Friesner Herbarium Collection
The Friesner Herbarium Digital Collection contains images of plant specimens from the Butler University Friesner Herbarium which began as the personal collection of Dr. Ray C. Friesner, Professor and Chair of the Botany Department (1920–1952). The digital collection includes more than 43,000 images of specimens collected in Indiana from the 1870s to the present day.
Jordan College of the Arts Collection
Butler University’s Jordan College of the Arts Collection currently contains a selection of School of Music programs from performances which took place during the 2018-2019 academic year as well as productions from the Department of Theatre over a 75 year period. We are continuing to add items as time permits.
Jordan Conservatory of Music Yearbooks
A predecessor school of Butler University’s Jordan College of Fine Arts, the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music was established in 1928 when Arthur Jordan purchased and combined the Metropolitan School of Music and the Indiana College of Music of Fine Arts. The 1941-1951 volumes of Opus, the student yearbook of the Conservatory, are available online.
Sigma Gamma Rho Collection
The Sigma Gamma Rho Collection is a digital collection created in partnership between Butler University Libraries and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and its members to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Sorority’s founding at Butler University in 1922. The collection contains materials documenting nearly a century of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s history, predominately from 1946 through 2014.
Ovid Butler Letter Collection
This collection will eventually contain all of the letters written by Ovid Butler from 1862 to 1866. These letters are bound in a letterbook which is in the Butler University Archives. Letterbooks were used to keep copies of letters written to and from individuals or businesses as a way to keep track of their correspondence. The letters discuss family life, Scott Butler’s service in the Civil War, business dealings, land holdings, taxes and more. The last few pages contain an index of the letter recipients in reverse alphabetical order.
Eliza Blaker Collection
This collection includes photographs and speeches relating to the life and work of Eliza Blaker, as well as records of the Teachers College of Indianapolis. Blaker founded the Teachers College, which became affiliated with Butler University in 1929, and is now the College of Education.
Jeanette Siron Pelton Botanical Print Collection
The Pelton Botanical Print Collection contains 71 original plates from herbals, plant histories, and botanical magazines published in the 15th through 19th centuries, created by a gift of Dr. John F. Pelton and the Jeanette Siron Pelton Memorial Fund in 1969.
University Art Collection
The University Art Collection will eventually cover a wide variety of objects from Butler University’s art collection. Initially, though, it contains 3D digital objects created with funding from a Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) Innovation Grant and a partnership between Butler Libraries and the Center for Academic Technology.
Digital Exhibits
These digital exhibits have been curated for anniversaries and special events to highlight Butler history.
Founder’s Celebration Exhibit
This exhibit was originally on display in the Reilly Room at Atherton Union as well as the Irwin Library during February of 2025. Built upon years of Special Collections’ dedicated historical research, this exhibit brings together new information and content from past exhibits, showcasing the department’s unique collections.
The Centennial Anniversary of Sigma Gamma Rho
This exhibit is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort between Sigma Gamma Rho and Butler University Libraries. With materials curated by sorors in the lead up to the centennial anniversary in 2022, this digital exhibit explores a hundred years of history.
A Black Women’s History of Butler University, 1855-1948
This exhibit is based on a presentation given during Founder’s Week 2026 by Annie Benefiel, Head of Special Collections, Kyle Stearns, University Archivist, and Tabitha Barbour ’17, Sigma Gamma Rho. The exhibit documents the accomplishments of some of the early Black Butler Alumnae from the founding of the University to 1948.