Archives & Special Collections

Archival Collections

The Archival Collections contains original and unique materials and records created by private individuals, families, institutions, and organizations documenting the regional heritage of Northeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta region. Most materials in the Archival Collection only exist in our holdings. The collection spans from the late 1800s to the present and focuses on some major themes of the region’s heritage including agriculture, politics, and familiar history. Some featured collections are the Judd Hill Plantation Collection, KAIT-8 News Film Collection, Larry Corbett Collection, Noel W. Baker Papers, and the Billy Joe Tatum Collection.

The Archival Collections also contains limited records generated by and about Arkansas State University. These records include the Eugene W. Smith Collection, Arkansas State University Faculty Women's Club and Secretary's Club, the university's board of trustees' records, and photographs documenting the university’s history.

Since many archival collections contain unpublished materials, they are described by a finding aid, a guide to a collection and its contents. Our finding aids are available online through ArchivesSpace and on our Archival Collections page. Please contact archives@astate.edu if you have any questions about our collections and to reserve a time to view our materials. All collections and materials in Archival Collections are non-circulating. All unprocessed collections are not available to researchers.

To learn more about Finding Aids and how to use ArchivesSpace, please see our ArchivesSpace at A-State page.

Special Collections

Special Collections primarily houses the Arkansas Collection which consists of over eight thousand books pertaining to the state, the people, and books authored or about Arkansas. Included in the collection are several volumes of books pertaining to Arkansas State University. Special Collections also houses the Cass Hough Aeronautic Book Collection, the Lois Lenski Collection, and the Mary Gay Shipley Book Collection.

To learn more about some the authors and collections housed in Special Collections, please visit the Special Collections page and/or contact Archives & Special Collections at archives@astate.edu. All books and materials in Special Collections are non-circulating.

The KAIT-8 TV News Film Collection contains over two hundred reels of 16mm raw, unprocessed film footage from May 1973 to 1980. Topics covered in the film footage includes Arkansas State University sports, politics with city council meetings and interviews with politicians like Bill Alexander and "Bo" Hollmen, the 1973 tornado, and other local subjects. The film reels have been digitized and are being processed and described. Contact Archives & Special Collections to learn more about the collection. Please allow the archivist a minimum 2-3 weeks to review the footage, and 6-8 weeks to work through any licensing for commercial use.