Middlebury College Special Collections

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Middlebury College Special Collections Special Collections serves as a research laboratory for students, faculty, administration/staff, alumni, the Middlebury community, and independent scholars

We welcome researchers to explore our collections of rare books, archives, manuscripts, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other rare and unique materials that tell the story of our collective past. Our major collections are broad in scope and include the Julian W. Abernethy Collection of American Literature, the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Middlebury College Archives.

Last week, we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Dr. Susan Burch's American Disability Studies class to the Reading ...
10/21/2026

Last week, we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Dr. Susan Burch's American Disability Studies class to the Reading Room for a whirlwind session of hands-on research. These intrepid researchers are hard at work analyzing primary source materials, from admissions records to blueprints to scrapbooks to maps, in order to examine how disability has been included in, or excluded from, representations of College and community life over the past century.
We're always thrilled to welcome this type of class project, which allows students to get comfortable with primary source research while also enriching our collective understanding of Middlebury's history.

Our conservation technician recently worked on an historic panoramic photo of the North East Student Conference from 192...
10/19/2026

Our conservation technician recently worked on an historic panoramic photo of the North East Student Conference from 1922. The image, with tears, punctures, and bird droppings, had seen better days. First the surface of the back was cleaned, then the tears and punctures were treated with Japanese tissue applied to the back with wheat paste. The front was then cleaned by manually scraping the droppings away. Finally, a plastic erasure was used to remove as much grime as possible without damaging the image. It was an adventure! Moral of the story? Don’t store your historic family photos in a chicken coop!

10/17/2026

We know this time of the semester can be hectic. If you need to, pause, take a deep breath, and enjoy the foliage with us and Robert Frost 🍁🍂🧡

Video: Untitled 16mm film footage, Middlebury College, c. 1940.
Audio: Robert Frost reading "October," 1958
Full versions on Internet Archive.

We’re delighted to have some of our archival images used in the new “Story Map” of Vermont’s National Historic Landmarks...
10/15/2026

We’re delighted to have some of our archival images used in the new “Story Map” of Vermont’s National Historic Landmarks created by the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Check it out here! https://tinyurl.com/Historic-Landmarks-of-Vermont

Beige who? 💅🎨🌈
10/15/2026

Beige who? 💅🎨🌈

Happy haunted season from SC - and from this extra-large, extra-ghostly edition of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven, illustra...
10/14/2026

Happy haunted season from SC - and from this extra-large, extra-ghostly edition of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven, illustrated by Gustave Doré 💀👻🐦‍⬛ By the time this edition of the famous poem was published in 1884, both Doré and Poe were dead: Doré had passed away the previous January at the age of 51, and Poe had died under (characteristically) mysterious circumstances in Baltimore 35 years previously. Poe's cause of death was never determined, and speculation by Poe's contemporaries as well as later historians suggested potential causes ranging from alcohol consumption, carbon monoxide poisoning, and the flu to syphilis, rabies, and murder. 👀 Anyway - if you're thinking ahead to Halloween, we think the grim reaper sitting on the moon to birdwatch would make a top-tier bookish costume. 🦇

10/12/2026

Enjoy this 16mm film from the 1950s of autumn leaves on the Middlebury Town Green and Court Street.

Last week, we welcomed a whole bunch of alumni from the Class of 1977 to the Reading Room, where they tirelessly combed ...
10/09/2026

Last week, we welcomed a whole bunch of alumni from the Class of 1977 to the Reading Room, where they tirelessly combed through newspapers, records, and photos in search of nuggets of nostalgia. These memories will be featured in the class's Reunion Yearbook when alumni from classes ending in 2 and 7 return to campus to gather and reminisce in June 2027 🎉🎉🎉 Special thanks to our friends at for making the magic happen!

Next up in newly-digitized Middlebury Athletics images is Women's Soccer!📸dates:1. 19882. 19813. 1980s4. 19885. 19886. 1...
10/08/2026

Next up in newly-digitized Middlebury Athletics images is Women's Soccer!

📸dates:
1. 1988
2. 1981
3. 1980s
4. 1988
5. 1988
6. 1988
7. 1988
8. circa 1979-1981
9. 1985
10. 1982

It's been a minute since the Library posted to Facebook. So, hi, again 👋. Fun fact: in the month of September the Davis ...
10/06/2026

It's been a minute since the Library posted to Facebook. So, hi, again 👋. Fun fact: in the month of September the Davis Family Library checked out 2,658 items from our collection. That's basically one item for every student enrolled, plus a few extras. 💥 📚

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110 Storrs Avenue
Middlebury, VT
05753

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+18024432387

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