Digital Image Collections
Butler University Libraries work to digitize and provide access to photographs and documents housed in our Special Collections & Archives so as to make them available to scholars worldwide.
The 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.
View the Eliza Blaker Collection
The Butler Collegian Archive
The student newspaper of Butler University was first published as The Collegian in 1886, and this online archive currently covers the years 1886-1892, 1936-2004 along with a few issues from 1893, 1935, and 2005. Current issues may be found at The Butler Collegian.
Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
The Buildings and Grounds Collection includes photographs and documents of Butler University’s buildings and grounds on the current campus as well as on the two former campus locations. Additional images and documents are being added as time allows.
View the Buildings and Grounds Collection
Butler University Department of Theatre 75th Anniversary
Butler University’s Department of Theatre 75th Anniversary Exhibit shows some highlights from the Department’s founding and more recent history. Topics include predecessor institutions, productions, faculty, student organizations, spaces, and special programs and collaborations. The exhibit also contains links to more information for your own research or browsing.
View the Butler University Department of Theatre 75th Anniversary Digital Exhibit
The Butler University Yearbook Collection
Published primarily as The Drift, but also as The Gallery and The Carillon, Butler University’s yearbooks are reproduced in full in this collection. Issues from 1891-1931 have selective availability, but all issues from 1934-2013 are available.
View the University Yearbook Collection
The 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. Images of specimens collected around the world are currently being added to the digital collection.
The Irwin Library Collection
This collection, assembled for the 50th anniversary of Irwin Library in 2013, includes photographs and documents from the building’s planning, construction, and dedication, as well as photographs of Butler University’s earlier campuses, and photographs of Irwin Library since its dediction. The library was designed by noted architect Minoru Yamasaki, and was officially dedicated in 1965.
View the Irwin Library Collection
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.
View the Jordan College of the Arts Collection
The 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.
View the Pelton Botanical Print Collection
Sigma Gamma Rho Centennial Collection
The Butler University Sigma Gamma Rho Centennial 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.
View the Sigma Gamma Rho Centennial Collection
The 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.
View the University Art Collection
Chinese Art Images
This collection includes nearly 300 images of Chinese Art from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Access is limited to current Butler University faculty, students, and staff due to purchase agreement restrictions.
View the Chinese Art Collection
Global and Historical Studies Images
This collection includes more than 1100 images of sites, art, and architecture around the world, provided by Butler University faculty. Access is limited to current faculty, students, and staff.
View the Global and Historical Studies Collection
Japanese Art Images
This collection includes 70 images of Japanese Art from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. Access is limited to current Butler University faculty, students, and staff due to purchase agreement restrictions.
View the Japanese Art Collection
Scholars Resource Art Images
This collection contains 800 art and architecture images purchased from Saskia, and restricted for use by Butler University students, faculty and staff for educational purposes only.