Syracuse University Archives

05/21/2026

Are you familiar with the Women's Building? That brick, rectangular, mid-century campus building on Comstock Avenue? Well, it wasn't always going to look like that.

According to a book in the University Archives, 110 years ago this month, SU architecture professor Frederick Lear completed plans for the Women's Building. This 1916 postcard sketch by Lear is the only documentation the University Archives holds of those plans. Did it make you do a double take, too? In addition to the dramatically different style, it was also proposed the building be placed on the grounds of Yates Castle, facing Irving Avenue.

So here's the scoop: The Women's Building was the culmination of a 50-year struggle, starting in 1903, to construct a building for women's activities and physical education. Unlike other campus buildings, no wealthy benefactor volunteered to pay for the Women's Building, so SU women's organizations, alumnae clubs, and women students and faculty collaborated to raise the necessary funds. It took a mighty long time, including delays for two world wars and the Depression. Eventually the money was raised, and the Women's Building was completed in 1953. During the lengthy fundraising period, design plans for the building changed. Lear's proposed design is the earliest the archivists can find. The architectural drawing was likely intended to match the style of some of the older campus buildings, like Crouse College. Another proposed design from the 1940s, also shown here, echoes the architectural style of Maxwell Hall. By the time the University had enough funds to construct the Women's Building, it was the 1950s, and architectural styles were much different. And that is how we got architects Lorimer Rich and Robbins Conn's brick and clean lines, pictured here in this 1950s photograph of the Women's Building when it was completed.

To find out more historical information about the Women's Building, visit this site: https://tinyurl.com/yuchzm4f

05/10/2026

The hustle and bustle of commencement weekend have arrived! Today, the class of 2026 will join the ranks of Syracuse University alumni. As archivists, this season always gets us thinking about how commencement traditions have changed over the years. A century ago, in the 1920s, the procession wound through the campus. This image from our Syracuse University Photograph Collection shows graduates lining the pathway to the ceremony location in Archbold Gymnasium as University leadership and honorary degree recipients file in.

05/04/2026

In celebration of the upcoming commencement ceremonies this weekend, the University Archives has installed a temporary exhibition showcasing some graduation-related items from the collections. If you’re on or near campus this week, please stop by the exhibit case near Pages Café on the first floor of Bird Library and check it out!

04/29/2026

So much of what we do at the University Archives is supported by the work of our excellent graduate student employees. Over the years, they’ve gained experiencing in all sorts of areas of archival work, from researching and answering reference questions to staffing pop-up exhibitions and other events. Most of their time, however, is spent processing the collections donated to the Archives and creating finding aids to help researchers from all over the world locate and access the materials they need. In the course of that work, they learn a lot about SU’s history. Our current graduate student, Anna Shuff, recently processed the Archives’ Syracuse University School of Medicine Records and has written a blog post about its architectural history from 1872 to 1950, when it was transferred to the State University of New York system. You can read Shuff’s blog and see the terrific composite photographs she’s created at the following link: https://library.syracuse.edu/blog/the-syracuse-university-college-of-medicines-architectural-legacy/

04/23/2026

It's National Library Week! To celebrate, we're highlighting two notable librarians from Syracuse University's history: Henry O. Sibley and Mary J. O'Bryon Sibley, who met at SU, graduated in 1889, and married in 1890. Henry was appointed the first full-time librarian of the University's von Ranke Library that same year and later became an instructor of library economics from 1892 to 1900. Mary was appointed assistant of the University Library in 1892. The 1896 yearbook praised her abilities as a librarian, noting "[s]eldom, indeed, is a subject so abstruse or obscure that she cannot find something bearing upon it."

Mary was named acting University Librarian in 1904, when Henry's chronic health issues impacted his ability to perform his duties. He died the following year. Mary continued to lead the library in an "acting" capacity in addition to her work as an instructor of bibliography and library economy until her retirement in 1913.

Milestones of the Sibleys' tenure include the introduction of the Dewey Decimal System to the University's library and the construction of Carnegie Library. The images of Henry and Mary seen here come from the Archives' Syracuse University Portrait Collection and Syracuse University Yearbook Collection. Mary's timesheet and Henry's advertisement for student library employees can be found in our Syracuse University Library Henry O. and Mary J. O'Bryon Sibley Files.

04/09/2026

110 years ago this month, Syracuse University began construction on Slocum Hall. It was designed by Earl Hallenbeck, a professor in the Architecture Department, and funded by Margaret Slocum Sage, a trustee. Ground was broken in 1916, but due to labor issues, material shortages, and the influenza epidemic, the building didn’t officially open until 1919. Here are some images of Slocum Hall’s construction from the Syracuse University Photograph Collection.

03/24/2026

Happy ! Time to wave the orange flags, banners, and pennants, like this one from the University Archives’ Irene and Theodore Leverett Memorabilia Collection. !

03/20/2026

Need a Friday afternoon pick-me-up? How about learning about "The Splendid Game of Battle-Ball?" The Syracuse University Today article linked below features images from the Archives' Syracuse University Student Publications Collection and is a fun and interesting exploration of the evolution of women's athletics.

(https://news.syr.edu/2026/03/20/womens-athletics-on-campus-in-the-1890s/)

An 1895 campus newspaper article sheds light on how Syracuse's women students used sports to push back against the expectations of the times.

03/19/2026

The University Archives recently processed the Syracuse University College of Medicine Records. Syracuse University established its College of Physicians and Surgeons (later the College of Medicine) in 1872. The college remained part of SU until 1950, when it was handed over to the State University of New York (SUNY) system and became what is now known as SUNY Upstate Medical University.

The College’s first dedicated building (pictured) was a renovated carriage factory which it occupied from 1875 to 1896 (image from the Syracuse University Photograph Collection). Some particularly interesting items from the College of Medicine Records (pictured) include class and laboratory tickets, which granted students access to lectures and use of the College’s laboratory facilities, as well as a dissection ticket, which entitled a student to a set quantity of body parts to be dissected for their studies. Also present are tuition receipts, which reveal that a year’s worth of medical education in the late 1890s cost a grand total of $125!

03/05/2026

Varsity Pizza, which has long been an SU landmark, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year! The University Archives happens to have a 1940s menu from when it was originally a coffee shop. You could get a hamburger for a quarter! The archivists also found some old photos of the exterior and interior of the Varsity from the 1970s and 1980s in the Syracuse University Photograph Collection. Who has memories to share of going to the Varsity?