THE DEPARTMENT AND ITS COLLECTIONS

The Special Collections & Archives Department of the Nimitz Library was established for the purpose of bringing together and preserving the rare books, manuscripts, photographs and other historically significant materials in the Naval Academy Library's collections and the official records (archives) of the U.S. Naval Academy. Located on the third floor of Nimitz Library, the Special Collections & Archives area includes the Annapolis Room (reading room with seating for twenty-five patrons), offices, workrooms, and closed stack area.

Special Collections & Archives materials are available for use by midshipmen, faculty and staff of the United States Naval Academy, and by other researchers upon request. All materials are non-circulating and must be used in the Annapolis Room.

NOTE: Faculty wishing to have their classes conduct research in the Special Collections & Archives Department are encouraged to contact the Head of the Department, x36904, to arrange for course-related bibliographic instruction.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

General Collection: Books and periodicals, with emphasis on seapower. Includes naval and general history, science, mathematics, literature, U.S. Naval Academy materials, and oral histories from the Naval Institute and Navy Chaplain Corps programs. Approximately 17,500 volumes.

Annapolis Collection: Original 1845 library of the Naval School at Annapolis (291 volumes). See: The Annapolis Collection.

Chester L. Somers Submarine Collection: Books (fiction and nonfiction), photographs, and printed ephemera relating to submarines and submarine warfare. Approximately 1,500 volumes, plus 18 linear feet of miscellaneous materials.

Edward J. Steichen Photography Collection: Established in 1969 by Thomas J. Maloney, Class of 1927, on the occasion of Steichen's 90th birthday. World War II naval combat photographs and photographs showing various phases of the past and contemporary scene in America as seen through the eyes of such well-known photographers as Ansel Adams, Edward and Brett Weston, Margaret Bourke-White, and many others. Approximately 30,000 photographs and 580 books.

Harry F. Guggenheim Collection: Literature, literary first editions, poetry, aeronautics. Approximately 2,900 volumes.

Park Benjamin Collection: Early works on electricity and magnetism, assembled by Park Benjamin, Class of 1867 (1,172 volumes).

Dr. Thomas O. Paine Collection of Submarine Books: Books and periodicals (fiction and nonfiction) relating to submarines and submarine warfare (3,473 volumes). [Biography of Dr. Paine]

Vice Admiral George C. Dyer Collection: General and naval history (1,163 volumes).

Wiedorn Collection: Books containing hand-colored plates, chiefly nineteenth century, assembled by Rear Admiral Paul H. Wiedorn, Class of 1922. Approximately 900 volumes.

Special Collections Picture File:Portraits of naval officers, pictures of US and some foreign ships, US Naval Academy photographs, and other prints and pictures. Approximately 20,000 pictures.

Manuscript Collections: Approximately 400 collections, spanning the 18th to the 20th centuries. Included are:

• Ships' logs, journals, letterbooks, order books, and watch, station- and quarter-bills, 1759-1943.
• The papers of the following:

          Finding aids are available for each collection.

Vertical Files: Collection of miscellaneous items, including biographical and bibliographical materials, clippings, pamphlets, ships' histories, and command histories.

World War II Battle Reports: Incomplete set of action reports, 1942-1945.

Shipmate Index: Special Collections also maintains an index to Shipmate, the USNA Alumni Association magazine, through June 1985. The Shipmate index is located in the card catalog in the Annapolis Room.

ARCHIVES

The William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives collects, preserves, and stores the noncurrent records of the Naval Academy, and provides services for those records. The central core of the holdings constitute Record Group 405, Records of the United States Naval Academy, part of the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration. Under the terms of a special agreement with the National Archives, the Naval Academy Archives services these and other Federal records generated at the Academy. Within the Archives are stored the noncurrent records of the following:

Non-textual records include approximately 25,000 photographs depicting life at the Naval Academy from the 19th century to the present (Naval Academy Archival Images, also 10,000 available for viewing on a video laser disc); film, videotape, and audio recordings of athletic and other special events; maps illustrating the growth of the Academy; and architectural drawings, including original sketches of architect Ernest Flagg who reconstructed the Academy around the turn of the century. The Archives also houses a large collection of Alumni records containing information on their postgraduate careers.

For additional information see the article The United States Naval Academy Archives by Gary A. LaValley, USNA Archivist.

Last updated: 15 January 2008