Center for Archival Collections
- Bowling Green State University
- University Libraries
- Center for Archival Collections
The Center for Archival Collections is open to researchers Monday through Friday 8-5. Evening hours are available on Monday from 5-8 by appointment only. Please see our Services page for more information about making an appointment.
We recommend that all researchers contact us ahead of your visit so we can have materials ready for you to begin research when you arrive.
If you are unable to visit the CAC in person, the staff is available to answer questions via email or chat Monday through Friday.
There are several ways to gain access to our materials: by searching the BGSU catalog, browsing or searching our finding aids, searching our website, or by searching our digitized content made available in the Digital Gallery and ScholarWorks. If you still do not find what you are looking for, ask us! Feel free to call, email, or Ask Us.
The Center for Archival Collections is an archive and manuscript repository within University Libraries at Bowling Green State University. Our collection strengths include our manuscript collections, the Historical Collection of the Great Lakes, our Rare Books & Special Collections, and the National Student Affairs Archive. We are also the home of the BGSU University Archives, and house local records from the nineteen counties of Northwest Ohio. Our collections can be used for scholarly, political, and family and genealogical research, and we welcome BGSU students and faculty, local residents, as well as international scholars.
William T. Jerome Library, 5th Floor
University Libraries
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
419-372-2411
cac@libanswers.bgsu.edu
*Please note, all services end 15 minutes prior to close.
CAC News
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Introducing the CAC's new podcast, Archival Encounters!
The CAC's new podcast series, Archival Encounters, highlights items from the CAC’s multifaceted collections, particularly oral history interviews, to bring voices from the past into conversation with the present. In our first episode, we feature an oral history interview recorded in the 1980s with Toledo pharmacist and civil rights activist Ella P. Stewart.
Listen to the podcast. -
Recordings from the CAC's Lecture Series now available!
Audio recordings of past talks from the CAC's Lecture Series are now available on our website! Enjoy lectures from the winning authors of our annual Local History Publication Awards, as well as talks from other public programs hosted by the CAC featuring scholars and community experts on topics related to BGSU, Northwest Ohio, the Great Lakes, and more!
Listen to the Lecture Series recordings. -
CAC Launches BGSU COVID-19 Stories
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of the BGSU Falcon Family. To continue fulfilling its mission of documenting BGSU's history, the CAC has launched BGSU COVID-19 Stories, a new site to collect and preserve the BGSU Falcon Family's experiences during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. We encourage the Falcon Family to visit the site and record their stories through writing, audio recordings, video recordings, visual art, or other formats.
Contribute your story today! -
New Digital Exhibit: The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo: Celebrating the History of Northwest Ohio's Muslim Community
Thanks in part to a Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the CAC has collaborated with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo to launch its latest digital exhibit, The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo: Celebrating the History of Northwest Ohio's Muslim Community.
View the exhibit. -
CAC Launches "Experiencing War: A Project to Preserve and Make Accessible Oral Histories of World War II"
With generous support from the Ohio History Fund, we are pleased to provide full digital access to the digital exhibit Experiencing War: A Project to Preserve and Make Accessible Oral Histories of World War II. Over 100 oral histories in the exhibit tell of Ohioans' experiences of World War II.
Access the exhibit. -
CAC receives NEH grant to Preserve Islamic Culture in Northwest Ohio
The CAC has received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that will support our efforts to document the history of Islamic culture in Northwest Ohio. The grant will enable us to partner with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on a series of public programs.
Read more.
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New Digital Exhibit: Northwest Ohio in The Great War, 1917-1919
November 11, 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. The CAC's latest digital exhibit, Northwest Ohio in The Great War: 1917-1919, commemorates this anniversary with archival materials telling the story of Northwest Ohioans' contributions to America's engagement in World War I, whether on the homefront or the Western Front. A companion physical exhibit will also be on display in our reading room through the rest of 2018.
View the digital exhibit here.

Introducing the CAC's new podcast, Archival Encounters!
The CAC's new podcast series, Archival Encounters, highlights items from the CAC’s multifaceted collections, particularly oral history interviews, to bring voices from the past into conversation with the present. In our first episode, we feature an oral history interview recorded in the 1980s with Toledo pharmacist and civil rights activist Ella P. Stewart.
Listen to the podcast.
Recordings from the CAC's Lecture Series now available!
Audio recordings of past talks from the CAC's Lecture Series are now available on our website! Enjoy lectures from the winning authors of our annual Local History Publication Awards, as well as talks from other public programs hosted by the CAC featuring scholars and community experts on topics related to BGSU, Northwest Ohio, the Great Lakes, and more!
Listen to the Lecture Series recordings.
CAC Launches BGSU COVID-19 Stories
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of the BGSU Falcon Family. To continue fulfilling its mission of documenting BGSU's history, the CAC has launched BGSU COVID-19 Stories, a new site to collect and preserve the BGSU Falcon Family's experiences during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. We encourage the Falcon Family to visit the site and record their stories through writing, audio recordings, video recordings, visual art, or other formats.
Contribute your story today!.jpg)
New Digital Exhibit: The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo: Celebrating the History of Northwest Ohio's Muslim Community
Thanks in part to a Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the CAC has collaborated with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo to launch its latest digital exhibit, The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo: Celebrating the History of Northwest Ohio's Muslim Community.
View the exhibit.
CAC Launches "Experiencing War: A Project to Preserve and Make Accessible Oral Histories of World War II"
With generous support from the Ohio History Fund, we are pleased to provide full digital access to the digital exhibit Experiencing War: A Project to Preserve and Make Accessible Oral Histories of World War II. Over 100 oral histories in the exhibit tell of Ohioans' experiences of World War II.
Access the exhibit.
CAC receives NEH grant to Preserve Islamic Culture in Northwest Ohio
The CAC has received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that will support our efforts to document the history of Islamic culture in Northwest Ohio. The grant will enable us to partner with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on a series of public programs.

New Digital Exhibit: Northwest Ohio in The Great War, 1917-1919
November 11, 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. The CAC's latest digital exhibit, Northwest Ohio in The Great War: 1917-1919, commemorates this anniversary with archival materials telling the story of Northwest Ohioans' contributions to America's engagement in World War I, whether on the homefront or the Western Front. A companion physical exhibit will also be on display in our reading room through the rest of 2018.
Updated: 01/27/2023 09:26AM