Welcome to the Drexel University Archives
The Drexel University Archives collects, preserves, and shares the history of Drexel University, including records from administrative offices, academic departments, student groups, and the professional and personal papers of faculty, staff, and alumni/ae, as well as records about Anthony J. Drexel and his family.
The University Archives stewards institutional records and other physical and digital documents of enduring value related to the University’s history. This evidence supports scholarship, teaching, and life-long learning by Drexel faculty, students, staff, alumni/ae, and members of the public.
Learn more about the types of materials in our collections.
Visit the Drexel University Archives
The University Archives is open to everyone—Drexel students, faculty, and staff, outside researchers, and members of the community—regardless of institutional affiliation.
The University Archives' Reading Room is on the lower level of the W. W. Hagerty Library, located in the heart of Drexel's University City campus.
Click here to learn more about visiting the Reading Room.
Statements on Inclusivity & Harmful Content
Read the University Archives' complete statements on inclusivity and harmful content in archival collections.
The Drexel University Archives acknowledges that archival collections do not represent all groups equitably and that not everyone has the same access to archives. We endeavor to more fully and accurately represent all parts of Drexel’s history and to provide access to our collections to as many people as possible.
Archives are shaped by flawed decisions that archivists have made and by larger patterns of exclusion and marginalization throughout society. Some individuals and groups are unrepresented, underrepresented, or misrepresented in the archival record. Archival collections and descriptions of collections may contain harmful or offensive language. Although our collections are open to anyone, not everyone feels welcome. Addressing these realities is an ongoing process.
To make the Drexel University Archives more inclusive and ensure that our collections more fully and accurately represent all aspects of Drexel’s history, we:
- Seek to provide access to our collections in the broadest sense.
- Endeavor to make everyone feel welcome in the archives and provide our fullest support to researchers from any background.
- Aim to counteract gaps and silences in the archival record by making our collecting practices and the ways we describe collections more inclusive.
- Provide hands-on experience to students at different levels and from any background.
- Expand opportunities for Drexel students and others to engage with primary source materials and to become familiar with the principles of archival research and archival practice.
- Seek to work with groups that are currently underrepresented or misrepresented in our current collections, including past and current students, staff, and faculty.
- Collaborate with colleagues in the Philadelphia area and beyond to make archival collections and spaces, as well as the archival profession, accessible to people of all backgrounds.
Drexel University Archives is taking the following steps to address offensive language and content in our archival collections:
- Updating collection descriptions. Language that was considered acceptable by archivists in the past is sometimes no longer adequate or appropriate in the present. When we discover unacceptable language in collection descriptions, we will update them to remove any language that could harm researchers or that is offensive to the people being described.
- Flagging historical materials that contain offensive or harmful language or images. Some materials in collections may contain offensive language or imagery. In the interests of historical integrity, we are not removing these images or words from archival materials, but we will provide a note about these contents in the item’s description, so that researchers may decide for themselves if they wish to view the item knowing it has potentially harmful content.
- Retaining harmful language in collection descriptions when it has great historical value. Sometimes we retain offensive or harmful terms in collection descriptions for historical accuracy or to document the issues and social context of a specific time and the attitudes and opinions of the people who created the material. Some situations where this might occur include:
- Organization names that include outdated terms (for example, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
- An individual identifying themselves by a term that is no longer favored by people within that group
- Title or language from a published book, article, film, or song.
- Favoring terms used by the communities and individuals in our collections and using people-first language. When creating new descriptions and updating old ones, we strive to use terms that communities and individuals used to describe themselves. If that is unclear, we will use people-first language (describing a trait as something a person has rather than who they are—for example, “a person with diabetes” instead of “a diabetic”). However, we acknowledge that this practice is not universally preferred.
If you encounter any harmful or offensive language or content in Drexel University archival collections on this website, in our finding aids, or in our digitized collections, please contact us at archives@drexel.edu.