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Archiving Student Organizations

This guide will assist CMU Student Organizations in collecting, organizing, and archiving their records.

What to share

What to donate:

  • Photographs, audio and video recordings
  • Meeting minutes, agendas, and reports
  • Annual reports
  • Membership lists
  • Publicity materials: posters, fliers, brochures, newsletters, and event programs
  • Materials related to activities, events, initiatives, and community projects
  • Scrapbooks and photo albums
  • Correspondence and memoranda
  • Organizational histories
  • Personal narratives : oral histories, personal essays, and interviews
  • Websites
  • Social Media
  • Merch: t-shirts, buttons, stickers, etc.

 

What NOT to donate:

  • Plaques, trophies, and metals
  • Blank forms
  • Duplicate materials (keep two copies of the original and any annotated copies)
  • Bank statements, receipts, cancelled checks

 

Items donated will be rehoused in the University Archives and made available to the public. If you are concerned about personal identifying information or other privacy issues, you can discuss this with the Archivist. While some limited restrictions can be placed, the goal of the archive is to make our collections accessible to the public and donated items cannot be permanently restricted.

Contact Crystal Johnson Community Collection Processing Archivist,  to learn more about donating materials to the University Archives.

Activism and Advocacy at CMU

The University Archives are interested in documenting the history of activism and social movements at CMU. If you've participated in protests, demonstrations, or campaigns we'd love to hear from you. 

What we're looking for:

  • Social Movements:
    • Civil rights
    • Racial Justice
    • LGBTQAI rights
    • Women's equality and liberation
    • Disability rights
    • War protests
    • Labor issues and worker's rights
    • Academic freedom and free speech
    • Environmental 

 

  • Materials:
    • photographs
    • videos
    • fliers, posters*
    • calls for action
    • journal entries, personal essays
    • blog posts, social media posts

 

Items donated will be rehoused in the University Archives and made available to the public. If you are concerned about personal identifying information or other privacy issues make sure to discuss this with an Archivist. 

*Protest posters can be tricky for the archive to store due to their unique size and materials. Consider submitting a photograph of your sign.