The Bryn Mawr College Archives holds student records from 1885 to the present. Although some of these records are restricted due to privacy legislation, the College Archives is still able to provide researchers with access to information about many of our alumnae/i.
To get started researching alumnae/i, we recommend visiting Special Collections to investigate our collection of Alumnae Registers. These registers, most recently printed in 2011, contain basic, public information about Bryn Mawr College Alumnae, including their name, degree, and class year. When searching for information, please note that Bryn Mawr College maintains its student and alumnae/i records according to the name an alum used while attending Bryn Mawr—often this means a student's name before marriage.
Although these registers are not digitized, researchers who are unable to come to the archives in person are encouraged to contact the College Archivist with requests for information about alumnae/i.
Alumnae/i Publications
Notable alums may author, edit, or be mentioned in publications produced by the Alumnae Association. Some of these publications include additional information, including obituaries, generally located in the back of each publication and organized by graduating year. The digitized versions of this material is full text searchable.
The Alumni Bulletin is still in production. Issues post-1940 can be found accessed in the Special Collections reading room. Find more information about visiting Special Collections in person on our website: https://www.brynmawr.edu/lits/visit-special-collections.
College News
Material by or about Bryn Mawr College alum may have appeared in the College News. Digitized copies of the College News are full text searchable. When searching for alum, try searching alternate versions of their name—for example, "Katharine" and "Catherine"—as errors may have been made in the digitization process or at the time of publication.
Yearbooks
Bryn Mawr College yearbooks may contain images and miscellaneous information on alumnae. The yearbooks were generally created by the graduating class of a specified year and tend to focus more on the senior class than underclassman. These yearbooks also reflect changes in campus life and the social environment of Bryn Mawr over time.
Due to privacy restrictions, only yearbooks up until the year 1949 are available online.
Student Publications
Bryn Mawr College students have produced many publications over the years. A selection of literary magazines published between 1891 and 1955 have been digitized and are available online. In addition to literary analysis and original work, these publications also contain editorials reflecting on life at Bryn Mawr College.
Although finding aids and research guides to the following collections may be available online, material listed here has not been digitized, but is available to researchers in the Bryn Mawr College Special Collections reading room upon request. Researchers unable to make it to Special Collections in person who are interested in using this material are encouraged to contact the archivist with their questions.
Alternatively, find more information about visiting Special Collections in person on our website: https://www.brynmawr.edu/lits/visit-special-collections.
Alumnae/i Association Files
Biographical information collected by the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae/i Association is transferred to the College Archives at the time of an alum's death. These files, unfortunately, do not exist for all alumnae/i of Bryn Mawr College. The College Archives may also have copies of reunion material available for researchers. Organized by graduating year, these booklets contain material contributed by graduates about their lives since leaving Bryn Mawr College and collated into a publication for Reunion, often including biographical information.
If you're interested in information on living alumnae/i, contact the Alumnae/i Association.
Class Information
While grades are permanently confidential, the archivist may be able to access records indicating what classes a Bryn Mawr alum took. Although the records themselves are not open to researchers, descriptions of classes can be found in the collection of course catalogs maintained in the College Archives. Contact the archivist for any questions about classes alumnae/i were enrolled in.
Personal and Professional Papers
The manuscripts collection of the Special Collections Department contains personal and professional papers for some, but not all, Bryn Mawr alumnae/i. To see if we hold the papers for an alum, search our online collection of finding aids.
If an alum's papers are not held by Bryn Mawr, they may be held elsewhere. For insight into other possible holdings, try searching:
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This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new windowArchives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 covers topics including LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis. It provides researchers with the documents necessary to delve deep into the Gay Rights Movement with resources that may otherwise go undiscovered. Repositories for this collection include: Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation; Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives; Women's Energy Bank; GLBT Historical Society; National Library of Medicine; among others.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century, has more than five thousand rare and unique books covering sex, sexuality, and gender issues across the sciences and throughout history.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender: L'enfer de la Bibliothèque nationale de France provides access to a private case collection.
