Library Overview

Home to more than 100,000 printed works and 2,000 manuscript and archival collections, the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) holds some of Syracuse University's most precious treasures, including early printed editions of Gutenberg, Galileo, and Sir Isaac Newton as well as the library of 19th-century German historian Leopold Von Ranke (1795–1886). Holdings are particularly strong in the 20th century; they include the personal papers and manuscripts of such luminaries as artist Grace Hartigan (1922– ), inspirational preacher Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993), author Joyce Carol Oates (1938– ), photojournalist Margaret Bourke White (1904–1971), and movie score composer Franz Waxman (1906–1967). The center describes itself as a "research center" and, indeed, the repository strives to be much more than a static repository of cultural wonders. The SCRC is more a "humanities laboratory" where librarians and scholars collaborate with the artifacts of history in an ongoing and vital learning process. In this vein, SCRC regularly hosts exhibitions, lectures, and classes focusing on its collections.

Syracuse University
Special Collections Research Center
E.S. Bird Library, Room 600
Syracuse, New York 13244-2010
http://scrc.syr.edu/
scrc@syr.edu
(315) 443-2697 (t)
(315) 443-2671 (f)