Brandeis National Committee

University Photography Collection

The Brandeis University Photography Collection comprises more than 100,000 photo negatives, taken over the course of the history of the institution from the beginning to the recent past.

University Photography CollectionEleanor Roosevelt talks to Brandeis students in 1958.

The collection provides rich visual documentation of Brandeis University’s unique history and development, showcasing the influential people, places and events associated with the school in its founding years, including the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee (now the Brandeis National Committee).

The University Photography Collection is among the most actively used collections in  University Archives. Brandeis students, faculty, staff, alumni and administrators, as well as community researchers, request the use of images for scholarly publications, research papers, presentations, classroom lectures, documentary films, exhibits, publicity materials, museum publications and university celebrations.

Digital access to these images of historical importance will provide a valuable service to the research community and will preserve vulnerable early photographic images. Degradation of original acetate negatives is progressive and irreversible, and digitization will serve to capture and restore their informational value before it is permanently lost.