University of Maryland, Baltimore County Special Collections

Owned by Lindsey Loeper
Last updated: Sept 15, 2009Version comment
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Mailing Address

Special Collections
Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21202

Contact:

Tom Beck, Chief Curator
beck@umbc.edu
(410) 455-3827

Susan Graham, Special Collections Librarian
sgraha1@umbc.edu
(410) 455-5825

Lindsey Loeper, Special Collections Archivist
lindseyloeper@umbc.edu
(410) 455-6290

Phone: 410-455-2353

E-mail: speccoll@umbc.edu

*Web: http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/

*Access to Collections: http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/rules.php

*Digital Collections:  http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/

*Finding Aids:  http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/manuscripts.php

Hours of Service

Monday - Friday: 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Thursday extended hours: 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Intersession, Summer Term and other hours by appointment

Overview

The Special Collections Department of the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery University of Maryland, Baltimore County includes those materials that due to rarity, condition, form, or source are best handled separately from the General Collection. The collections of rare books, photographs, artifacts, manuscripts and archives housed in this department are available for research use by faculty, students and visiting scholars. All materials are non-circulating and the stacks are closed. Access to materials is provided by the online Library Catalog (catalogusmai), several online databases and a variety of print and online finding aids. A knowledgeable staff is available to assist researchers and to retrieve materials for study. Copying services are available when it will not harm the material and is permitted by federal copyright law. Eating, drinking and the use of pens are all prohibited in the reading room. Users of materials must register daily upon entering Special Collections.

UMBC Special Collections blog

Special Services

  • Cameras (at curator discretion)

  • Digital cameras (no flash, please)

  • Microfilm/microfiche printouts

  • Photo print service

  • Photocopies

  • Photoduplication services

  • Scanning

Type of Materials

  • Audiovisual Materials

  • Books and Monographs

  • Digital Collections

  • Exhibitions

  • Government Documents

  • Institutional Records

  • Maps

  • Microforms

  • Musical Scores

  • Newspapers

  • Oral Histories

  • Personal Papers

  • Photographs

  • Primary Resources

  • Printed Ephemera

  • Prints and Drawings

  • Serials

  • Vertical File Material

Detailed Description of Collections

  • Artifacts: The Baltimore Sun Memorabilia Collection contains a Sun newspaper mailbox, an ashtray, and even a piece of the Baltimore Sun building that was taken from the wreckage of the 1904 Baltimore Fire.

  • Audiovisual Materials

  • Books and Monographs: The nucleus of this 3,000 volume collection was purchased from the estate of the late Edward G. Howard. Included are a great number of 18th and 19th century accounts of travel through Maryland which are described in a printed catalogue, Next Stop Baltimore. Numerous local histories are represented as well. Books are catalogued and appear in the catalogusmai with the heading Special Collections - Howard. Following the unexpected death of Professor Joseph Arnold, noted Baltimore historian, in 2004 the collection was renamed the Arnold Collection in his honor. Works added thereafter appear in the catalog with the heading Special Collections--Arnold

  • Digital Collections: The Digital Collections website includes images from the Special Collections Photography Collections including Lewis Hine's child labor photographs, George Bretz's coal mining photographs, Civil War photos, and other important collections; selections from UMBC publications and photographs; electronic theses and dissertations starting in 2007; promotional materials from the Theatre Department productions (1967-2009); and the digital archive of The Retriever Weekly. New collections and images will be added throughout the year.

  • Digital Exhibits

  • Exhibitions: Exhibits are held in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery 2-3 times per year.  

  • Government Documents: Selected documents may be available in the Arnold Collection.

  • Institutional Records: The University Archives contains records, publications, photographs, and digital media documenting the history of the campus, faculty, staff, and students.

  • Maps: Maryland and regional maps are stored in the Reference department.

  • Microforms: All microforms are available in the Serials department.

  • Musical Scores

  • Newspapers: The Department is the depository for a complete run of the print holdings of the Baltimore Sun (1837-1968)and the Evening Sun (1910-1964). Additional newspaper holdings from other cities and states include the Mourat Collection of late 19th and early 20th century newspapers. An index to the titles and holdings is available. Special Collections maintains a growing Baltimore Sun Archives which includes photographs, negatives, transperencies, and archival collections documenting the Sun's history dating to 1837.

  • Oral Histories: Interviews with many of UMBC's founding faculty and staff were conducted to commemerate the 30th and 40th anniversaries.

  • Personal Papers: Persons of note include Baltimore City mayor and Maryland governor Ferdinand Latrobe, Baltimore Sun and Brody Winery founder Philip Wagner, local science fiction author Brian C. Daley, and the papers of the Stabler Family, upon whose land UMBC now resides.

  • Photographs: Holdings include over 2 million images in print, negative, and digital format.  Of local interest are the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore News-American holdings, images produced by the Hughes Company showing street scenes of Baltimore in the early 1900s, Lewis Hine prints of Maryland child laborers, Civil War photographs, the archives of local photographers Jim Amos, Jack Engeman and Richard Jacquish.

  • Primary Resources

  • Printed Ephemera

  • Prints and Drawings

  • Serials: Dating to the late 18th Century, the serials in the Arnold Collection include newsletters, reports, and government statistics.

  • Vertical File Material