This is the first post on the new blog of University Library Archives & Special Collections here at Santa Clara University. We decided to name the blog Arthur’s Attic after our most formidable archivist, Fr. Arthur Spearman. Just as the Smithsonian has been described as “the Nation’s attic,” so too can SCU archives be called “Arthur’s attic” — a good deal of our materials had been amassed thanks to what some might call Fr. Arthur Spearman’s hoarder tendencies.

However, we don’t look much like an attic anymore, and I hope we are in the same good company as the Smithsonian on this one too. These days our collections are well organized, housed in a temperature and humidity controlled vault, and made available to students and researchers in a variety of ways. This blog is dedicated to bringing you delectable morsels from Arthur’s attic, even though no food or drink are allowed in the archives.

Thanks Fr. Spearman!

Header image: Rev. Spearman at the home of his parents in Wheaton, Ill, courtesy of the Arthur Spearman, SJ Papers digital collection (Archives & Special Collections, SCU)