Media Collections

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Reel to reel films, audio cassettes, video cassettes, CDs and DVDs document Lafayette College events from the 19th and 20th centuries. More than fifty oral history tapes document the social changes of the early 1970s with the arrival of the first women students and record numbers of African Americans. Over 2000 sports films date from 1937 through the last decade.

Audio Collection, 1945 - present

Contains audio recordings of various Lafayette College commencement and baccalaureate services and addresses from 1974 to the present. Featured speakers are William E. Simon, Fred Rogers, Bill Bradley, Neil Armstrong, Meryl Streep, Peter Ueberroth, and Toni Morrison. Also included are miscellaneous sound recordings of lectures, symposiums, inaugurations, and commemorative receptions, as well as the visit of General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the 1946 Founders' Day celebration.

Audio/Visual Collection, 1939 - present

Contains VHS cassette tapes and DVDs of Lafayette College events, including commencements from 1991 to the present. Speakers such as Jacques-Yves Cousteau, George Bush, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Mikhail Gorbachev are recorded. Also includes various material related to historical, promotional, and athletic aspects of the college.

Oral History Collection

Containing approximately fifty interviews, this collection primarily documents the first women students at Lafayette College from the mid-1970s, African American students from the 1950s-1970s, and recollections of faculty members. We Were Pioneers, an original play based on many of these interviews, tells the story Lafayette College's transition to co-education in 1970.

Sports Film Collections

Over 2000 films of Lafayette College sports games dating from 1937 through the last decade are housed within the following collections. The bulk of the games remain in their original format (16mm reel to reels; 8mm video; Betacam; VHS; mini DVs; DVDs). A small number of films appear in original formats and have been copied to DVD.