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Purdue University College of Liberal Arts records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA 90

Scope and Contents

This collection contains administrative documents from the College of Liberal Arts as well as records from individual departments and programs within the college.

Dates

  • Creation: 1925 - 2019

Creator

Access Information

This collection is open for research.

Copyright and Use Information

Copyright held by Purdue University. Consult with Purdue University Archives and Special Collections prior to reproduction of materials

Historical Information

The Purdue University College of Liberal Arts first started as specific courses in communication, social sciences, and humanities, which later grew into departments within the School of Science. Then, it became the School of Science, Education, and Humanities (SEH) after these departments grew further.

Later, it was renamed to the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) when it split from the School of Science in 1963 to become its own "school". Within a decade, it had become the second largest school at Purdue, after Engineering. It was also during the 1960s that graduate and interdisciplinary programs were established, including women's studies and African American studies.

In 1989, the School of Education split from the School of HSSE to become its own entity, and another name change was required. The name chosen was the School of Liberal Arts, submitted by Ralph Webb, a professor of communication. In 2004, the School of Liberal Arts, along with six other schools, were renamed from "Schools" to "Colleges." As of 2024, the College of Liberal Arts had 11 academic departments and 14 interdisciplinary programs.

Extent

5.10 Cubic Feet (One cubic foot box, three full-width letter-size manuscript boxes, one full-width legal-size manuscript box, and two flat boxes.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into two series by creator.

  1. Administration
  2. Department records

Acquisition Information

A portion of these records were transferred from the College of Liberal Arts in 2014. The majority were donated by Joan Marshall and Emily Strudeman in 2016.

Separated Materials

The following items were removed from the collection: Theatre records, Joan Marshall collection, Council on the Status of Women materials (moved to MSP 49), Graduate Council minutes (1996-2001), University Senate minutes (2015), an undergraduate student retention report (1993-1994), Honors College theses, Runkel PhD thesis, photographs of homecoming lawn displays, photos of courdoroy pants, photos of Purdue landscapes, a newspaper clipping about a giant mushroom, and various patriotic materials from the 1950s.

Processing Information

All materials have been housed in acid-free folders and acid-free boxes.

  • Duplicates of collection material were deaccessioned.
Title
Purdue University College of Liberal Arts records
Status
In Progress
Author
Sarah Kenny
Date
2019-04-12
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English
Edition statement
First edition.

Revision Statements

  • 2019-05-05: Collection was rehoused in archival folders and boxes by Sarah Kenny.
  • 2020-05-14: Collection description updated by Adelle Rogers.
  • 2023-11-06: Added and linked websites from Archive-It to finding aid - Ben Parnin
  • 2024-01-30: Historical Information note was updated to reflect entire collection by Emily Jones.

Repository Details

Part of the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
504 Mitch Daniels Boulevard
West Lafayette Indiana 47907 United States
765-494-2839