Digital Collections

The Archives and Special Collections is pleased to offer select items from its collections online. We will continue to develop our digital collections and make them more widely available to the public. Please visit our digital collections in the following areas:

Rare Books

South Netherlands Book of Hours
This ca. 1450 illuminated manuscript is attributed to the Utrecht school and the Dutch translation of Gerd de Groot. Handwritten and decorated on vellum, this type of religious work was commissioned by a family for home devotional use. This item is the oldest "book" owned by the library. It was completely scanned and made available as part of Lehigh University's Digital Library of Illuminated Manuscripts.

Manuscript Collections

Reynolds Family Papers
Portions of the Reynolds Family Papers, particularly those of Civil War general John Fulton Reynolds and Admiral William Reynolds were digitized in 2003 with the support of a 2002 NETShare grant award. The award program is an extention of the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), and is administered in Pennsylvania through the Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

George McIlvain 1835 Diary
George McIlvain's personal diary of trip, accompanied by his mother Mary Porter McIlvain, along Pennsylvania Canal (and other waterways) from Williamstown, Lancaster County, PA to Paoli Indiana, April 8 to May 30, 1835. Diary contains itinerary, expenses, and observations. Diary is part of larger Muench Family papers collection. George Duffield McIlvain was born on February 22, 1811 in Lancaster County, PA the son of Robert McIlvain and Mary Porter (b. 1765?). He married Caroline Margaret Slaymaker on November 21, 1837. Their son Robert Porter McIlvaine was born January 12, 1839, died 1918. George ran a limestone quarry and lime kiln in Paradise Township, Lancaster County from about 1832 until he died on February 24, 1857.

Pennsylvania German Fraktur Collection
A component of the Unger-Bassler German-American Imprint Collection, this collection contains fine examples of printed and handcolored taufscheins (birth and baptismal certificates), vorshrifts (writing examples), haus segens (house blessings), bucherzeichen (book plates), and drawings created by Pennsylvania Germans.

Pennsylvania German Broadside Collection
A component of the Unger-Bassler German American Imprint Collection, this collection contains fine examples of printed broadsides designed and distributed among Pennsylvania Germans. (in progress)

College Archives

Franklin and Marshall College Student Newspaper, 1873-2001
Search 116 years of the F&M student newspaper - College Days (1873-1879); F&M Weekly (1891-1915); Student Weekly (1915-1964); College Reporter (1964-2001).

Franklin and Marshall College Student Honors Theses
F&M student honors theses from 2005 to 2009.

Franklin and Marshall College Alumni Magazine
Searchable pdf full-text of F&M's Alumni magazines Franklin and Marshall Alumnus, F&M Today, F&M News, and Franklin and Marshall College Magazine, 1924-1999. (in progress)

College and Academy Photo Albums
Several photographic albums of the College and F&M Academy have been digitized and are available.

  • Views of Franklin and Marshall College, 1892 (PDF)
  • F&M Photographs, 1902 (PDF)
  • Views of Franklin and Marshall College, 1906 (PDF)
  • Views Franklin and Marshall Academy, 1913 (PDF)
  • Views Franklin and Marshall Academy, 1914 (PDF)

    Franklin and Marshall College Founding Documents Online
    A selection of important documents relating to the founding of Franklin College, 1787; Marshall College, 1836 and Franklin and Marshall College, 1853. Includes charters, financial documents, deeds, correspondence and other items.

    Franklin and Marshall College Film Footage
    A selection of streaming video clips is available for viewing online. The clips are taken from the earliest College films dating from 1926-1950 and depict various campus events.

    Digital Cooperatives

    Lancaster County Digitization Project - LCDP
    F&M is proud to be a founding member of the Lancaster County Digitization Project. Formed in the spring of 2004, LCDP is a county-wide consortium of cultural institutions interested in digitizing Lancaster county newspaper and manuscript collections.




    All items posted here are intended for non-commercial, scholarly research purposes only and some may be copyright of Franklin and Marshall College. Permission may be required for use.

    updated 10/07/09cmr