Preserving the University's past

Mark Frazier Lloyd runs the University Archives, the official home of much Penn history. When College senior Steven Friedman lived in Hill House two years ago, he was always curious about whom the dorm was named after. "I had no clue where to go about my question -- unfortunately I think that's what happens with a lot of students," he said. Fortunately for Friedman, he discovered the University Archives and Records Center, where he found an answer to his question -- and much more. "It was so exciting to find out stuff that no one else knew," said Friedman, who has since volunteered several hours per week working for University Archives. The University Archives center, located in the north corner of Franklin Field, is the official repository for Penn's historical documents. Its mission, according to Director Mark Frazier Lloyd, is the preservation of historically significant documents and records that reflect the University's origins, developments, activities and achievements. The center has also been a key resource for undergraduate studies. "Undergrads have been learning how to do primary source research for years, so when University President Judith Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow initiated the 21st Century Project, it was a perfect match for what we've been doing at the Archives for years," Lloyd said. The Records Center, meanwhile, is housed at 40th and Walnut streets -- although it is closely involved with University Archives. While Archives focuses more on academic resources, the Records Center is document-centered, storing, for example, old applications. Though obscure to many students, University Archives has become an essential source for historians at Penn. Any document pertaining to University history and community life can be found there. "Unless you're a History major, you probably aren't familiar with the Archives," noted College senior Eric Wilensky, who is doing a senior honors thesis under Lloyd's direction. "I don't expect an Engineering student to know about this." The center houses massive quantities of information, from faculty minutes and administrative ledgers to records of student groups and clubs like Mask and Wig, whose records date back to 1889. Students can even see clips of Quakers football games, such as the the 1908 battle between Penn and the Harvard Crimson. Historians, or even just the curious, can also find at the center the origins of the Kite and Key Society and campus locations of Ivy Stones dating back to 1873. "It's amazing what's here," Wilensky said. "There's an immense amount of wealth." University Archives also houses collections not pertaining directly to Penn history -- such as materials about alumni, faculty, benefactors and other prominent people associated with the University. The center, according to Lloyd, strives to make historical materials available not only to members of the Penn community, but also to scholars from other universities and Philadelphia residents. Its World Wide Web site, located at http://www.upenn.edu/AR/, has also simplified the research process, allowing students and scholars to peruse the index of collections over the Internet. Though individuals currently must go to the Archives center to read the entire document, Lloyd said he hopes to eventually digitalize the collections, putting the documents themselves onto the Web. Terry Snyder, assistant director of University Archives, noted, however, "We feel that community life is one area in which we can grow. We'd like to see more student groups leave their records with us." Since 1989, University Archives has also worked with the Senior Honors program for History majors, providing primary source materials and advising for participants. Friedman, for one, has taken advantage of the center for his studies. Now a History major working on his senior thesis, he uses University Archives as the main source for his research. "I enjoyed working at the Archives, and so I wanted to do a senior thesis that would let me do research here," he explained. For his thesis, Friedman designed a Web site showing what the University looked like in the 1830s. The site was featured on Penn's main page in early September. Snyder noted that Penn's archival system is highly regarded throughout the intellectual community. "Penn is a leading institution -- we're considered a model," said Snyder, who also emphasized that although the center works hard to support the research of scholars, it is also more than willing to accommodate the general public. "We're a very democratic place -- our resources are open to everyone."