8 years Tom Steman has served as St. Cloud State’s first professionally trained archivist 38 years since the University Archives were established on March 28, 1977 7 million documents 400 average number of requests for information via email, phone, social media or in-person visit 8,000 estimated number of digital objects available for anyone to search, download and use 35 years of University Chronicle available online — 1924 to 1959 129 St. Cloud State course catalogs available online from the University Archives — every catalog published since St. Cloud State was founded in 1869 393 years: Age of “The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh,” the oldest book in the collection Q: What is University Archives? We do have some records not related to St. Cloud State University, including a collection of Central Minnesota oral histories of World War II veterans, as well as 262 letters written by Sauk Centre native and Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis to his mistress Marcella Powers. Q: What is your favorite unique fact about St. Cloud State? Q: What is your favorite collection of material held at University Archives? Q: What goes into maintaining the history of the university? Q: Who uses University Archives?
By the Numbers
A: University Archives is where St. Cloud State records that have long-term value are kept safe, maintained and preserved, and are accessible to anyone who wants to use them. These records help students complete their assignments, staff to do their jobs, and administrators in their decision-making.
A: On May 15, 1972, Elton John performed at Halenbeck Hall as part of campus “May Daze” activities.
A: The hundreds of thousands of negatives from the university photographers and University Chronicle, nearly all of them never published.
A: On any given day, University Archives staff and students could be reorganizing records, digitizing photographs, negatives and other material that has high value to our patrons, accessing digital records and assisting patrons who contact us via email, phone, visit or through social media. We also work with university offices to ensure that records that need to be kept long-term, no matter the format, come to University Archives.
A: Though more than 80 percent of our users have a connection to St. Cloud State — staff, administrators, students, faculty, emerti and alumni. We serve everyone and have had patrons contact us from throughout the world. We recently answered a request from Russia regarding exhibition games that Russian hockey teams played against the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team throughout the past 25 years.
Q+A: Tom Steman archivist at St. Cloud State
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