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Donating Materials

Preserving Boston’s Diverse History

The Archives and Special Collections at Northeastern University Library houses and carefully curates one of the largest collections of historical records relating to Boston’s fight for social justice. You can learn more about these collections.
If you have materials that relate to this topic and are interested in exploring donation, please read our Guide to Donating Justice Materials, and look at our sample Gift Agreement.

Preserving Northeastern University History

The Northeastern University Historical Collections include the historical records and publications of Northeastern University – its colleges, centers, and administrative units.You can learn more about these collections on the Northeastern University Archives page [link to Northeastern University Archives]. Most of these records come directly from administrative units and student groups at the end of their current usefulness.

If you are a representative of a student group or cultural center interested in donating records, please contact [link to contact page]. If you are a representative of an administrative office or center and think you might have archival material, please consult the Office of the General Counsel’s Policy on Retention and Disposition of University Records.

Donating Other Kinds of Material

The Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections rarely seeks out or accepts other types of donations. Notable exceptions include Artist Books, Boston-based small publications and ‘zines, neighborhood, fringe, and underground news sources, as well as oral history projects.

Donating Funds

The Archives and Special Collections Department plays an important role in preserving Northeastern’s rich past and the history of Boston’s African American, Chinese, LGBTQ, Latino/a, and other communities, as well as Boston’s public infrastructure, neighborhoods, and natural environments. Collections include the records of Stull and Lee, Inc., an African American Boston-based architectural and urban planning firm, and Northeastern’s Oral History Office records, a diverse collection of oral histories documenting the American China Mission, Cambridge School Crisis, Immigrant Voyages, New England Fishermen, Town Histories, Vietnam War, World War I, and World War II. Donations of organizational records and papers are always welcome. Additionally, a $100,000+ endowment will help us to safeguard our important collections in this area and will go toward digitization projects to make these records publicly accessible to the online community.
See our Funding Priorities page to learn more about helping the library in other ways.