and make available primary sources across many areas, disciplines, and historical periods. We nourish creative research, learning, and teaching for a broad audience. We emphasize the artefactual nature of our materials, while we encourage additional forms of interaction with them by providing digitized versions when possible.

Collection Scope

Special Collections houses several groups of collections: Special Collections, the Iowa Women’s Archives, University Archives, the International Dada Archive, and the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. These collections contain a wide variety of materials housed in the Main Library, with some materials held off-site. Special Collections works extensively with numerous allied departments within the Libraries to maintain the integrity and accessibility of the collections.

Special Collections

Books

Special Collections contains over 300,000 books, discoverable through the library catalog. The largest book collection in Special Collections is the x-collection, which comprises the core of the Collections. The core book collection houses books and fragments dating from 2,050 BC through the present and focuses heavily on the history of the book. Incunabula, fine press, artists’ books, early printed books, and more may be found in this collection.

Numerous sub-collections focus on individual areas in greater depth. “Closed” collections—those that do not receive additions except from their original donors— include the Stein 19th-century Book Collection, the Ranney Memorial Library, the John Springer Collection on Typography, the Typographic Laboratory Collection, the Julie Englander Collection of Contemporary Literature, the Brian Harvey Canine Collection, the Rusty L. Hevelin Science Fiction Collection, the M. Horvat Science Fiction Fanzines Collection.

Other sub-collections continue to grow as donations and purchases are made, including the Charlotte M. Smith Collection of Miniature Books, the Louis Szathmary Culinary Collection, the Brewer-Leigh Hunt Collection, the James W. Bollinger Collection of Lincolniana, the Thomas Olive Mabbot-Poe Collection, the Ingham Collection of Western Americana, the Chinese Writers Collection, the Iowa Authors Collection, and the History of Hydraulics Collection.

Manuscripts

Special Collections hosts over 1,000 manuscript collections described in finding aids. In addition, the xMs, Ms, and MsL collections house individual cataloged manuscripts not attached to a larger collection, searchable in the library catalog. Items in the collection range from the 12th Century through the present, with particularly strong holdings from the 19th and 20th centuries. Items from several collections have been digitized, and are discoverable through the Iowa Digital Library. Many of these digitized items have also been made accessible for transcription and translation through DIY History.

Manuscript collection strengths and active collecting areas include: the Civil War, World War II and to a lesser extent World War I; fine presses; books and bookmaking; bound medieval manuscripts; circuit Chautauqua; television and movies, including scripts; fandom; zines and science fiction; Iowa businesses and farming; Iowa authors before the turn of the twentieth century; Iowa history; Iowa politics and politicians; Henry A. Wallace and the Progressive Party; Leigh Hunt; early to mid-twentieth century British writers (Blunden, Murdoch, Wilson, Gawsworth, Kilham-Roberts); editorial cartoonists; railroadiana; travel; the culinary arts; Iowa authors; and right wing social documents.

Maps

The University of Iowa Map Collection merged with Special Collections in 2013 as a result of the changing uses and users of paper maps. The collection is international in scope and subject coverage is broad, partially due to the 2011 merger of the Geoscience Library’s collection with the Map Collection. Special Collections now houses over 250,000 maps and charts in the largest map collection in the state, as well as approximately 150,000 aerial photographs of Iowa counties, Iowa county atlases and plat books, foreign and other atlases, and various geographic reference books. As a federal regional depository and Iowa state document depository, the collection serves the general public, both within and from outside the state.

We comprehensively collect representations of the Johnson County area, regardless of an item’s publication date. We collect extensively for the state of Iowa, and consistently seek historical representations of the state. As the distance from Iowa increases, we collect with decreasing comprehensiveness. We collect maps of areas outside Iowa according to patron demand, curriculum needs, collection strengths, and the significance of the maps’ roles in historical cartography. Emphasis is on obtaining historical maps, atlases, aerial photographs, and other cartographic representations. Current paper materials and aerial photographs are collected on a case-by-case basis, contingent upon whether users are likely to prefer paper or digital representations. Historic, historical, and thematic atlases, geographic and cartographic dictionaries, gazetteers, books on the history of cartography, and other appropriate reference works are collected for use of Special Collections staff and patrons.

Materials within the Map Collection are no longer available to be checked out by the public, but must be used in the building or viewed while on exhibit elsewhere. A number of maps and atlases within the collection have also been digitized and are available through the Iowa Digital Library and the BTAA Geoportal.

The International Dada Archive

The International Dada Archive is the world’s foremost institution for the documentation of the Dada movement and the most comprehensive collection of materials related to Dada. Founded in 1979 by the Program in Comparative Literature and the School of Art and Art History, and supported initially by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Jerome Foundation, the Archive’s operations were integrated with the University Libraries in 1984, and formally became part of Special Collections in 2012.

The Dada Archive’s collection is spread across the University Libraries. Primary documents from the Dada era (roughly 1916-1923) and other rare or expensive materials are housed in Special Collections; later editions, catalogs, secondary literature, and other circulating materials are housed primarily in the Main and Art Libraries. Many materials in the public domain are scanned for the Digital Dada Library.

In addition to Dadaist material, the Archive extensively collects publications on related twentieth-century avant-garde movements, such as expressionism, futurism, and surrealism. The Archive collects in all published formats and all languages, but manuscripts are not routinely purchased. Primary documents from 1916-1923, including monographs and journals by the key Dadaists, are the biggest priority for collection development. The Archive comprehensively collects the work of several writers and artists; a complete list of these artists and writers is available online.

The Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry

Founded by Ruth and Marvin Sackner in 1979 in Miami Beach, Florida, the Sackner Archive is widely considered to be the most comprehensive collection of concrete and visual poetry in the world. In 2019 Marvin Sackner initiated a scheduled donation of the majority of the collection to the University of Iowa Libraries. The donation was completed following Marvin Sackner’s death in 2020.

Comprising over 75,000 items including annotated books, periodicals, typewritings, drawings, letters, print portfolios, 3-dimensional works, ephemera, artists’ books, and manuscripts, the collection emphasizes concrete and visual poetry since 1960, but also represents predecessor movements such as Italian Futurism, Russian and Eastern European avant-gardes, Dada, Surrealism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Ultra, and Lettrism.

The Sackner Archive is a closed collection, i.e., we do not acquire additional material for it except for additional gifts from the original donor. However, concrete and visual poetry are among our priorities for the x-collection.

Louise Noun-Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women’s Archives

The Iowa Women’s Archives (IWA) is a nationally recognized repository of manuscript collections documenting Iowa women’s history. It actively collects personal papers, organizational records, and other primary sources that chronicle the lives and activities of Iowa women, their families, and their communities.

Established in 1992, the IWA is named for its founders, Louise Noun and Mary Louise Smith, who recognized that the work and lives of Iowa women were not adequately documented in existing repositories. They believed an Archives focused on women would underscore the significant contributions of Iowa women to history. In 1991 Louise Noun auctioned the Frida Kahlo painting “Self-Portrait with Loose Hair” to permanently endow the Iowa Women’s Archives.

As of 2020, the IWA holds over 1200 collections of manuscript, print, audiovisual, oral history, and other primary source material. Together these collections document the historical experience of Iowa women, their communities, and their families throughout the state and beyond its borders from the nineteenth century to the present, reflecting the diversity of Iowa women across race, class, ethnicity, and gender identity. The Iowa Women’s Archives is particularly strong in collections pertaining to rural and farm women, LGBTQ individuals, African American women, Latinas, and Jewish women. Subject strengths include second-wave feminism, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, girls’ and women’s sport, and activism for the environment and social justice; women in the professions, particularly journalism, social work, religion, and the performing and visual arts; women in politics; and family life in nineteenth and twentieth-century Iowa.

IWA Collecting Areas

The Iowa Women’s Archives collects papers by and about Iowa women from all walks of life, as well as records of their organizations, their families, and their communities. The repository defines Iowans as those who were born or educated in Iowa or resided here for some part of their lives. While the repository continues to build on its existing areas of strength, it is particularly interested in gathering stories and documents of those who are underrepresented in archival repositories—including but not limited to working-class women, Native American women, Latinas, Black and African American women, and other racial or ethnic groups. Recognizing the changing landscape of gender identity, the IWA welcomes collections that document the lives of transgender and gender-non-conforming individuals.

University Archives

The University of Iowa Archives collects, preserves and provides access to information about The University of Iowa that is of enduring historical, fiscal, administrative, or legal value. It was founded in 1931 by Ruth A. Gallaher, Ph.D., of the State Historical Society of Iowa. The University Archives is a unit of the Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries.

The University Archives collects the following types of materials in a variety of formats, including print, electronic, visual, audio, and moving image: university publications; administrative records from academic and administrative departments and student organizations, including annual and summary reports and correspondence; speeches and presentations; performances and events; faculty/staff meeting minutes and agendas; personal papers of selected faculty members, alumni, former students, and others associated with the University; directories; and archival copies of master’s theses. The University Archives also, at the discretion of the archivist, collects realia/memorabilia and other types of records relating to the University of Iowa.

Acquisitions Overview

Items of interest, both for purchase and donation, are those that will enhance our collection strengths and facilitate our mission to provide access to and preserve inclusive, diverse, and distinctive collections. New areas of focus may develop over time and as opportunity allows. If you believe that you might have something of interest to us, please get in touch with us at lib-spec@uiowa.edu.

Special Areas of Interest

Current special areas of interest include:

For All: Material from underrepresented groups, particularly in the Midwest; 20th century Avant Garde; Peace and antiwar activity; Civil Rights and protest movements with a regional focus; Modern war material with a regional focus

Special Collections: Medieval and early modern manuscripts; Incunabula and early printed works; Artists’ books; History of books and bookmaking; Miniature books; Cookery books and manuscripts, especially Latin American; Science fiction and fandom; Iowa politics and business; Performing arts; Popular culture, including early cinema and scripts

Iowa Women’s Archives: History of Iowa women

University Archives: University of Iowa history

Formats Collected

Few format limitations exist for gifts or purchases. Holographic and typescript manuscripts are collected, and other formats as digital files, photographs, audio cassettes, videocassettes, reel-to-reel, film, floppy disks, CDs, wax cylinders, LPs, and many other formats may also be accepted. If it demonstrates pertinence to the subject at hand, format is not a factor, within reasonable limits.

Realia is collected in very limited numbers and under special circumstances, generally as part of a larger collection. Some examples of objects in the collections include equipment (such as Buffalo Bill Cody’s briefcase or George Yewell’s palette) and Fluxus works (some of which have been imaged and can be seen here: http://fluxus.lib.uiowa.edu/).

Materials selected

Each collection acquires materials in different ways. All collections accept donations when appropriate. Special Collections staff add gift items in keeping with the University of Iowa Libraries Gifts‐In‐Kind Policy and are ultimately responsible for deciding whether a gift is added to the collection.

Special Collections purchases are generally made based on potential use and University community requests, with an emphasis on the frequency of potential class use. Iowa Women’s Archives and University Archives rarely purchase materials.

“Completion” (i.e., collecting all) of a publisher or author’s works is rarely a goal, except in special circumstances. Overall, we aim to provide research collections of great depth in our areas of focus.

Implementation and Review Schedule

This policy will be reviewed at the beginning of each calendar year. A comprehensive review will take place every five years, with the next comprehensive review occurring in 2025.