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University of Arizona

University of Arizona History

The University of ArizonaLibraries, Special Collections specializes in documenting the history of the university from its founding to 1958.

Administrative Records

Miscellaneous Records of the University of Arizona Office of the Registrar (AZ 318)
Typescript statistics, directives, reports and lists relating to registration, examinations and grades of the students of the University of Arizona.

Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Regents (AZ 421)
Minutes of meetings November 1886 to May 1945; accompanied by supplementary material relating to meetings in 1925-1945.

Minutes of Meetings of the University of Arizona Faculty (AZ 501)

Contains typescript meeting minutes from University of Arizona faculty, 1891-1978

Faculty Senate Archive 

Digital Archive for Faculty Senate containing agendas, minutes, and attachments 

Presidents

The University of Arizona has been lead by 22 presidents, including four acting presidents. Each one has left a significant imprint on the University. Special Collections holds historical records pertaining to first 13 presidents, ending with James McCormick.  For records pertaining to more recent presidents, please connect with University of Arizona  Records Management.

Records of the Office of the President (AZ 076)
This collection contains correspondence and financial papers relating to the administration and management of the university. Correspondents include faculty, parents, and others.

University of Arizona Office of the President Records (AZ 427)
This Collection contains all of the surviving manuscript materials from the files of the first five Presidents of the University. There are, obviously and unfortunately, many missing letters and related documents, lost or destroyed before this assortment reached the Library. The user should remain aware of this fact.

University of Arizona Office of the President Records (AZ 426)
Correspondence and financial papers relating to the administration and management of the university including areas such as building and grounds, military matters, student health, land acquisitions, enrollment statistics, student publications, fraternities and sororities, scholarships and awards, WPA Federal Works Agency proposed projects, and other issues. Also includes material concerning World War II including Naval Training School, 1941-1946, the selective service system, and internment of Japanese Americans. Correspondents include U.S. Senators Henry F. Ashurst and Carl Hayden, and U.S. Representative John R. Murdock, Governors R.C. Stanford, Robert T. Jones, and Sidney P. Osborn, and various members of the Board of Regents, faculty and students.

University of Arizona Office of The President Records  (AZ 420)
Collection is arranged by president and covers Presidents von KleinSmid, Lockwood, Marvin, Cummings, Shantz, and Burgess.
Includes correspondence and financial papers relating to administration and management of areas such as building and grounds, faculty and student issues, military and R.O.T.C., land acquisitions, academic departments, requests for information, Federal relief programs of 1932-1937, external agencies and organizations, and other issues. Correspondents include Governors George W.P. Hunt, John C. Phillips, and Benjamin B. Moeur; various Board of Regents members, U.S. Veteran's Bureau, Arizona Historical Society, Arizona State Legislature, University faculty members, and others. Includes professional activity files of Homer L. Shantz. 

James Byron McCormick Inauguration Papers (AZ 325)
Papers are from the Offices of the President and Robert L. Nugent, Chairman of the Inauguration Committee and include typescript correspondence, photographs, printed programs, lists of delegates and guests, greetings from academics.

Inauguration of Homer LeRoy Shantz as President of the University of Arizona (AZ 048)
This collection pertains to the inauguration of Homer LeRoy Shantz as president of The University of Arizona in 1930. Materials include programs from the inauguration, and letters of congratulations from individuals, American and foreign institutions.

Additional Records Related to the Office of the President 

The following collections have documents relating to the Office of the President.

Papers of the the Agricultural Experiment Station (AZ 406)
Establishment of the University of Arizona and the Agricultural Experiment Station were interrelated. Frank A. Gulley was appointed Dean of the first School of Agriculture in 1890. Before the opening of the University in Fall 1891, Gulley selected faculty, oversaw building projects, and issued the first publications. While not formally designated "President" of the University, he carried out many of the activities and responsibilities of that office, and his papers will be found in the Experiment Station material. His counterpart in the School of Mines, Theodore B. Comstock, employed by Gulley in 1891, later became the fist official President of the University. This collection includes correspondence, financial records, and related materials concerning the establishment of the Station. They also includes material relating to furnishing the University of Arizona's Old Main building, the construction of other early University buildings, and the establishment of the first student military unit.