I started working as a student assistant at the SCU’s Archives & Special Collections at the beginning of 2026. This has provided me with the opportunity to familiarize myself with records, artifacts, and publications from the 19th century, when Santa Clara College was first established. I also have the privilege of being the current Associate […]
In celebration of the founding of Santa Clara University 175 years ago, SCU Archives & Special Collections is reflecting upon its early days when it was still called Santa Clara College. There is a new display in the St. Clare Room on the 3rd floor of the Library (LLC 316) featuring images of the college […]
From a handful of dilapidated adobe buildings flanking the Mission Church to our current 160 acres featuring state of the art academic, athletic, and student housing facilities, our winter exhibit Mapping a University: Visualizing the History of SCU’s Campus tracks the steady expansion of Santa Clara University’s campus over the last 175 years. The exhibit, […]
History of Sacramental Records The practice of keeping sacramental records originates within the European Catholic tradition, as written documentation gradually became essential to the administration of parish life. Although parish registers existed earlier, the modern system took definitive shape during the Council of Trent (1545-1563). In its twenty-fourth session, the Council required parish priests to […]
Our interaction with special collections, sacramental records, and archaeological materials showed us how vital context is when we interpret history. As we examined sacramental records, which often include only brief entries such as baptisms or marriages, we noticed how these documents omitted or generalized individual Native experiences. The archives revealed that missionaries and colonizers routinely […]
Built around a former Mission, our university sits on land layered with meaning. Long before brick buildings and manicured lawns, Ohlone communities lived, worked, gathered, and resisted here. Their history did not begin in 1777 with the founding of Mission Santa Clara de Asís. However, most of what students encounter about this land, in their […]
Are you interested in Early Modern Japan, the history of the Jesuits, or 17th and 18th century books? Our spring quarter exhibit has it all! This exhibit shares A&SC rare book collections related to St. Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Jesuits and first missionaries to Asia. It includes works on his life […]
A&SC Women Religious Archives Winter Exhibit This winter, we are featuring an exhibit drawn from our new Women Religious Archives on the uniforms of various Catholic women religious orders, referred to as their habits. Curated by archivist Bess Pittman, the exhibit highlights materials in SCU Archives & Special Collections from the Holy Union Sisters, the […]
This fall, as we welcome students back to campus for the 2024-2025 academic year, Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) welcomes a number of new collections centered on the ministries and lives of Catholic women religious. These archival transfers bring full circle outreach to women religious communities in the Bay Area and beyond, first begun in […]
Our summer exhibit is inspired by these free, public theatrical productions, offering a repertoire of rare books from Santa Clara University Library’s Special Collections. Much like Shakespeare in the Park theatrical productions, the books on display reflect the creative variations in different styles and approaches to these cultural works. Each editor, illustrator and printer adapted and reworked their source material for their own times and audiences.
