Archives & Special Collections

Archival finding aids typically include a detailed inventory, description, and historical context for each processed collection. Researchers can use this information to determine which collection is relevant to their research and to request specific materials from Archives & Special Collections staff. Refer to our Contact page for assistance. 

The story of the Stevens family in America stretches back to 1699 when John Stevens Sr. immigrated from England at the age of 17 to work as an indentured clerk for a New York City law office. The family would go on to achieve prominence in New Jersey politics and would play a significant role in the development of the town of Hoboken in New Jersey and the advancement of steam-powered transportation in the early ninteneeth century, particularly through the visionary research of Colonel John Stevens III (1749-1838) and his sons, Edwin A. Stevens (1795-1868) and Robert L. Stevens (1787-1856).

This collection contains materials written by and related to members of the Stevens family dating from 1699 to the later part of the twentieth-century. Materials exist in a variety of media including correspondence (original and photocopied), photographs, newspaper clippings, handwritten manuscripts, scrapbooks, subject file articles, pamphlets, general history articles, and oral history transcripts.

FINDING AID FOR STEVENS FAMILY COLLECTION (SCW.SC.002)

This collection largely consists of personal and professional writings, correspondence, typed and handwritten addresses and speeches, photographs, and personal ephemera related to the following Stevens presidents from 1870 to the present: Henry J. Morton (1870-1902), Alexander C. Humphreys (1902-1927), Harvey N. Davis (1928-1951), Jess H. Davis (1951-1972), Kenneth C. Rogers (1972-1987), Harold J. Raveché (1988-2010), and Nariman Farvardin (2010-present).

FINDING AID FOR PRESIDENTS OF STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (SCW.UA.005)

The materials in this collection were used for research and publication by the staff of The Stevens Indicator, the alumni magazine of Stevens Institute of Technology. The first issue of The Stevens Indicator was published in 1884 as a 12-page student newsletter to report on campus events, research, and alumni activity. Over time, the magazine became an instrument of the Stevens Alumni Association to help foster and sustain alumni engagement within the Stevens community.

The collection contains unique correspondence, photographs, and printed materials ranging from 1899 to 2008 and deal with a broad spectrum of Stevens Institute of Technology history, including its administration and staff, alumni, campus events, student organizations, research output, and items related to the Stevens family.

FINDING AID FOR THE STEVENS INDICATOR PHOTOGRAPHS & MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.020)

The Stevens Alumni Association was founded in 1876, shortly after the graduation of the first senior class. In 1906, the Association was officially incorporated with its own Board of Trustees with the aim to establish, maintain, and cultivate among its members a sentiment of regard for one another and of attachment to Stevens Institute of Technology and to promote in every way the interests of Stevens.

This collection contains a variety of bound volumes, photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, mailings, publications, scrapbooks, dinner menus, objects, banners, programs, and other ephemera created by or donated to the Stevens Alumni Association from 1876 to the present.

FINDING AID FOR THE STEVENS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION COLLECTION (SCW.UA.013)

This collection contains photographs, marketing materials, and other media produced by the Office of Public Relations spanning 1926-1979. The aim of the department, which underwent a number of name changes during this time frame, was to produce a number of public relations campaigns and materials intended to document various university activities and strengthen the academic reputation and media profile of Stevens in the eyes of the global community.

FINDING AID FOR OFFICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.007)

This collection primarily consists of photographs that document graduation ceremonies, fundraisers, building dedications, and other major university events produced by the Office of Advancement (formerly Development & University Communications and presently Development & Alumni Engagement) from 1981 to 2001.

FINDING AID FOR THE OFFICE OF ADVANCEMENT PHOTOGRAPHS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.010)

When Stevens was founded in 1870, it became the first school in the United States devoted to the study of mechanical engineering and its technological and scientific fundamentals. Dr. Henry Morton, the first president of Stevens, felt the student body should be given a broad academic foundation not only with the requisite grounding in mathematics, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, mechanical drawing, but also in the humanities and foreign languages. The addition of a liberal arts requirement on top of a broad-based engineering curriculum served to increase the professional reputation of mechanical engineering as a field of study learned both in the workshop and in the classroom.

This collections traces the history and development of the various academic departments at Stevens Institute of Technology from 1870 to the present and largely consists of textual correspondence, photographs, programs, press clippings, manuscripts, and bound reports.

FINDING AID FOR ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.014)

FINDING AID FOR RESEARCH CENTERS & LABORATORIES COLLECTION (SCW.UA.015)

FINDING AID FOR SPECIAL PROGRAMS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.016)

This collection contains photographs, pamphlets, and other materials related to the Commencement ceremonies at Stevens Institute of Technology dating from 1875 to the present, including documentation on each year’s honorary degree recipients.

FINDING AID FOR COMMENCEMENT COLLECTION (SCW.UA.002)

Despite its smaller size, Stevens has produced a long tradition of athletic excellence over the decades. Upon its founding in 1870, the administration believed that physical competition and sportsmanship was crucial in facilitating an “espirit de corps” in college life. Stevens was also one of the earliest schools to participate in inter-collegiate athletic competition during the 1870s and 1880s. Of particular note is the lacrosse program, which was started in 1885 and today holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating lacrosse program in the country.

This collection includes photographic and textual documentation on a number of co-educational sport programs at Stevens such as football, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, track, fencing, and others.

FINDING AID FOR STEVENS ATHLETICS COLLECTION (SCW.UA.012)

Alexander C. Humphreys, Sr. (1851-1927) was a notable scholar and educator who, following the death of Henry Morton, served as the second president of Stevens Institute of Technology from 1902 to 1927. Many additions to the campus were brought about during Humphrey’s tenure. From 1909-1911, Stevens purchased most of the Castle Point property in Hoboken, including Castle Stevens, the primary residence of the Stevens family since the 1850s. His administration also saw the creation of the school’s first athletic program, the development of student self-government, the introduction of Engineering Economics as a field of study, and the construction of the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, the Morton Memorial Laboratory of Chemistry, and William Hall Walker Gymnasium.

This collection includes photos, prints, photo albums, framed photos, personal and professional correspondence, pamphlets and programs, medals, and newspaper articles related to Humphrey’s personal and professional life.

FINDING AID FOR ALEXANDER C. HUMPHREYS, SR. COLLECTION

William Henry McLean was born in New York City on April 15, 1911. He attended the Collegiate School of New York City and went on to study at Stevens Institute of Technology graduating in 1931 with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. From Harvard University, he received a Masters of Science in 1933, Masters in Business Administration in 1934, and Doctor of Commercial Science in 1938. Throughout his education and for a short time after graduation, he taught at both Harvard University and Stevens Institute of Technology. From 1949-1954, he joined the Army in the Research and Development program of the Office of the Quartermaster General. After the war, Dr. McLean began a successful professional career in the corporate sector, but later returned to Stevens to become Assistant to the President, Dean of the College, and acting President and Trustee. In 1995, the McLean Chemical Sciences Building on the Stevens campus was named in his honor.

The materials in this collection were donated to Stevens by McClean’s widow, Vesta Tittmann Mclean in 2010.

FINDING AID FOR WILLIAM H. MCLEAN PAPERS (SCW.SC.003)

The Goodyear Aeronautical Department Collection contains numerous photographs and newspaper articles of airships, balloons, boats, and other products that were created by Goodyear. There are also operating manuals and blueprints for specific airships and balloons. Many of the newspaper articles feature stories about airships and boats that were used in battle and rescue situations. Many articles on the balloons feature stories of their participation in races both national and international. Photographs depict the numerous different types of airships, balloons, and boats that were created by Goodyear. Some of the photographs include early balloons used for the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, including the early Tony Sarg parade. The collection also contains advertisements for different types of boats that were designed by Goodyear and Firestone.

FINDING AID FOR THE GOODYEAR AERONAUTICAL DEPARTMENT COLLECTION (SCW.SC.004)

Theodore Boettger (b. 13 July 1876, d. 10 October 1975), a New Jersey industrialist and one-time resident of West Hoboken, New Jersey, was prominent in the development of major public works projects in New Jersey: the Holland Tunnel, the Camden-Delaware Bridge, and the Palisades Interstate Park. At the time of his death he lived in Hackensack, New Jersey, where he had lived for many years with his wife and four daughters. The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials related to Boettger’s public service activities rather than about his private life and interests. He was appointed as a member of the New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission by New Jersey Governor Edge in 1918, and served as its chairman from 1922 until he resigned in 1930. During that time he oversaw construction of the Holland Tunnel (1922-1927) and the Delaware River Bridge (1922-1926), later renamed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in 1956.

FINDING AID FOR THEODORE BOETTGER COLLECTION (SCW.SC.008)

In 1858 Charles William MacCord joined DeLamater Iron Works, NYC and became the Chief draftsman with Captain John Ericsson from 1859 to 1868. During this time MacCord drew at least 34 of the Monitor drawings. In 1868 MacCord became Chief draftsman for the Stevens Battery in Hoboken. By 1871 he was asked to organize and direct the Department of Mechanical Drawing at the newly-founded Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1906 Dr. MacCord was named Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Drawing. Dr. MacCord willed the drawings of the Monitor to Dr. Franklin DeRonde Furman, Dean of Stevens Institute of Technology and successor to Prof. MacCord as chairman of the Mechanical Drawing Department. In 1944 Dr. Furman’s widow presented the Monitor drawings to Stevens Institute of Technology.

The Monitor is most famous for her role in the world’s first naval battle between two ironclad warships. In the Battle of Hampton Roads, on March 9, 1862, the Monitor fought the ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly called the USS Merrimac) of the Confederate States Navy. Neither the Monitor nor the Virginia was the first of the world’s warships to be armored with metal, but both were among the first to have their potential capabilities tested in a naval battle. After their battle, the U.S. Navy cancelled all plans to build wooden warships. Today, the remains of the Monitor rest on the ocean floor off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where the ship sank in a storm on December 31, 1862. Discovered in 1973, the Monitor wreck site was designated the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS) and is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

FINDING AID FOR THE CHARLES MACCORD COLLECTION OF USS MONITOR DRAWINGS (SCW.SC.005)