Did you know SNHU has an archive?
Southern New Hampshire University has both an online and a physical archive. The third floor of the Wolak Learning Commons, also known as the Shapiro Library, houses the archive office and a portion of the physical SNHU archives.
The online archives show the history of SNHU including photos, documents, and information about the university when it was founded in 1932.
Students can make an appointment to view the physical archives at the Shapiro Library. The physical archive has shelves full of old documents dating back to the 1930’s and earlier.
Users can see how campus has changed over time and see buildings that are no longer on campus. They can also use this resource for research and education. Documents in the archive hold valuable information and dates regarding people and places. Information is available on the archive about SNHU’s founder Harry A.B. Shapiro.
The archive also has preserved old photographs that range from student activities and athletics, to yearbooks and physical artifacts like pendants and textiles. The physical archive has special acid free boxes to reduce the risk of damage and outside environmental factors.
Items
Documents in the digital archive include the ability to browse items, such as more than 200 photographs. They range from soldiers learning to type when the university was as a secretarial school, to photos of campus back in time. Users who view it can take a look into the past with old photos of students and what campus looked like before modernization.
Collections
The digital archive has 10 collections to look at, including maps of Southern New Hampshire University.
Exhibits
There are 6 exhibits to browse in the digital archive. One exhibit on the archive is the Harry A.B. Shapiro exhibit. When selected, readers can read 7 pages of information about Shapiro including an overview of who he is, his early life, his wife, and the growth of the school.
Maps
The digital archive also has a map to view, which shows where the photos in the archive were taken. When clicking a photo in New Jersey it shows a photo of Shapiro and his wife in Atlantic City on the beach.
Ellen Phillips
Archivist Ellen Phillips works at SNHU digitizing and managing the physical archives. She describes what she wants students to know about the archive, including wanting students to read how committed the school has been to education since the beginning, along with learning about the school’s history.
“I want students to be aware of what the school’s history is. Most people are not aware that the school is 92 years old. I also would want them to know the history of the founders and read their story,” said Phillips.
Phillips wants students to know they can use the archives if they have questions about the school’s history. She also says that if any students have been part of something noteworthy, they should consider sending documentation of that to the archives so that they can be part of it.
“From the 70s, we have boxes from the Student Involvement Office of events on campus. Now people take photos on their phone and don’t think to send them to the archives, but they can send them in, and we will archive those things,” said Phillips.
If students have the opportunity to participate in scholarly activities like Undergraduate Research Day, they can submit their work through a submission form. Once fully submitted, the work can then be permanently archived and students will have access to a permanent link to their work.
How to Reach Out to The Archives
The archive also has a place to be able to contact the archivists who work there. Anyone who has questions can leave their name, email, and a description of their question in the provided text box.
Use this link provided below and fill out a form to ask for support and guidance around questions related to Open Access (OA) publications and Open Educational Resources (OER) and how to use and access them.
Below is the link to the digitized SNHU archive:
