College history organized, preserved in archives
In 1819, Maryville College began to educate students, both local and foreign, in order to provide them with an education based on the liberal arts.
The Presbyterian-affiliated college comes with an exceptional history which dates back to Isaac Anderson. Due to the volumes of history that are associated with MC, an archive vault has been kept to preserve the past 193 years of the college’s existence.
Over the past year, library staff members have been working diligently to digitize all the archives that MC currently holds.
Within the archives, students will be able to find yearbooks, college histories, most campus newsletters, newspapers up to 1997, handbooks and catalogs of the college.
Students may access these documents by visiting the library website and locating the archives tab, where all the documents are available for free.
In order to bring all of the archival information together, Dori May, assistant professor, collection development librarian and archives liaison, had to merge two different archive sections: one section from the president’s office vault in Anderson and another from the library.
An issue that May has come into contact with is that the archives in the library and those in the president’s office vault are organized differently.
As far as finding past yearbooks and newspapers on the website, viewers can locate the Chilhowean, which dates back to 1906, and Highland Echo issues from 1915 to 1997.
The newspaper issues that are not on the website remain unavailable due to their large-page formats, which cannot be converted into microfilm.
The issues that are located on the website were first converted to microfilm and then submitted electronically to the website.
May has had some help with organizing and implementing the website but is hoping to find more assistance in the near future by hiring a student for an internship or practicum.
Those interested in viewing the progress of the archives or the archiving process are encouraged to email May at [email protected].