Research Guides: POLS B371: Governing the Self and Others: Class Materials

Collections for your class

The following collections are not a comprehensive list of all material related to self-government at Bryn Mawr College. The papers of individual students, staff, and faculty members not listed below may also contain SGA material. If you would like further sources or have questions about any of the below resources, please get in touch with the College Archivist.

Bryn Mawr College Self-Government Association (SGA) records
Contains the records of Bryn Mawr College's Self-Government Association (SGA), ranging from the 1890s, when the SGA was founded, to the present day. The collection includes Self-Government correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, publications, budgets, and material related to the founding of the SGA and its evolution over time.
Susan Walker Fitzgerald papers
Susan Walker FitzGerald (1871-1943) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While at Bryn Mawr, class of 1893, she founded the Student Government Association and graduated with a degree in history/political science. Her papers contain, among other things, letters from Bryn Mawr students responding to her call for an SGA.
M. Carey Thomas papers (microfilm guide)
M. Carey Thomas was the first dean and second president of Bryn Mawr College. She was not yet president when the SGA was founded, but encouraged its formation as dean. Please note, this is a legacy finding aid which is out of date. While a new guide is forthcoming, this remains the easiest way to navigate Thomas's papers.
Marion Edwards Park papers
The Marion Edwards Park papers consist of the materials that were kept in her secretary’s office in Bryn Mawr College’s Taylor Hall while Park served as president. The collection, which spans Park’s tenure as President of the College (1922 to 1942), provides insight into the administrative workings of Bryn Mawr during the Depression and World War II.
Katharine Elizabeth McBride papers
Katharine Elizabeth McBride was president of Bryn Mawr College from 1942-1970. Her extensive papers cover thirty years of significant national change, as well as a period of expansion at Bryn Mawr. Enrollment grew, particularly at the graduate level, and the curriculum was enlarged.

Suggestions for collections without finding aids

All archives have backlogs and Bryn Mawr College is no exception. In some cases, collections with legal or donor-imposed restrictions may not be a high priority for a digital finding aid, but there may be a paper finding aid available. Other collections may be known to archive employees, despite a lack of finding aid, who can pull material if you express a broad interest in a particular topic.

Some collections at Bryn Mawr College you may be interested in, which do not currently have a finding aid online, include:

The presidential papers of Harris Wofford, who served from 1970-1978, and Mary Patterson McPherson, who served from 1978-1997. By agreement with the President's Office, Presidential papers are closed to researchers for 25 years after end of presidential term. The Wofford and McPherson papers are open, but their finding aids have not yet been put online.
The College News, Counterpoint, Tipyn O'Bob, The Lantern, and other student publications. Many early student publications have been digitized and are available online, but later publications have not. The College Archives has a collection of student publications that stretch from the very first campus publication with student involvement (The Lantern, 1891) to the present day.
Records of high-level college committees. As with Presidential papers, these are closed for 25 years from the date of their creation, but records from before 2000 are available to researchers. This category includes Board of Trustee Minutes, Faculty Meeting Minutes, Academic Council Meeting Minutes, and Graduate Council Meeting Minutes. Further restrictions may apply if something in the minutes falls under the Family Educational Rights and Protection Act (FERPA).
Student handbooks and orientation material. These handbooks vary from year to year and were given to incoming first-years. They represent the kind of information given to new Bryn Mawr College students over time, including discussions of the SGA, traditions, and campus life.
Records from student organizations and clubs. Although the archives does not have a comprehensive set of records from these organizations, many are at minimum represented by newspaper clippings or other public-facing activities.