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The Towson University Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) holds material in five primary collecting areas: Towson University history, Jewish Studies, Performing Arts, World War II, and the History of Education in Maryland.

Asian Arts & Culture Center Art Collection

Established in 1971, this collection includes historic and contemporary art objects from China, Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, Tibet, and other Asian countries.

Commencement Programs

The collection includes commencement ceremony programs from 1866-1987. The programs feature names of graduates; principals and presidents; notable speakers; along with other information.

Course Catalogs

The catalogs and bulletins are from 1866 to the present. Earlier catalogs also list each year’s graduates, faculty and staff, and historical information.

Historic Clothing Collection

This collection contains of clothing for men, women, and children that date back to the early- to mid-1800s. The collection numbers in excess of 1,000 items and is housed in the Towson University Center for the Arts building under the care of Cheryl Partridge, Costume Shop Manager.

Ideations of Potential

Shodekeh's Innovation Lab of Embodied Scholarship & Hip Hop Imagination

Baltimore-based musician Shodekeh Talifero documents his life's journey and artistic process in this first living archive of a professional beatboxer. This collection celebrates vocal percussion, breath art, Hip Hop, dance, and more.

 

The Lena C. Van Bibber Collection of Cuneiform Clay Tablets

The collection consists of three tablets from the ancient sites of Drehem and Umma in Mesopotamia, dating to about 2400-2100 B.C.E.

Leon Bloomberg papers

[coming soon]

A collection of letters from Jewish-American infantryman Leon Bloomberg to his wife, Esther Bloomberg. Written during the end of World War II, September 1944 to February 1946.

Louis Rosenthal Miniature Sculpture Collection

The collection consists of miniature bronze sculptures with historical, mythological, biblical, satirical, or whimsical themes created by Louis Rosenthal.

Photographs Collection

Over 12,000 photographic prints, slides, and negatives documenting nearly all facets of campus life from 1881 through 2010.

Paul H. Gantt Nuremberg Trial Papers

The Paul H. Gantt Nuremberg Trial Papers contain bound volumes of Gantt's working papers and a series of photographs related to the Nuremberg trials which took place in occupied Germany.

Resident and New Student Handbooks

Historic orientation handbooks for resident students and new students.

Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Collection for Public Leadership Studies

The Ehrlich collection contains materials covering Ehrlich's service in public office as Congressman in the House of Representatives and as Governor of Maryland.

Student Newspapers

Complete run of the student newspaper (The Oriole, now The Towerlight), starting with the first issue in 1922.

Teacher Education Oral History Project

The interviews are personal accounts of participants’ experiences at Towson University and their careers in education.

Theses and Dissertations

Towson University's Graduate Theses and Dissertations from 2008 to the present, available online as part of the Maryland Shared Open Access Repository (MD SOAR) website.

Towson University Retired Faculty Association Oral History Project

Interviews undertaken by the Towson University Retired Faculty Association to discuss the life and career of retired faculty members.

Website Collections

Web collections feature preserved, internet-based materials related to Towson University, such as websites, YouTube videos, and social media. These collections focus on the recent history of the school, from 2017 to the present, and are available online from Archive-It.

Yearbooks

The institutional yearbooks from 1919 to 2009. Each offers a retrospective of the academic year including photographs of the life on campus.

Learn about Towson University's History

Presidents, principals, and important figures.