Archives and Special Collections
Archives — Definition
Lake Forest College’s Archives are its own non-current, retired, preserved, and administered records, and those of some earlier forms and units of the institution, dating from the 1850s. These records include a variety of formats and media, including photographs, department files, publications (including serials like student newspapers, alumni periodicals, bulletins, handbooks, etc.), analog and digital media (including audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, CDs, microform, etc.), art, and realia (artifacts such as letter sweaters, banners, scrapbooks, dance programs, etc.). These materials all are generated by the institution or its parts — administrative, faculty, and student. Generally these records, etc. are non-current materials, including out-of-date photographs, publications (print catalogs, yearbooks), papers relating to earlier actions, etc. We do not typically collect current material. Material is transferred to the Archives according to an established records retirement plan.
Since the founders were members of the Chicago’s leadership elite, early records include material relating to historic figures. These, during more than one hundred and fifty years, have included trustees, faculty, alumni, friends and visitors – political, cultural, social, reform, research and educational persons of note.
The College, from the laying out of the campus location, was a pioneer in many fields: architecture and landscape architecture, co-education, Asian education through missions, graduate education, athletics, social organizations, scholarship (botany, psychology, etc.) and diversity.
Regular institutional print publications include the annual/biennial official catalog or bulletin (print version suspended 2008), student newspapers (since 1887), yearbooks (through 2002), literary magazines (since 1880), alumni bulletins and newsletters (since 1919), directories (1944-2007) and handbooks.
