Introduction

The Saint Louis University Historical Scrapbooks formed part of the general historical University material that was housed in the St. Louis Room of the University Archives since the 1950s.  These scrapbooks were compiled by Jesuits and were probably maintained by the Jesuit librarians in a room near the old library in Du Bourg Hall until Pius XII Memorial Library was completed in 1959, when they were transferred to the St. Louis Room.

This collection consists of a total of 53 scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings, programs, tickets, letters, pamphlets, etc.  of significance to the University community, St. Louis locals, and the national Catholic culture.  Along with the University Historical Records, the Scrapbooks comprise the preponderance of primary sources for the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century history of the University.

Scope and Content Note

The Saint Louis University Historical Scrapbooks give evidence of the kinds of material deemed worthy of preservation by the early Jesuit educators at this institution.  The items in these volumes run the gamut from autograph and circular letters to ephemera such as newspaper clippings, programs, pamphlets, and souvenirs.  The collection contains items dating from 1831 to 1942, with the bulk of the material falling in the twentieth century.

The General Scrapbooks Series contains general material from 1831 to 1942 of University, local, or national Catholic significance.  Included here are articles on and programs for commencements, reports on talks delivered at the University by faculty or visitors, accounts of the activities of local religious notables, news of beatifications, missionary activity, social issues of interest to Catholics, etc.  The General Scrapbooks also contain newspaper clippings on sports that supplement the material in the Athletic Scrapbooks.  Indeed, the General Scrapbooks provide sports information for the period predating the beginning of the Athletic Scrapbooks in November of 1905.

The Athletic Scrapbooks Series consists of sports-related material dating from 1905 to 1937, with a major gap in coverage between 1913 and 1931 and smaller gaps for the years 1909 and 1912.  The first volume of the Athletic Scrapbooks also contains a large number of general items of the kind found in the General Scrapbooks.

The Jesuit Scrapbook Series is made up of a single volume covering the years 1898 to 1908.  It contains material relating to individual Jesuits and to events of interest to Jesuits.  Random items from 1884, 1895, 1916, and 1918 can also be found here.

During the 1950s the Library staff produced two kinds of finding aids to the Scrapbooks.  One consists of an inventory of the Scrapbooks accompanied by lists of their contents.  According to a procedural note on the collection, "notebooks contain the tables of contents, but can not be called indexes.  They give a key to what is in each [scrapbook] in the sequence in which it appears."  The procedural and explanatory note, along with the inventory and tables of contents from the notebooks, is appended at the end of this new finding aid.

The second point of access to the collection engineered by the early Library staff is a card catalogue, "an alphabetical key to the entire collection of items contained in the Scrapbooks."  Included in this catalogue are a newspaper photograph file as well as a "very small" first facts file, as explained in the appended matter.

The volumes in the General Scrapbooks Series have been completely inventoried and catalogued, as has the single Jesuit Scrapbook.  Of the 12 Athletic Scrapbooks, only the general material in Volume 1 has been inventoried and catalogued.  All scrapbooks have been microfilmed for patron use in order to protect the originals.

Series

This collection is divided into three series:

1. General Scrapbooks
2. Athletic Scrapbooks
3. Jesuit Scrapbook