The Archives and Special Collections (ASC) serves as the institutional memory of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and curates the university's collection of manuscripts, rare books, art, and objects.
The University Archives collections include early school records, academic and administrative department records, student organization records, alumni files, and the papers of past WPI presidents. In addition to administrative and scholarly records, the Archives also collects, preserves, and makes available yearbooks, campus publications, WPI memorabilia, and more than 50,000 images and recordings of WPI campus life.
Manuscript collections include the papers of eminent professors and alumni whose developments changed the world, such as Robert Goddard (Father of Modern Rocketry), Theo Brown (John Deere engineer), and Richard Whitcomb (NASA engineer). Collections related to the WPI curriculum include records relating to Fire Protection Engineering (Duane Pearsall and Howard Emmons) as well as Worcester Industrial History (Morgan Construction Company and Crompton Knowles Loom Works).
University Archives and Manuscript collections are searched using Finding Aids (see below) in ArchivesSpace, an online database. Digitized portions of these collections are accessible in Digital WPI.
The Rare Book collection comprises approximately 4,000 early and unique bound volumes ranging in topics from science and technology to American and British literature to the histories of Worcester and New England. Two prominent Charles Dickens collections make up a large part of these holdings.
Rare Books are cataloged and can be searched in the library catalog. The location will be Archives & Special Collections. Digital copies of the original serial editions of Dicken's novels are accessible in Digital WPI.
Because the material in ASC is unique or rare, the collections do not leave the library and in-person researchers must use view items in the Fellman Reading Room (GL023).