Archives Mission

The staff of the Barnard Archives commits to work that is equitable and anti-oppressive, and encourages and supports work which centers voices, knowledge, and memory-making practices historically excluded from the archival record. The staff of the Barnard Archives commits to practices that reflect an intention to connect to, support, preserve and amplify the histories of marginalized people at Barnard College. Our mission is: 

• To collect, appraise, preserve, and make accessible documents of Barnard College; to collect, appraise, preserve, and make accessible documentation of the activities, people, and events associated with the College’s administrative offices and academic departments, faculty, students, staff, and alums.

• To grow Special Collections that align with the ways in which Barnard students, alums, and faculty have always been at the forefront of feminist activism, theory, and scholarship. Though the staff of Barnard Archives and Special Collections will not limit its collecting focus to collections that originate in New York City, it will actively seek collections that emphasize New York City as an important geographic location for feminist and social justice work and thought. 

• To provide adequate facilities for the retention and preservation of such records, to safeguard the collection's physical security, and to conform to professional standards.

• To act as a resource that encourages creative and critical teaching and learning, and to serve scholarship by promoting the use of the Archives to members of the Barnard and Columbia communities, and to communities of researchers at large. The Barnard Archives and Special Collections collections will contribute to Barnard’s curriculum by providing collections in all formats that inspire the exchange of ideas and the production of knowledge.

• To promote knowledge and understanding of the mission, history, and programs of the College.

• To provide information services that aim to support archival research beyond the Barnard Archives and to support archival preservation beyond our collecting (i.e. we aspire to incorporate non-custodial models of collections growth and care, inclusive of supporting personal archiving practices for our community).

We also commit to access to our collections; learn more about our commitments to access on our Information for Your Visit page.

Learn more about our collecting areas and how to donate materials.

Read our full Collection Development policy.