Ask an Archivist
General questions about the Holy Cross Archives and Distinctive Collections can either be submitted through the Ask an Archivist Form, or by emailing archives@holycross.edu.
Archives & Distinctive Collections
Uncover the College’s history through the wide range of materials preserved in our College Archives, Rare Books Collections, Special Collections and Digital Exhibits.
We work to preserve the College's history, foster a scholarly research environment and acquire items reflective of our diverse academic community. We seek to make these materials as accessible as possible through an active instruction program, scholarly collaborations, robust online repositories, digitization and exhibitions.
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Explore Digital Collections
The College Archives & Distinctive Collections maintains a wide variety of physical and digital materials.
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CrossWorks
CrossWorks is an open access repository, provided as a service from the College, that collects, preserves and provides access to the intellectual, creative and scholarly work of the Holy Cross community as well as to the unique materials of the Archives and Special Collections. Faculty, students and staff are all invited to investigate opportunities for long-term preservation and electronic access of their work.
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Holy Cross Course Catalogs
This collection includes digitized volumes of the Holy Cross Course Catalog from 1852 to 2017. Physical copies can be found in the Holy Cross Archives. These include information about the College's courses, fee structures, course and concentration descriptions as well as lists on students, faculty, administrators and staff, and members of the Board of Trustees.
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The Purple Patcher
This collection includes digitized volumes of The Purple Patcher, Holy Cross's student yearbook. Beginning in 1907, with a brief hiatus during World War II, The Purple Patcher provides a detailed description of life on campus. Physical copies can be found in the Holy Cross Archives. The Holy Cross Archives is in the process of digitizing the Purple Patcher to make it available online.
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The Crest
This collection includes digitized volumes of The Crest Yearbook , a yearbook published by the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) during World War II. It replaced the Purple Patcher as the College's yearbook from 1945-1946 because there were few civilian students present on campus. Physical copies can be found in the Holy Cross Archives.
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Student Newspapers
This collection includes digitized volumes of the Holy Cross student newspapers, which was established in February of 1925. Originally called the Tomahawk, the name was changed to the Crusader in January of 1955. The name was changed once again in 2018, to The Spire. The College of the Holy Cross Archives and Special Collections is currently digitizing the Crusader in order to make it available online.
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The James Michael Curley Scrapbook Collection
The James Michael Curley Scrapbook Collection consists of selected digitized microfilmed copies of scrapbooks kept by Curley from 1914-1937. These scrapbooks contain news clippings that were assembled primarily from Boston newspapers. The entire collection consists of 649 volumes of which 222 were microfilmed in 1962. These were digitized in 2013. The original scrapbooks are located in the Archives and Special Collection department of the College of the Holy Cross.
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Patrick Guiney Letters
Patrick Guiney was born in Ireland in 1835 and immigrated to the United States, settling in Maine. He attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts for one year. In 1859, Guiney married Jeannette "Jennie" Margaret Doyle, with whom he had two children. When the Civil War began he enlisted as a private with the 9th Massachusetts Volunteers. During the war, Col. Guiney wrote a series of letters to his wife Jennie, dating from June 4, 1861 to April 7, 1864. The original letters are currently located in the Distinctive Collections of Dinand Library at the College of the Holy Cross and are available to researchers.
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The Ninth Infantry Division Association Records
The 9th Infantry Division is an inactive infantry division of the United States Army. It was formed as the 9th Division during World War I and was primarily active during World War II and Vietnam. The records of the Ninth Infantry Division Association, an association formed by members of the 9th Infantry and their families are housed in the College of the Holy Cross Archives. Their newsletter, The Octofoil, has been digitized and can be accessed through Crossworks. Physical copies can be accessed in the College Archives.
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Deaf Catholic Archives
The Deaf Catholic Archives (DCA) provides insight into the history of Deaf culture as well as an understanding of how Deaf Catholics practice their faith (culturally) in new ways, when traditional methods are insufficient. Digitization of key components of the Deaf Catholic Archives was completed in 2024 and was supported by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Explore Web Exhibits
Explore a day in the life of students at the College of the Holy Cross from Spring 1940 to Spring 1941.
Get a glimpse of what student life was like during the beginning of World War II.
Learn about members of the Holy Cross community who served in World War II and other campus events.
This exhibit tells the story of the beginning of co-education at Holy Cross from 1967, when women attended classes during Co-Ed Day, to 1976, when the first fully co-educational class walked across the stage at commencement. The stories of these early women Crusaders are told through videos, news clippings, photographs and other archival materials drawn from the Holy Cross Archives and Distinctive Collections.
This timeline captures milestones in co-education from 1967, when the first Co-Ed Days were held, to the present. Photographs and other archival materials drawn from the Holy Cross Archives and Distinctive Collections are used to illustrate these important moments.
The following is a digital interactive recreation of a physical exhibit that was displayed in Hogan Campus Center in March 2019. It was created by Stephanie Yuhl, PhD, Nora Grimes '19, Emma Powell '20 and Matthew Picarillo '26.
Learn more about the history of the iconic Fenwick Hall told through the holdings of Archives and Distinctive Collections.
Visit the Archives
The Holy Cross Archives are located on the third floor of Dinand Library. The elevator is located to the left of the stairs.
Research Appointments
Appointments are encouraged but not required during our open hours for current HC faculty, staff or students. Morning hours are available by appointment only. Appointments may be requested by emailing archives@holycross.edu with at least 24 hours in advance. Please include information about the materials you wish to use in your email.
Public researchers are required to schedule an appointment to visit the Archives, regardless of whether it is morning (appointment only) or afternoon/evening (open for drop in). A public researcher is defined as anyone who is not a current HC faculty, staff or student.
Reading Room Policies
The College of the Holy Cross Archives and Distinctive Collections has a responsibility to maintain all material entrusted to its care in good condition. All researchers must comply with the Reading Room Usage guidelines.
Do you have items or materials to donate to the Archives?
Please review our policies and contact the Archives.
Contact the Archives
Location
Dinand Library, Third Floor
archives@holycross.edu
Deaf Catholic Archives: deafcatholicarchives@holycross.edu
CrossWorks: crossworks@holycross.edu
archives@holycross.edu
Deaf Catholic Archives: deafcatholicarchives@holycross.edu
CrossWorks: crossworks@holycross.edu
Phone
Office Hours
Monday - Tuesday
1 pm - 4 pm; 6 pm - 9 pm
Wednesday - Friday
1 pm - 4 pm
Contact the Archivists
| Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Abby Stambach, Head of Archives and Distinctive Collections | astambac@holycross.edu | (508) 793-2506 |
| Rev. Joseph Bruce, S.J., Curator of the Deaf Catholic Archives | jbruce@holycross.edu | |
| Sarah Campbell, Archivist | scampbel@holycross.edu | (508) 793-2575 |
| Rachel Green, Digital Collections Specialist | ragreen1@holycross.edu | (508) 793-2522 |
| Lenora Robinson, Digital Initiatives Archivist | lrobinso@holycross.edu | (508) 793-3509 |
| Lisa Villa '90, Public Services and Engagement Archivist | lvilla@holycross.edu | (508) 793-2642 |