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Archival and Manuscript Collections

• Records of the A.K. Rice Institute
• Adyar Library, Institute for Vaisnava Studies & American University Collection of Vaisnava Literature
  • The Adyar Library and Institute for Vaisnava Studies microfilm collection contains text of rare documents in Hindu literature.  The collection is the culmination of the ambitious Matysa Project, directed by Charles White, AU professor of religion, and is the only collection of its kind in the United States.
• Esther Ballou
  • The Papers of Esther Ballou, composer and AU professor of music (1955-1972), include original scores, correspondence, manuscripts and photographs.
• Bauman Bible Telecasts
  • The Bauman Bible Telecasts are from the first college course in religion offered on commercial television and the first educational program at the college level in the Washington area (1958-1992).  Each program consisted of a short lecture and an unrehearsed, live discussion with students about the Bible.  This collection contains audio, film, and video recordings of the telecasts and associated books and papers.
• Dorothy Gondos Beers
  • Dorothy Gondos Beers was a professor of history at AU from 1947 through 1974.  She served as Chair of the Department of History and Dean of Women (1949-1953).  Her papers include materials relating to her service in the WAVES during World War II, personal and professional correspondence, newspaper clippings on her career at AU, awards and letters of appreciation, manuscripts relating to her research into the history of Philadelphia and other writings.
• Ed Bliss
  • Ed Bliss worked for CBS New from 1943 to 1968, when he joined the AU faculty to found the broadcast journalism program.  His papers (1920s-1980s) include research files for his book on the history of broadcast journalism, press releases, scripts, speeches, testimonies, and transcripts.
• Joseph Blum
• W. Donald Bowles
• E. F. Colladay
• Ed Cox
• Harold Davis
  • Harold Davis held a joint position in the Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of International Service at AU from 1947 through 1973. His papers include correspondence, lectures, manuscripts, and syllabi.
• Duncan Emrich
• Charles B. Ferster
• Archives of the Frederick Law Olmsted Documentary Editing Project
• Friends of Colombia Archives
  • The Archive of the Friends of Colombia, an affiliate of the National Peace Corps Association, documents the organization since 1986 and the experience of Peace Corps volunteers and staff who served in Colombia from 1961 to 1981.
• Felisberto Hernández
• John R. Hickman Collection
• Warren S. Hunsberger
  • Warren S. Hunsberger was the founding director of AU’s Center for Asian Studies.  His papers include manuscripts, correspondence, relating to his book Japan’s Quest (1994-1997), and material on the Japan-America Society of Washington (1971-1990).
• Bishop John Fletcher Hurst - American University Founder
  • John Fletcher Hurst was Bishop of the Washington District of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the U.S. as well as the founder of AU.  His papers (1849-1903) document his activities on behalf of both, including his research on church history.
• Roger W. Jones
• Allan J. Lichtman
  • Allan J. Lichtman, professor of history at AU, is a leading expert on presidential and congressional campaigns and voting behavior.  His papers (1973-1999) document his service as an expert witness in federal voting rights and redistricting cases.
• Records of the National Commission on the Public Service - Volker Commission
  • The papers of the first National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission, 1987-1990) include correspondence, minutes, and reports.
• Records of the National Peace Corps Association
  • This collection reflects the development of the organization from its founding in the late 1970s to the present.
• Albert Osborne Diary
  • Albert Osborne’s diary documents the activities of Bishop John F. Hurst on behalf of AU.  Osborne was the1st Registrar, Librarian, and Secretary of AU’s Board of Trustees.
• Ellen S. Overton
  • Ellen S. Overton was a delegate to several international and national women's conferences. Her papers contain briefing books, lists of participants, newspapers, photographs, programs, publications, and reports from the following conferences: Beijing (1995), Copenhagen (1980), Houston (1977), Kenya (1985), and Mexico City (1975).
• Drew Pearson Papers and Merry-Go-Round Collections
• William G. Phillips
  • William G. Phillips (1923-1990) was the founding president of the National Council for Industrial Defense.  He served in a variety of capacities on Capitol Hill including as staff director of the House Committees on Education and Labor and Government Operations and as congressional aide to two congressmen.  His papers consist of correspondence, government documents, polls, reports, and press releases and document a range of topics including the Freedom of Information Act, the Presidential Records Act of 1978, and occupational safety and health.
• Arnold Sagalyn
• Catherine Seckler-Hudson
  • Catherine Seckler-Hudson was the founder and first Chair of AU’s Department of Government and Public Affairs.  She taught at AU from 1933 through1963.  Her papers include correspondence, course files, lecture notes, and writings.
• Gordon Smith
  • The papers of Gordon Smith, professor of music at AU (1947-1982), include correspondence, manuscripts, recordings (audio and video) of classical and jazz music, and ethnographic recordings.
• Irene Tinker
  • Irene Tinker, a pioneer in the field of women in development, taught in the city and regional planning & women's studies departments at the University of California, Berkeley. Her papers consist of articles, publications, and reports relating to Non-Governmental Organizations, International Women's Year and other women's organizations (1970s-1990s). It includes teaching materials from the University of California, Berkeley and American University.
• Vincent Tocci Research Files on Vietnam
  • Vincent Tocci, a former Adjunct Professor in AU’s School of Communication, served as Chief of Combat News with the Air Force in Saigon and Pentagon media representative during the Vietnam War.  Tocci compiled a collection of materials relating to the conflict including articles he wrote (1960s-1970s), Department of Defense photographs, newspaper and magazine articles about Vietnam (1960s-1980s), and other background materials such as a map of the Vietnam Conflict.
• Philip Vaughan
  • Environmental filmmaker and photographer, Philip Vaughan, made his first film, “Celebration: Children and Trees,” when he was 17 to protest the construction of a highway through a local forest where he lived in Iowa.  He has traveled the United States and abroad taking photographs of the changing environmental landscape.  The slides, negatives, and prints in this collection document pristine scenery and native populations in Alaska, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Costa Rica, Mexico, and West Virginia.  Vaughan is also a poet and his collection also includes an unpublished manuscript and notebooks of original poems.
• Howard Wachtel
  • Howard Wachtel has been a professor of Economics at AU since 1978.  His papers include articles, correspondence, conference files, and lecture notes.
• Records of Women Strike for Peace

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