August Wilson sitting on steps.

Welcome to Archives & Special Collections (A&SC), the archives, manuscripts, and rare books department of the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS)! Our mission is to collect, describe, and preserve our ever-growing collections in order to make them available and accessible to the Pitt community and beyond. In our collections, you’ll find historic documents, photographs, maps, rare books, newspapers, audio and video recordings, and much more.

Visit the A&SC Aeon Research Portal to create a user account so you can start requesting materials! Please check out these how to videos for help getting started with Aeon.

Start your research here:

Using the Search Box below you can explore different areas of our collections.

Interested in the history of Pitt or archival and manuscript collections? Choose Finding Aids to Archives and Manuscripts from the drop-down menu to search the collections. In addition to documenting the history of Pitt in the University Archives, A&SC is also one of the largest archives of Western Pennsylvania history. Our manuscript collections include (but are very much not limited to) the papers of Pitt faculty, local authors, and genre defining creators.

More of a book person? A&SC houses over 130,000 rare books and printed materials that include 16th century illuminated books, 20th century underground zines, children’s books through the ages, and an abundance of horror. Choose the Rare Books and Special Collections in Pittcat option from the drop-down menu to search for rare and special books.

Digitization occurs across all areas of A&SC. To search what we’ve digitized, choose ULS Digital Collections from the drop-down menu.

Browse Our Digital Collections Browse Our Finding Aids



Read about our efforts to address harmful, offensive, misrepresentative, and racist language in our archival collection descriptions.

Do you have questions or can’t find what you’re looking for? Please contact us so one of our expert staff members can help you.

Explore our collections further!

We’ve digitized thousands of records from our collections, and you can see them all here! Search our Audubon prints, get acquainted with the City Photographer Collection, or just peruse the collection guides for our materials.

Interested in more Pittsburgh history? We work in partnership with other organizations in the area, like the Heinz History Center, to bring you more content on our city. Search by institution, topic, or format to find exactly what you want.

Want to know what the Cathedral of Learning looked like while under construction? Maybe find yourself in your college yearbook? Or learn what Pitt students were talking about in the 1920s? It’s all here for you, from digitized yearbooks to historic photographs to a full run of the Pitt News, and much more. Hail to Pitt!

News

Please join us on Saturday, August 2, 2025 from 6–8 p.m. at Moka on Soho Gallery for an artist exhibition opening which will feature the work of six of our August Wilson Archive Community Artist Scholars: Charlotte Ka, Errol "Mo" Reynolds, Janet Watkins, Deavron Dailey, Amir Rashidd, and Lynne b. All six artists spent time researching within the August Wilson Archive during their award period… more
Please join us on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 from 10 a.m.- noon at 340 Hillman Library, Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room as this year's August Wilson Archive Student Research Award Recipients present their projects. 7 local students spent their summer researching within the August Wilson Archive and developing creative projects that were guided by their research… more
Please join us on Friday, August 8, 2025, from 10-11:30 a.m. at 340 Hillman Library, Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room as the August Wilson Archive Educator Award recipients hold a panel discussion about their summer research within the August Wilson Archive. Educators will be discussing their topics of research and showcasing materials from the parts of the collection that they worked on… more
Join us on Friday, September 12, 2025 from 2:30-3:30pm in the Archives & Special Collections Gallery to hear directly from the curator about the new exhibit Dig In! Exploring the Culinary World Through Rare Books and Archives. Then, visit the Text & conText Lab to make your own recipe book!...more
Join us on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 from noon - 1 p.m. for a guided tour of the newly updated ULS Digital Collections sites! During this session, you’ll learn how to navigate and utilize the University of Pittsburgh Library System’s (ULS) Archives & Special Collections Digital Collections for your curriculum, class project, or your own personal interest!...more  
Please join us Wednesday, July 9, 2025 from 6-7 p.m. at Pittsburgh Public Theater for a presentation and exhibit featuring the work of August Wilson Archive Student Research Award Recipient Maria McDill. During her research at the archive, Maria compared scripts from Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean play and explored their evolution and Wilson's creative writing process. She used this information as inspiration for her quilt.… more
Please join us for a reading of scenes from a new, in-process play inspired by the August Wilson Archive and written by August Wilson Archive Community Artist Scholar and Playwright a.k. payne, MFA, on Friday, July 11, 2025 from 6-7 p.m. at The Dr. Vernell Lillie Theatre at Pittsburgh City Theatre....more