Overview
The University Archives is a unit of the St. John's
University Libraries, and houses the administrative records of the
University; historical materials that relate the St. John's
campuses to their neighboring communities; and historical materials
dealing with the history of Catholic higher education in New York
City. The Archives also collects the papers and memorabilia of
faculty members and holds an eclectic collection of historical
documents and photos.
The St. John's University Archives was founded in 1971.
The Office of Historical Collections had
been created by President the Reverend Joseph Cahill on Jan. 23,
1969, Dr. Irving G. Williams, director, "to build up the prime
sources of the University in the field of History ... to serve as
an encouragement to research by students, faculty, and scholars
generally [and acquire] unprinted and unbound materials." Records
and collections of the Office of Historical Collections were
deposited with the University Archives when the Office of
Historical Collections closed in 1971. The Vincentian Archives
(Archives of the Congregation of the Mission, Eastern Province,
U.S.A.) were transferred on Apr. 29, 1996, to the Congregational
Archives, Philadelphia.
Selected references:
- Hueppe, Frederick E., "The Radiant
Light: a history of St. John's College presented in the
Vincentian," 1955, (Archives).
- McColgan, Daniel T., A Century of
Charity: the First One Hundred Years of the Society of St. Vincent
de Paul in the United States, 2 vols. (Milwaukee: The Bruce
Publishing Company, 1951).
- Morris, Barbara L., "To Define A
Catholic University: the 1965 Crisis at St. John's" (Ed.D. thesis,
Columbia University Teachers College, 1977)
- Sharp, John K., History of the Diocese
of Brooklyn, 1853-1953, the Catholic Church on Long Island, 2 vols
(New York: Fordham University Press, 1954).