Special Collections & Archives
Library 460 | (415) 405-5549 | Staff & Librarian directory
Please note: The Special Collections & Archives Reading Room is closed until further notice. Staff and faculty remain actively engaged during this period to provide support for remote research and instruction. You are welcome to submit questions or requests via email to specialcollections@sfsu.edu. Please allow up to five days to respond to your email. Thank you for your patience.
The J. Paul Leonard Library's Special Collections & Archives contain a wealth of primary source material on a wide variety of topics. The collections include manuscripts, organizational records, personal papers, photographs, rare books, periodicals, audio-visual media, artwork, artifacts and ephemera. These collections support academic and personal scholarship on campus, in the wider community, and internationally. Adjacent to the Reading Room of Special Collections & Archives is the Special Collections Gallery.
Instruction
The faculty of Special Collections also offer instruction. Utilizing primary source materials, Library faculty can create course-specific asignments and lead customized classes to support primary source literacy. Faculty can request instruction through our Primary Source Instruction Request form.
Collections
Archer Collection of Historical Children’s Books
Labor Archives & Research Center
Mae Durham Roger Children’s Book Collection
Digital Collections
ScholarWorks (Masters Theses and more)
J Paul Leonard Library content in external systems:
News, Exhibits & Events
| Item | Collection | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Labor Archives and Research Center 35th Anniversary Program | LARC |
This Virtual Program is Free and Open to Public. February 26th | 6:00pm - 7:15pm |
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Labor Archives and Research Center Annual Program | LARC |
Gordon Chang will discuss the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Musical performance by Francis Wong. |
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5B: AIDS Ward Film Screening | LARC |
Inspirational story of the nurses in the first HIV/AIDS ward unit in the United States at San Francisco General Hospital. |
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San Francisco Archives Crawl 2019 | Special Collections, LARC |
Join San Francisco archival repositories for San Francisco’s third Archives Crawl in celebration of American Archives Month in October. |
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Women Out in Front: How the Community Freed Los Siete de la Raza | Special Collections, BATV |
In May 1969, seven young Latinos from the Mission district were charged with murdering a San Francisco police officer. They became known as Los Siete de la Raza. Hear from the activists who led the fight to free them. |