Finding aid for the University of Akron Photographs

Scope and Content

The University of Akron Photographs visually document the development of the university, from its beginnings as Buchtel College in 1870 until its modern-day status as a state university. The records are organized into three series: Series I: Photographs, Indexed; Series II: Photographs; and Series III: Negatives. The photographs depict individual students and faculty members as well as special events, student life, and the campus landscape. Images of academic departments and administrative units are also included. Few images exist in the record group that relate to the City of Akron and local history. Researchers will find many aspects of the university depicted in the photographs; however the date range is uneven in its scope and coverage.

Overlap exists between the date ranges within the series. Researchers will need to search in all three series to locate a particular subject. Series III includes many images in negative format that correspond to a positive print in Series II; however there are different images between the two series.

Series Description

Series I: Photographs, Indexed, 1854-1974 Series I contains the earliest photographs of the university, including those from Buchtel College. Subjects include buildings, individual students and faculty, athletics, and special events. This series also includes a limited number of photographs of downtown Akron and local residences. Photographs were identified by subject, numbered, and indexed by archives/library staff. An extensive subject controlled index is available in card catalog format in Archival Services. This series is arranged numerically according to index number.

Series II: Photographs, 1872-2004 This series includes photographs of the university from 1872 to 2004. These photographs depict participation in campus events, variations of student life, and changes to the campus landscape. The bulk of the photographs were taken by Akron area freelance photograph Lewis Tobias of Tobias Studio. Other photographers include Robert J. Wilkey, Jim Maguire, the Akron Beacon Journal staff, and the Fred Tambling Studio. Copyright of these images remains with the photographer. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series III: Negatives, 1952-1987 The accession of more than 200,000 negatives was donated in 1984 by freelance photographer Lewis Tobias. The images depict university events, faculty, staff, and students beginning in 1952. An inventory is available in Archival Services. This series is arranged numerically according to negative number.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on use; except not available through interlibrary loan.

John Ashley University Photographs; News Services, Office of Records; University Publications (RG 41)

Oversized photographs are noted on inventory. Oversized photographs are located in separate boxes and in the Map Files.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], University of Akron Photographs, Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

Series I and II are an artificial collection of photographs from various sources including campus administrative offices and individual photographers. The negatives (Series III) were donated to Archival Services by Akron area photographer Lewis Tobias in 1984.

Detailed Description of The Collection