We’ve digitized thousands of records from our collections, and you can see them all here! Search our Audubon prints, get acquainted with the City Photographer Collection, or just peruse the collection guides for our materials.
Welcome to Archives & Special Collections (A&SC), the archives, manuscripts, and rare books department of the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS)! Our mission is to collect, describe, and preserve our ever-growing collections in order to make them available and accessible to the Pitt community and beyond. In our collections, you’ll find historic documents, photographs, maps, rare books, newspapers, audio and video recordings, and much more.
Visit the A&SC Aeon Research Portal to create a user account so you can start requesting materials! Please check out these how to videos for help getting started with Aeon.
Using the Search Box below you can explore different areas of our collections.
Interested in the history of Pitt or archival and manuscript collections? Choose Finding Aids to Archives and Manuscripts from the drop-down menu to search the collections. In addition to documenting the history of Pitt in the University Archives, A&SC is also one of the largest archives of Western Pennsylvania history. Our manuscript collections include (but are very much not limited to) the papers of Pitt faculty, local authors, and genre defining creators.
More of a book person? A&SC houses over 130,000 rare books and printed materials that include 16th century illuminated books, 20th century underground zines, children’s books through the ages, and an abundance of horror. Choose the Rare Books and Special Collections in Pittcat option from the drop-down menu to search for rare and special books.
Digitization occurs across all areas of A&SC. To search what we’ve digitized, choose ULS Digital Collections from the drop-down menu.
Read about our efforts to address harmful, offensive, misrepresentative, and racist language in our archival collection descriptions.
Do you have questions or can’t find what you’re looking for? Please contact us so one of our expert staff members can help you.
 We’ve digitized thousands of records from our collections, and you can see them all here! Search our Audubon prints, get acquainted with the City Photographer Collection, or just peruse the collection guides for our materials. |
 Interested in more Pittsburgh history? We work in partnership with other organizations in the area, like the Heinz History Center, to bring you more content on our city. Search by institution, topic, or format to find exactly what you want. |
 Want to know what the Cathedral of Learning looked like while under construction? Maybe find yourself in your college yearbook? Or learn what Pitt students were talking about in the 1920s? It’s all here for you, from digitized yearbooks to historic photographs to a full run of the Pitt News, and much more. Hail to Pitt! |
 Don’t miss director Renzo Carbonera discussing the first-ever Italian translation and stage performance of “Jitney.” The 2023 production featured an entire cast of Black Italian actors, all of African origin. Register here to attend the event on Wednesday, October 30th. |
 The archive of the late jazz pianist acquired by the University of Pittsburgh Library System |
 In August Wilson’s works, Brenden Peifer found his family’s voices — and his own. |
 The University Library System (ULS) received a transformative $1M gift to name the Archives & Special Collections Gallery We have received a transformative $1M gift to name the Archives & Special Collections Gallery on the third floor of the newly renovated Hillman Library. This gift will allow us to enhance our distinctive collections through the acquisition and preservation of material of national and international importance and will greatly facilitate our outreach efforts in order to support Pitt’s strategic mission of community engagement and global relevance. |
 Part of the 54th Annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System and the Pitt Jazz Studies Department. Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 7p.m. - Free and open to the public! Ebenezer Baptist Church 2001 Wylie Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 |
 The University of Pittsburgh Library System received the generous gift of 130 Japanese woodblock prints from Pitt alumni Barry and Elizabeth Rosensteel, adding to their previous donations. |
 We are pleased to announce the online availability of 300+ oral histories of African American migrant and European immigrant populations to the Steel Valley! Audio oral history collections highlighting the experiences of minority communities, their lives, and their voices in Western PA from the 1970s - early 2000s are now available online, made possible through a grant from the ... more |
View our blog and sign up for our monthly newsletter featuring Horror Collection updates, Romero news, horror events, and more!
Archives & Special Collections resides in a state-of-the-art home on Hillman Library’s renovated third floor. It contains significant physical and digital exhibition space, an expansive reading room, a large classroom, and, the Text & conText Lab, a partnership between the ULS and the Center for Creativity, that allows for the exploration of text in all its forms.
Visit in person during library open hours or take a virtual tour!
Send us an email
Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) - Who We Are
A&SC at Hillman Library
320 Hillman Library
University of Pittsburgh
3960 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412-648-8190
A&SC at the Archives Service Center
7500 Thomas Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
412-648-3232
The banner features an image from the August Wilson Archive.
