Forrer Learning Commons

10/23/2026

October is Virginia Archives Month! Each year, institutions across Virginia celebrate preservation and sharing of our unique and historic primary sources. This year's theme is "Remember Me: Death and Memorial in the Archives".

BC Special Collections contributed the (admittedly macabre) historical image (here in blue and behind it) that was selected to showcase this year's collaborative effort!

Learn about "Der Todtentanz" art folio from which this image was taken: https://bridgewater.pastperfectonline.com/library/EEB4D9E2-8FC0-481E-8C9E-894533351640
Learn more about Virginia Archives Month: https://www.lva.virginia.gov/events/vam/2026
Learn more about the work of The Robert R. Newlen '75 & John C. Bradford Special Collections at Bridgewater College: https://libguides.bridgewater.edu/specialcollections/collections

[Image is a banner announcing Virginia Archives Month 2026. It shows historic images of an angel leading an army, an old church with a graveyard and two images from "Dr. Todentanz", an 1880s art folio of Danse Macabre illustrations from the 1600s.]

10/16/2026

10/05/2026

Special Collections thanks librarian Vickie Montiquad-Green and student employees Saint, Cornelius and Emmanuel, who converted hundreds of archival photographs on CD to cloud storage. We love it when archival images are made searchable and accessible!

Among them is this September 2006 photograph showing a helicopter hovering over the BC soccer field to dry it after heavy rains!

09/24/2026

The Robert R. Newlen '75 & John C. Bradford Special Collections is practicing scanning archival slides. It is still a work in progress. Here are some favorite ones so from the 1990s. Do you see anyone who you know?
1- Three friends, 1998 or 1999
2- A Spiritual Life retreat?, 1998 or 1999
3- Men's Basketball team members doing aquarobics, 1992

09/14/2026

The annual Shenandoah Valley Archives Fair will be at JMU's Carrier Library on Wed Oct 14 from 11am to 1pm.

Don't miss this chance to explore local history, genealogy, public history careers and more.

More than 14 archives, including Bridgewater College, will be there!

09/03/2026

We are bringing you the Eagle! Join Special Collections at Homecoming 2026 for a new exhibit exploring all things BC Eagle and Ernie!

[J. Smith Homecoming 1955 photograph of a vintage car, probably carrying Homecoming court representatives. The car tows a float with a giant BC Eagle.]

07/06/2026

Special Collections is already working on our Homecoming exhibit. This will be a fun one! Can you guess the subject?

05/19/2026

Ready for a summer getaway? If you were a local Brethren family in the early 1900s, you might be headed to Black Rock Springs in Augusta County, Virginia. The resort is now in ruins and is part of Shenandoah National Park. But in its heyday, local families traveled there to take the mineral waters and vacation at the hotel or even in summer cottages that they had built. Before that, the mineral springs were an important location for the Indigenous People who traveled to them for 1000s of years. Here are Grandfather Samuel Driver and Grandson Carl Samuel Driver at Black Rock Springs around 1905 in a newly digitized photograph from BC Special Collections.

04/30/2026

May Term hours for 2026!

04/16/2026

Bridgewater College Special Collections intern Sebastian Kochall '26 and Special Collections Librarian Stephanie Gardner installed a temporary exhibit about Bridgewater College's history in Bridgewater's Old Town Hall/ Historical Society yesterday. Visit to see a campus history video created by Sebastian and fun BC memorabilia selected by Special Collections volunteer Jadaya Hollins '27 and Stephanie!