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General Special Collections

Main Special Collections contains over 69,000 rare books. Each of these volumes deal with Mississippi in some way: they are written by Mississippians; and are about Mississippi, etc. We collect Mississippi authors in every conceivable language: books on Mississippi history and culture and books related to the University of Mississippi. Besides our rare book collection we have over 800 manuscript collections. These manuscript collections contain manuscripts of several sorts: literary; civil war; civil rights; family histories; business history, etc.

We are perhaps best known for our literary collections, the crown jewel of those is William Faulkner’s “Rowan Oak Papers.” Discovered in a broom closet at Faulkner’s home, the “Rowan Oak Papers” are one of the greatest finds of modern literary manuscripts. They contain several thousand sheets of autograph and typescript drafts of poems, short stories, film scripts, and novels written by Faulkner in some of his most creative years, between 1925 and 1939. We also have the literary collections of several other Mississippi authors: Larry Brown, Willie Morris, Barry Hannah, Ellen Douglas, Beth Henley, and others.

The purpose of Traditional Special Collections is to acquire, conserve, and make accessible rare books, manuscripts, ephemera, all dealing with Mississippi.

Not all audio formats found in General Special Collections can be played by researchers. Some audio is found on open reel audio tape or other fragile formats that might be the only known copy. In some cases, these have been digitized and researchers can listen to a digital access copy. Items not yet transferred are in a digitization queue. Because of physical condition, some materials require extraordinary intervention and specialized equipment to be digitized. These processes are often time consuming and expensive.

Archives & Special Collections: Research Tool 

 

Modern Political Archives

Collecting Policy for Modern Political Archives

Modern Political Archives seeks to acquire, preserve, and encourage research in private papers documenting Mississippians and their government at both the national and state levels. Collecting parameters include the records of Mississippi’s congressional delegation, members of the state legislature, Mississippi political parties, political journalists and editorial cartoonists, voter registration and voter education organizations, government oversight groups, lobbyists or lobby associations, and individuals or organizations having a significant impact on the federal or state government. In addition to manuscripts, these collections may include books, photographs, negatives, slides, audio and visual recordings, electronic records, and ephemera. 

Restriction Policy for Modern Political Archives

The Modern Political Archives is committed to making research materials available to users on equal terms of access. However, equal access does not imply that all materials are open for use by researchers.

The Modern Political Archives restricts access to unprocessed collection. Researchers interested in collections closed due to their unprocessed condition are encouraged to contact the archivist to indicate interest. Such petitions may play a factor in prioritizing the collection processing order.

The Modern Political Archives abides by restrictions imposed by donors in order to encourage the gift of historical materials which might otherwise be destroyed. On the other hand, the archives will not accept restricted collections without a clearly defined deadline for opening the records to research.

The Modern Political Archives may unilaterally impose restrictions on the following record types typically found in the papers of Members of Congress:

  • Classified Materials
  • Official Committee Records
  • Case Files

Classified Materials:
Archivists will send any federal documents or other media clearly marked as classified to the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives for review. Once declassified, these items will return to the collection.

Official Committee Records:
The U.S. Congress retains ownership of all its official committee records. Archivists will make copies for the collection and send the originals to the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives. As for the copies, the Modern Political Archives will abide by Senate and House rules regarding restricted access to official committee records: House committee records will remain closed for 30 years; Senate investigation committee records for 50 years; and all other Senate committee records will open after 20 years.

Case Files:
Congressional offices create case files when constituents and other individuals seek the assistance of Congress members in negotiating a benefit, ruling, or reimbursement for personal gain from the federal government (and occasionally from state governments and private businesses). These files typically contain data such as Social Security numbers, military service records, or detailed medical and financial information. To prevent an invasion of privacy, the archives will restrict access to case files for 75 years after the last dated document in each file. Developed in consultation with actuarial tables, this time span is consistent with other repositories, such as the National Archives. With proof of identity, individuals may access their own file prior to that release date. In addition, researchers may request the files of those individuals that are deceased.

For more information about policies and procedures for visual requests please contact archivesdept@olemiss.edu.

 

Research Tips

Below are a list of tips to assist patrons in using resources within of the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi.

Catalog

The University of Mississippi catalog is the first place to check for information about our holdings. For printed and other resources, the online catalog of the University of Mississippi may be consulted.

  • Advanced Search Option: Choosing the “advanced search” option, researchers can limit the catalog search by location to “Special Collections” or “Special Collections — Blues.” Most volumes will reflect the department’s collection focus on Mississippi, the Blues, and the University of Mississippi; however, the repository also holds a number of rare volumes in other areas.

Archival Finding Aids

More detailed records for manuscript and special collections are often available in archival finding aids (both linked to the catalog record and searchable separately). These finding aids are online descriptive tools which serve as the primary point of intellectual access to archival collections in archives and manuscript repositories. You can browse or search these extensive guides to over 600 collections. Please note that archival finding aids have been created for only a small subset of our collections.

Subject Guides

May provide helpful direction if you are beginning a research project. Please note that these guides provide highlights, not comprehensive lists.

Ask Special Collections

Please note that the Department of Archives & Special Collections also maintains a legacy card catalog and files that might be useful for further identifying resources. Library staff can assist patrons in the use of these files.

Adapted from Duke University Library. Finding Materials. [Updated 25 February 2009; cited 5 October 2009].

Modern Political Archives Research Tips & Tools