Prior to its merger with the Beinecke Library in 2022, Yale Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Collections were acquired, preserved, and made accessible in Manuscripts and Archives, a repository in Sterling Memorial Library established in 1969.   

 

The collections consist of a rich assemblage of original and unique primary source materials in all formats documenting the experiences of individuals, families, and organizations across the human spectrum. The 2,000 collections total more than 50,000 linear feet and span the 16th to the 21st centuries. They document political, social, diplomatic, economic, and cultural history, primarily of the United States at the local, state, and national levels, but also of Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. The Yale University Archives and the Fortunoff Video Archive of Holocaust Testimonies were also part of Manuscripts and Archives. 

 

Subject strengths include:

• Connecticut and New Haven  
• Yale University
• Yale and slavery
• American diplomacy
• Wilsonian Era and League of Nations
• National security, espionage, and intelligence
• Contemporary health care and policy
• Architecture and city planning
• Environmental science and activism
• Legal and judicial history
• LGBTQ History and Activism
• Americans in China
• Americans in South Asia
• African Studies and Apartheid in South Africa

Yale Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Collections originated in 19th century when Yale faculty began placing collections of their research materials in the library for accessibility and long-term preservation, and Yale administrators began to collect documentation on Yale history. The library maintained some of these collections, such as the Edward Mandell House Collection, as separate entities with their own curators for many years. Established in 1938, the Historical Manuscripts Room in Sterling Library became the de facto custodian for many collections that did not have their own curators. 

 

Yale’s secretaries were long interested in assembling and publishing significant historical documents and works on Yale’s history. Additionally, around 1906, the Yale Memorabilia Room, a department within the library, began acquiring publications, records, and objects, particularly those related to Yale College classes, and a curator was appointed in 1918. The Yale Archives is first mentioned as a separate library collection in 1945, but a university archivist was not appointed until 1958. 

 

In 1961 the library established the combined position of university archivist and curator of historical manuscripts and the House Collection, beginning the merger of various Library special collections. The construction of the Beinecke Library, and the subsequent transfer of the rare books, literary collections, and other selected special collections to the Beinecke in 1963, led to the consolidation of the Yale Memorabilia collection, the University Archives, the historical manuscript collections, and the House Collection.  The appointment of Herman Kahn as associate university librarian for Manuscripts and Archives in 1969 completed the establishment of Manuscripts and Archives. The Fortunoff Video Archives for Holocaust Testimonies became part of Manuscripts and Archives when Fortunoff was established in 1981.