Madeleine Clark Wallace Library
Our Collections
To search our archival holdings, visit our research database, ArchivesSpace. The archival collections contain a multitude of primary source materials relating to Wheaton College and its long, spirited history. These include administrative records of Wheaton Female Seminary and Wheaton College, College publications, papers and manuscripts of the Wheaton family, alumnae classes and faculty, photographs, scrapbooks, and other memorabilia, audio and video tapes of Wheaton events, materials related to student organizations and academic pursuits, and the records of the Alumni Association.
Administrative Records
The archives holds the administrative records of Wheaton Female Seminary, Wheaton College and the Alumni Association as well as associated nonofficial records and papers that relate to the history of the institution. Publications of the College, records of the founding of Wheaton Female Seminary and of the Board of Trustees, administrative records, and photographs, sound recordings, films, and videos form major portions of the collection.
Manuscript Collections
The archives also houses a number of manuscript collections. The majority of these relate in some way to Wheaton, its graduates, or members of its faculty, staff, or Board of Trustees. Those collections not related to Wheaton provide contemporary glimpses into issues of work, family and gender along with many other topics, enriching the research experience for students and other scholars.
Oral Histories of Wheaton College
In 1983, the archives undertook an Oral History Project supported by the Wheaton College Venture Fund. A growing number of Trustees, faculty, alumnae, staff, and friends of the College have been interviewed since then.
Rare Books and Special Collections
The Wallace Library maintains several special non-circulating book collections, some of which are housed in the archives. These items are discoverable in the library catalog. Below are brief descriptions of each of the collections.
Beverly Lyon Clark Children's Literature Collection
This collection introduces readers to children's and juvenile literature of historical import or containing valuable illustrations. It includes eighteenth through twenty-first century titles from The New England Primer to Kate Greenaway to adventure series.
Cole Memorial Collection
The personal library of the Reverend Samuel Valentine Cole, poet and President of Wheaton from 1897 to 1925, forms the nucleus of this collection, which consists of English and American poetry and literature. This collection is shelved in the Cole Room and circulates only to faculty on special loan.
Historical Collection on Women
Founded in 1929 by the Reverend J. Edgar Park, President of Wheaton from 1926 to 1944, this endowed collection contains titles from as early as the seventeenth century relating to women, their families and all aspects of their education and employment. It is the oldest thematic collection maintained by the College. Special strengths of the collection are in books on etiquette, advice, cooking and vocational training. Advice books for men and issues of gender are also represented.
Senior Honors & Graduate Theses
Honors Theses represent the best of original research undertaken by undergraduate honors students in various disciplines. The first honors thesis was prepared in 1928, and each year approximately 15-30 titles are added to the collection. The collection also includes theses for the few master's degrees that Wheaton awarded throughout the years. While not all honors theses were submitted for binding, particularly in the 1960s-1980s, most recent theses are submitted in both paper and digital format, and can also be found in Wheaton's digital repository.
Larcom Collection
Lucy Larcom, a widely popular nineteenth century poet and one of the original "mill girls" of Lowell, MA, was an influential and beloved teacher of English composition at Wheaton from 1854 to 1862 and from 1865 to 1867. She established the student literary magazine, The Rushlight, which remains in publication. This collection, established in her memory by family members, contains books by and about Miss Larcom and volumes from her personal library. It also contains letters, manuscript poems and lectures, copy books, diaries, artwork, furniture, photographs, memorabilia, and family papers generously donated by Larcom descendants to form an extensive manuscript collection.
Restricted Collection
Rare, fragile, and valuable books, many with fine illustrations as well as some association (autographed) volumes are collected here. This collection consists of the humanistic record in its longest form, spanning the Middle Ages to the present.
Wheaton Female Seminary Library
Books known to have been in the Seminary Library from 1838 to ca. 1912 were culled from circulation to create this collection. Many titles bearing the stamp, "Wheaton Female Seminary Library," remain in the stacks and continue to circulate. Textbooks necessary for study at Wheaton Female Seminary were listed in the annual catalogues, and this collection also contains a small but representative sample of those required texts.
Paul H. Smart Collection
Paul H. Smart, a former member of the Library Visiting Committee and son of the late Wheaton Trustee and Acting President, George T. Smart, established this collection in 1967 when he generously donated his collection of private press editions and fine bindings to the College. The collection's strengths include books produced by Doves Press, Groliers, Riverside Press, and Bruce Rogers. Only artists’ books are currently added to this collection.
Wheaton Authors Collection
This collection is comprised of the published works of faculty, administrators, and staff that were written, researched or published while they were employed at Wheaton and of alumni publications whenever they were produced.