Center for Archival Collections
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. More helpful links are listed below. If you still do not find what you are looking for, ask us! Feel free to call, email, or "Ask An Archivist!"
HCGL 
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.
*Please note, all services end 15 minutes prior to close.
CAC News
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2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: Caps, Capes, and Caring: The Legacy of Diploma Nursing Schools in Toledo, Nov. 14, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming authors Patricia Beach, Susan Eisel, Maria Nowicki, Judy Szor, and Beth White to Jerome Library for a presentation on their book Caps, Capes, and Caring: The Legacy of Diploma Nursing Schools in Toledo, a winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Independent Scholar category! View event information.
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2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: The Finger Saga: One Museum's Quest to Turn the Macabre into the Meaningful, Oct. 29, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming Dr. Rebecca Mancuso, Associate Professor in the BGSU Department of History, to Jerome Library for a presentation on her article "The Finger Saga: One Museum's Quest to Turn the Macabre into the Meaningful," winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Academic Scholar category! View event information.
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NEH Common Heritage Event: A Celebration of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo History, Oct. 22, 2019
Join us October 22nd at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) to celebrate the history of the ICGT and Northwest Ohio's Muslim community! The event will feature remarks from former ICGT president Cherrefe Kadri as well as a keynote lecture from community leader Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, and will debut the CAC's new digital exhibit on the history of the ICGT. This event is part of our Common Heritage project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. All are welcome! (Image: ICGT's first Youth Club). View event information.
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2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: Sandusky's Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall, Oct. 16, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming authors Jim Semon Sr., Roger Dickman, and Jeff Brown to Jerome Library for a presentation on their book Sandusky’s Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall, a winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Independent Scholar category! View event information.
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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.
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CAC Announces Winners of 2018 Local History Publication Awards
The CAC is pleased to announce the winners of its 2018 Local History Publication Awards. Our congratulations to the winning authors for their exemplary research and writing on various topics in the history of Northwest Ohio!
View the complete award winners list. -
CAC and Islamic Center of Greater Toledo Host Community Scan Day
The CAC is partnering with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo to host a Community Scan Day on Sunday, May 5th, 2019. Community members are invited to bring personal items documenting the history of the Islamic community in the Toledo area to have them digitized by CAC staff. This event is part of our Common Heritage project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. All are welcome!
Read More -
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. -
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.
2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: Caps, Capes, and Caring: The Legacy of Diploma Nursing Schools in Toledo, Nov. 14, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming authors Patricia Beach, Susan Eisel, Maria Nowicki, Judy Szor, and Beth White to Jerome Library for a presentation on their book Caps, Capes, and Caring: The Legacy of Diploma Nursing Schools in Toledo, a winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Independent Scholar category! View event information.
2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: The Finger Saga: One Museum's Quest to Turn the Macabre into the Meaningful, Oct. 29, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming Dr. Rebecca Mancuso, Associate Professor in the BGSU Department of History, to Jerome Library for a presentation on her article "The Finger Saga: One Museum's Quest to Turn the Macabre into the Meaningful," winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Academic Scholar category! View event information.
NEH Common Heritage Event: A Celebration of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo History, Oct. 22, 2019
Join us October 22nd at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) to celebrate the history of the ICGT and Northwest Ohio's Muslim community! The event will feature remarks from former ICGT president Cherrefe Kadri as well as a keynote lecture from community leader Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, and will debut the CAC's new digital exhibit on the history of the ICGT. This event is part of our Common Heritage project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. All are welcome! (Image: ICGT's first Youth Club). View event information.
2019 Local History Publication Award Lecture Series: Sandusky's Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall, Oct. 16, 2019
Please join the CAC in welcoming authors Jim Semon Sr., Roger Dickman, and Jeff Brown to Jerome Library for a presentation on their book Sandusky’s Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall, a winner of the CAC’s 2018 Local History Publication Award in the Independent Scholar category! View event information.
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 Announces Winners of 2018 Local History Publication Awards
The CAC is pleased to announce the winners of its 2018 Local History Publication Awards. Our congratulations to the winning authors for their exemplary research and writing on various topics in the history of Northwest Ohio!
View the complete award winners list.
CAC and Islamic Center of Greater Toledo Host Community Scan Day
The CAC is partnering with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo to host a Community Scan Day on Sunday, May 5th, 2019. Community members are invited to bring personal items documenting the history of the Islamic community in the Toledo area to have them digitized by CAC staff. This event is part of our Common Heritage project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. All are welcome!
Read More
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.
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.