Special Collections Research Center

University Archives Photograph Collection

Unknown person performing tests with electricity, 1950s or 1960s.

Recognize this photo?

We need your help
in identifying this
and other images.

Online access to selected images.

The University Archives Photograph Collection offers a rich visual record of the history of North Carolina State University from its opening in 1889 to the present. The collection contains more than 275,000 photographic prints, negatives, slides, and postcards, and it covers a wide range of subjects related to the growth and development of N.C. State University and its service to the North Carolina community.

The collection depicts administrators, faculty, students, alumni, and noteworthy visitors; campus facilities, buildings, and views; athletics; military training and service; research, events, activities, organizations, students, and campus life in general. A significant part of the collection highlights North Carolina's agrarian history and rural sociology through the university's involvement in Agricultural Extension and Research services, including Home Demonstration work and 4-H Youth Development.

YMCA Southern Student Conference, ca. 1919

Group portrait of Southern Student Conference attendees, including the North Carolina State College delegation, at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, ca. 1919.

Most of the photographs were taken by professional, amateur, and student photographers working for various departments at N.C. State, including the Visual Aids Department, Office of Information Services, Agricultural Extension Service, and student publications (primarily the Agromeck and Technician). Photographers represented by numerous photographs include Ralph Mills, John Mattox, Landis Bennett, and Burnie Batchelor. Other contributors include government agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Army, and local newspapers, such as The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun.

The University Archives Photograph Collection is one of the most frequently used collections in Special Collections Research Center. Selected images in the collection are being made accessible online through one of the Special Collection Research Center's digital projects.

North Carolina poultry club members Carl and Richard Lutz with their Rhode Island Reds, 1923.

To meet the challenge of providing online access to these unique resources, the NCSU Libraries has acquired Luna Imaging's Insight software. The images that are being selected must be prepared for digitization. For more information, please see the Preparation of Photographs for Digitization page.

Staff have discovered that identifying information is lacking for of the photographs. The NC State community is asked to help describe the subjects of certain images in the collection. Please see the "Recognize this photo?" section above to view a selection of unidentified images. Making the library's "shoebox" more accessible is a massive undertaking, but the end result will students, faculty, alumni, and scholars.

List of Photographic Holdings