Great news! The Office of the Bursar Records have been digitized and are available for researching, right from your computer. Why is this significant, you ask? The majority of W&M’s early historic records were destroyed by fires. The Bursar’s records are some of the earliest surviving records detailing the university’s history, dating from the 18th century. Of particular note are references to individuals enslaved by the institution, as well as references to the Brafferton Indian School. The collection includes reports,...
W&M Libraries Blog
January 15, 2019
Bursar's Book, 1761 (Office of the Bursar Records, UA 72)
Previous Posts
Feb 2018
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February 28, 2018If you’ve ever had a dog, you are no doubt aware of the amount of dog hair that accumulates on your floor, furniture, and clothes. There have likely been times when you have said something along the lines of “There’s enough hair here to knit a sweater.” Well, if you ever get the desire to gather up all of that hair for such a purpose, the Chapin-Horowitz Collection of Books on Dogs can hook you up with “Knitting with Dog Hair: A Woof-to-Warp -
February 18, 2018For many black students who attended William & Mary during the 1980s and 1990s, “Dean” was a term of endearment—a title that demanded respect because it identified the power player in their corner—and only one individual carried that distinction: Dean Carroll Hardy. -
February 14, 2018This year’s Charter Day marked the 325th anniversary of the founding of The College of William & Mary by William III and Mary II, the first and (to date) only joint-monarchs in British history. An exhibition in the lobby at Swem Library brings the focus to William and Mary – the people, not the university. -
February 8, 2018On February 8, 1693, the Royal Charter establishing the College of William & Mary in Virginia was written. William & Mary President James Blair brought both English and Latin versions of the twelve page document with him from the Court of William & Mary at Kensington Palace. The original copy of the charter establishing the College was lost about the time of the American Revolution. -
February 1, 2018In my everlasting search for materials relating to African Americans in Special Collections, I was pointed to the 1921 edition of the Colonial Echo. Within its worn cover, there is a single page spread entitled “The Dark Side of College Life.” These are the only words. The rest of the page is filled with several black and white photographs of exactly what one might expect – black employees of the College.
Jan 2018
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January 17, 2018On the night of Sunday October 16, 1859, twenty-three men emerged from the woods surrounding the town of Harpers Ferry, which sits at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in present-day West Virginia. Armed with rifles and pikes, their mission was to successfully secure the large cache of weapons kept in the town’s armory and expel the U.S. military from the area.
Dec 2017
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December 20, 2017 -
December 6, 2017In this month's dog series post, we decided to focus on dog books related to the December holidays. In doing so, it became quickly apparent that while we have a small number of titles related to dogs and Christmas, we do not have titles related to Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Our awareness of this deficiently will inform future collecting decisions. If there are specific titles you would like to suggest, please hit us up in the comments section.
Nov 2017
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November 22, 2017Down in the belly of Special Collections sits a mysterious blue velvet box. Its contents are simultaneously mundane and bizarre, important for the study of language in Spain, and remarkably unremarkable. The box bears the inscription Matxin de Zalbaren Gutuna, La Carta de Machin de Zalba, 1416. What is it? Why do we have it? What makes it both special and ordinary? -
November 13, 2017This past spring Sharon Summers, Charles W. Scandrett, Janet S. Hunt, Barbara J. Kaufman, and Sandra S. Ellender generously donated the Civil War diary of Henry Alexander Scandrett to the Special Collections Research Center. Scandrett fought for the Union during the war and recorded his experiences in the pocket diary.