Visit the Archives
Location
Stitzer Welcome Center at Judd Gymnasia
Lower Level
Springfield College
263 Alden Street
Springfield, MA 01109
Parking
Visitor spaces are available in Lots 1 and 4. Two handicapped spaces are located behind Judd Gymnasia. When there are no visitor spots available, speak with the lot guards in Lot 4 about available parking.
Campus Maps
Hours
Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm via Appointment
Phone
Archives & Special Collections: Home
About the Springfield College Archives
A photographic print created from a Springfield College yearbook (exact book not known) of the original building of the School for Christian Workers (now Springfield College) on the corner of State and Sherman streets in Springfield, Massachusetts. Learn more...
Mission
Archives and Special Collections is the official repository for Springfield College records having permanent historical, legal, fiscal, or administrative value. The primary mission of the College Archives is to appraise, collect, organize, describe, preserve, and make available records documenting the history of Springfield College. In addition Archives and Special Collections collects primary source material that supports the research interests and Humanics Philosophy of the College. Subject areas of long-term interest to the College include the YMCA, physical education, sport and recreation, camping, and youth/community work.
Staff
College Archivist
Jeffrey Monseau, M.S., Library and Information Science
New Collections
Springfield Railroad YMCA Branch The Monthly Bulletin
The Monthly Bulletin newspaper was published and distributed by the Springfield YMCA Railroad Branch or Department. Within the collection are the issues published from July 1885 through March 1901, a total of 41 issues with many missing issues.
Browse the Springfield Railroad YMCA Branch The Monthly Bulletin
Springfield YMCA Advocate Magazine
The Advocate is a monthly newspaper that was published by the Springfield YMCA from January 1886 to December 1886. The first published paper included information about what activities and meetings were offered at the YMCA.
Highlights in the Archives
Who Were the First Basketball Players?
The story of the creation of Basketball is well-known. But who were these restless young men who first played the game? The 18 college men of a one-hour school athletic class. Their names are known, but there is little else known about them. Their histories. Their work. Their passions. In the pages of this exhibit, we will explore who these men were, what they did, and how they continued the legacy started with Dr. Naismith and the Creation of Basketball.
Office of the President: Dissent and Student Protests at Springfield College
Amid a national movement of Black student activism and after a series of racist incidents on and off campus in 1968-69, a group of Black Springfield College students sent a memorandum to College President Wilbur E. Locklin in February 1969. In that memorandum, they stated that they felt displeased with the prejudices suffered by the Black community at the school. They go on to list nine demands of the college, such as the enrollment of 200 Black students into the incoming freshman class of ‘73, the addition of a Black staff member to the admissions office, and the hiring of a Black coach for one of the athletic teams.
Rare Book Collection
The Rare Book Collection is located in Springfield College’s Archives and Special Collections, in the lower level of the Stitzer Welcome Center at Judd Gymnasia. The Rare Book Collection illuminates the history of the College from the early years - as the School for Christian Workers (1885-1890), the International YMCA Training School (1891-1912) and the International YMCA College (1912-1954) - to the present day.