Musselman Library

Musselman Library’s Archives and Special Collections floor is home to rich historical collections important to the Bluffton University experience and supporting intellectual discovery of our students, faculty, and staff – and of scholars from around the world. Located on the first floor of the 1965 addition to Musselman Library, this department houses all archival and special collections owned by Musselman Library, including our Mennonite Historical Collections, the Bluffton University Archives, the archives of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA, manuscript collections, books, periodicals, and other library materials of rare and special importance to the institution and its constituents.

Bluffton University was founded as Central Mennonite College. As the cornerstone was laid for College Hall, President Noah C. Hirschy shared an idea that has proved as durable as the structure itself: “Let us expect great things.” Musselman Library is home to rich historical collections important to the Bluffton experience and supporting intellectual discovery of our students, faculty, and staff – and of scholars from around the world. These collections are the treasures of our institution, tracing our heritage back to beginnings of Anabaptism and telling amazing stories along the way.

The University Archives is part of the Archives & Special Collections floor of Musselman Library, and houses the historic records of Bluffton University, which trace the institution back to its inception as Central Mennonite College in 1899. The Archives & Special Collections floor is located on the first floor of the 1965 addition to Musselman Library and houses all archival and special collections owned by Musselman Library, including:

• our Mennonite Historical Collections
• the Bluffton University Archives
• the Archives of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA
• the Edna Hanley Byers Robert Frost Collection
• other manuscript collections of past faculty, staff, and other individuals with a connection to Bluffton University and/or the surrounding area
• the Howard Raid Mutual Aid Archives
• Books and other library materials of rare and special importance to the institution and to scholarship

"Archives and Special Collections." https://libguides.bluffton.edu/asc