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Searching for Photos in the Purdue Archives

How to search for photos in the Archives

Using the Purdue Archives & Special Collections

entrance of the Purdue Archives & Special Collections

Find Out More

To find out more about using the Purdue Archives and Special Collections, view our ASC Overview guide or visit our website to the Archives and Special Collections to use a variety of different search tools.

Visit Us

The Archives are located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (HSSE) Library. We are open to the public Monday-Friday, 10:00 AM until 4:30 PM. Hours may be abbreviated during semester breaks and in the summertime. We encourage visitors to contact us about your research visit in advance so that we can better serve you.

Contact Us

Email: archives@purdue.edu Phone: (765) 494-2839

About Photographs in Purdue University Archives

The Purdue University Archives and Special Collections contains hundreds of thousands of photographs relating to the history, administration, and culture of Purdue University.  We also have photos pertaining to our specialized collecting areas, including space and flight, psychoactive substances research, and the women’s archives. These photos can come in the form of large photographic collections consisting of thousands of photos, smaller photographic collections, individual photos from various manuscript and records collections, or from scrapbooks.  Some have been digitized while some come directly to us in digital format, but the majority of them exist in some sort of physical medium such as prints, negatives or slides.  While it may not be possible to have all our photos in digital format, our goal is to make photos of people, places and events discoverable through online user-end search tools.  This guide can be used as a starting point in your search.  At any point in your research, do not hesitate to contact the archives staff for assistance.

Where to begin

Knowing where to begin when looking for photos can be a daunting task.  Here are some starting points that are explained in further detail on the corresponding pages in this guide.  At any point in your research, do not hesitate to contact an archives staff member for assistance.   We are here to assist you and may have access to some search tools that are not yet published.  

  1. Search our digital collections (digitized and born-digital), across all collections or specific targeted collections.  Digital Collections
  2. Use the Physical Collections tab to browse and search our physical photographic collections and other collections that contain photos.
  3. Look at scrapbooks and photograph-centric history books for leads.  Other Resources with Photographs