M001 Fort Lewis College archives
Record Groups back to top
Collection Summary back to top
| Title | Fort Lewis College archives |
| Dates (Inclusive) | 1891-present |
| Dates (Bulk) | 1911-present |
| Creator | various departments and employees of Fort Lewis College |
| Abstract | This collection consists of records of the college that have been determined to be permanently valuable due to their long-term administrative, financial, legal and/or historical significance. |
| Unique ID | M001 |
| Quantity | more than 400 linear shelf feet and growing |
Historical Note back to top
A memo in Daniel Black's Business Office records dated April 21, 1964 (the year of the founding of the Center of Southwest Studies) describes what is probably the first accession to the College Archives collection. He informed President John F. Reed that:
"We have accumulated a large volume consisting of several pickup loads of material relating to the old records of Fort Lewis College going back to the year 1911 and some very incomplete data going back into the 1880s. At the present time this material is stored in the maintenance shops here on the Durango campus and in the library at the Hesperus campus. ...I feel that it is...extremely important that we get this material in one room and under the control and supervision of Dr. Delaney so that he can make methodical and systematical use of it."
Archival organization of the College Archives began in the fall of 1991 (the centennial of the closing of the original U.S. military post, Fort Lewis) with the hiring of Todd Ellison as the College's first archivist. History professor Duane Smith in particular had already contributed a great deal to the growth of the holdings, and had become the most familiar with them while conducting the research for his history Sacred Trust: The Birth and Development of Fort Lewis College, published in 1991 as an update to Dr. Delaney's pioneering history, Blue Coats, Red Skins, & Black Gowns: 100 Years of Fort Lewis in 1977.
Until the fall of 1993, when the College leased space off-campus, the College's archives were crammed into file cabinets in a former janitor's closet under a stairway in the basement of Reed Library. Today, the Center occupies a purpose-designed facility that is part of the Southwest cultural complex on the north end of campus. The Center of Southwest Studies building includes state of the art collections exhibit, storage, conservation and research areas, along with classrooms and offices of the departments of Southwest Studies, Native American Indigenous Studies, Anthropology and the Office of Community Services.
Arrangement back to top
Like the institution, the College Archives are fluid, designed to grow and to absorb change. This finding aid is updated continuously as records new record groups and series are created and/or departments on campus are re-arranged to reflect, as much as possible, the present-day organizational structure of Fort Lewis College.
Record groups, are numbered consecutively. The lower levels of organization are - within some record groups - lettered sub-groups (which are arranged alphabetically in such record groups as student activities, academic departments and educational support where no hierarchical ordering is obvious).
The next level of the organizational scheme are the series. Series (e.g., minutes, memoranda and correspondence, and reports) are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest, or from most general to most specific. Arrangement of the materials within series and within each folder is chronological, unless stated otherwise.
Box numbers resume with 1 in each series. While box numbers exist for many series, some series do not have assigned box numbers due to rapid growth.
For the most part, the finding aid does not describe the arrangement or content of individual items, as the College Archives collection continues to grow exponentially.
Scope & Contents back to top
This collection consists of Fort Lewis College records that have been determined to be permanently valuable due to their long-term administrative, financial, legal and/or historical significance. The finding aid also serves as a planning document by listing the categories of records generally sought for the College Archives. Unlike most of the Center's finding aids, this guide is prescriptive, rather than descriptive: not all of the series we have identified for inclusion among the institution's permanent records actually exist in the archives, but have been included in the finding aid for arrangement of incoming future records accessions.
Please see the College Archives Policy for further information on the Center's legal authority to collect, preserve, and disseminate records associated with Fort Lewis College.
Restrictions back to top
Access. The majority of this collection is open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies Certain series, such as personnel files, are accessible only by the creating campus department of those records. Specific series, such as academic dishonesty records, are sealed and can only be opened by request of legal council. Any access restrictions are noted in the finding aid per series.
Use and Copyright. These materials are for use only in the Delaney Southwest Research Library; they are noncirculating. Limited duplication of print materials is allowed for research purposes. The user assumes full responsibility for observing all applicable laws regarding copyright, property rights, and libel.
Preferred Citation back to top
Fort Lewis College archives, Fort Lewis College. Center of Southwest Studies.
Processing Info back to top
This inventory was prepared by the Fort Lewis College archivist. Multiple Fort Lewis College student workers and interns have assisted in its arrangement and description.
Acquisition Info back to top
A memo in Daniel Black's Business Office records dated April 21, 1964 (the year of the founding of the Center of Southwest Studies) describes what is probably the first accession to the College Archives collection. He informed President John F. Reed that:
"We have accumulated a large volume consisting of several pickup loads of material relating to the old records of Fort Lewis College going back to the year 1911 and some very incomplete data going back into the 1880s. At the present time this material is stored in the maintenance shops here on the Durango campus and in the library at the Hesperus campus. ...I feel that it is...extremely important that we get this material in one room and under the control and supervision of Dr. Delaney so that he can make methodical and systematical use of it."
These records were assigned accession number 1964:10020. Associating the various composite materials of the College Archives with accession numbers is our means of tracking the records through their life cycle, and is useful to the researchers who need to know which office maintained and collected a given set of records. The Center of Southwest Studies archives staff has assigned hundreds of accession numbers to materials that constitute the Fort Lewis College Archives.
Archival organization of the College Archives began in the fall of 1991 (the centennial of the closing of the original U.S. military post, Fort Lewis) with the hiring of Todd Ellison as the College's first archivist. Departments and individuals across campus continue to send records for inclusion in the College Archives, most notabley history professor Duane Smith.
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