Searching for Photos in the Purdue Archives

NOTE: [Group 3 needs to be added and incorporated. Inventory for entire collection needs to go online]
The University News Service was the precursor to the university's Office of Marketing and Media. This collection covers all subject areas and is comprised of 55 cubic feet (364 shoeboxes) of negatives, one box of slides and two 1 cubic foot.

The J.C. Allen and Son collection is extensive and includes glass and film negatives and photographic prints of Purdue University buildings, faculty, staff, and students, as well as major campus events from the 1910s to the 1970s. Please see the Links section for a complete list of the items.

This collection is comprised primarily of negatives and occasional photographs that were produced and maintained through the work of Purdue University’s Photographic Services division, which provided photography services on campus. Subjects vary widely and include faculty and staff, student activities, major athletic and cultural events, campus buildings, and department-related materials. Most of these images were produced between the mid-1940s and the mid-1980s. In some cases, negatives are reproductions or documentation of older images (as in the Historical Scenes folder of Box 13). Subjects of particular note include sets that document staff and events in the Men’s and Women’s Residence Halls; a sizeable football collection spanning the years from 1952 to 1985, as well as many other athletics-related subjects; a set documenting the events, décor, and staff of Purdue Memorial Union from 1967 to 1984; a substantial Student Activities file with images from 1950 to 1971; and negatives documenting the Agricultural Experiment Station, Purdue’s State Fair exhibits, and other agriculture-related items.

The Purdue University Faculty and Staff portrait collection contains portrait negatives, prints, and images of Purdue University faculty and staff members from 1948 to 2001.

The Purdue University Office of Marketing and Media photographs collection (1865-2011) visually documents Purdue campus life, physical spaces, and events. The collection includes approximately 50 years of photographs and negatives taken of various campus schools, departments, people, and organizations by the Office of Marketing and Media. The collection also includes photographs and negatives collected by the Office of Marketing and Media documenting the nearly 100 years of Purdue's history prior to their own productions. This collection would be useful to anyone interested in Purdue's institutional history, especially as it relates to the university's own efforts to visually preserve particular moments and events. Types of materials include photographic prints, negatives, slides, and compact discs. Please contact archives staff for a more detailed inventory.

The Computer Science Photographs Collection includes a variety of printed and digital photographs and video documenting the life of the Computer Science department at Purdue University. Frequent subjects include annual events such as awards dinners or special lectures, headshots of faculty, and students working on projects. The collection also includes a number of resources documenting the fundraising for and construction of the new Lawson Computer Science building, and videos featuring commemoration of the department’s fortieth anniversary. Some photo CDs include older photographs from the 1960s through the 1980s, but the bulk of the collection is devoted to 1995-2009.