Southern Illinois History Collections in SCRC   Tags: history, history study, manuscripts, rare books, scrc, southern illinois, special collections  

One of the primary missions of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) of Morris Library is to collect, preserve, and provide research access to materials that document the regional history of southern Illinois. SCRC's manuscript, archival and rare book collections reflect this commitment and include personal and family papers, small business and organization records, and the research and writings of local historians.

This guide identifies manuscript collections and university records related to Southern Illinois history and culture, along with an extensive collection of rare books and other printed material produced by Illinois authors and publishers.  The collections include correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, organizational and business records, scrapbooks, research materials, photographs and films, and ephemera, as well as rare books, periodicals, pamphlets, and other printed matter.  For more, visit the SCRC website.

This guide is not intended to be a complete finding aid to the collections.  It provides a brief description of holdings with basic information on size, inclusive dates, types of records, and broad subject areas.  More detailed descriptions of the sources listed below are available at SCRC and through I-Share, Morris Library's online catalog.  I-Share contains bibliographic records for most manuscript collections held in SCRC as well as books and other printed material available at SIUC. Finding aids for these sources are also available through SCRC's website in the finding aid database ARCHON.  

Please note that not all manuscript collections are housed in SCRC.  Some collections are located at an off-site storage facility and must be requested in advance.  In addition, some collections have access restrictions.  Researchers are encouraged to contact SCRC to ensure that materials will be available.  We are also happy to pull materials in advance of a research visit.