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.
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!
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.
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.
 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! |
 We are thrilled to announce we have acquired the archive of the late playwright and Pittsburgh native son August Wilson, best known for his unprecedented American Century Cycle —ten plays that convey the Black experience in each decade of the 20th century. All ten of the plays have had Broadway productions and two earned Wilson the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. For more info visit here. |
 A conversation with Dan Kraus about his posthumous collaboration with George A. Romero and the treasures from the zombie maestro’s archive. - October 13, 2020 – 7p.m. Registration |
 You can receive a $1,000 stipend to develop an independent research project using our Archives & Special Collections. Click here to learn more about the Archival Scholars Research Awards and apply by October 26! |
 There’s a significant new addition to the Horror Studies Collection at Pitt. The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) has acquired the papers of Daniel Kraus—a prolific writer in the horror genre who currently lives in Chicago. It represents the first addition to the collection from a literary figure and author, thus expanding the scope of the collection beyond filmmaking as established... more |
 The University of Pittsburgh Library System’s University Archives is working to document the impact of COVID-19 on the university community, as well as Pitt’s response to the pandemic. In addition to the websites and emails we are currently collecting, we are asking Pitt students, faculty, and staff to consider collecting records that document their experiences and depositing them in the University Archives. We intend to make the resulting archive of... more |
 Celebrate Earth Day by learning more about the early environmental movement! |
View our blog and sign up for our monthly newsletter featuring Horror Collection updates, Romero news, horror events, and more!
Archives & Special Collections resides in a state-of-the-art home on Hillman Library’s renovated third floor. It contains significant physical and digital exhibition space, an expansive reading room, a large classroom, and, the Text & conText Lab, a partnership between the ULS and the Center for Creativity, that allows for the exploration of text in all its forms.
Visit in person during library open hours or take a virtual tour!
Send us an email
Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) - Who We Are
A&SC at Hillman Library
320 Hillman Library
University of Pittsburgh
3960 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412-648-8190
A&SC at the Archives Service Center
7500 Thomas Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
412-648-3232
The banner features an image from the August Wilson Archive.
