Sargent College in the BU Archives

by Kate Silfen, Health Sciences Librarian As a health sciences librarian, I spend most of my time helping researchers find current peer-reviewed articles. This past summer, I had the privilege of exploring an entirely different type of source. I spent some time exploring special collections at The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at the Boston University Libraries. The Gotlieb Archival Research Center houses the […]

Students Rescue Lost Stories with Archival Research

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a 2,000-to-3,000-word piece of narrative non-fiction about a key event in a historic figure’s life or a significant event or moment in history. The trick? This must be based on primary sources from a library’s archive.  You’ll use personal letters, handwritten diaries, government documents, […]

BU Libraries welcome Giordana Mecagni as Director of Special Collections and Archives

Giordana Mecagni joined the BU Libraries on March 30 as the Director of Special Collections and Archives, overseeing the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, University Archives, and the special collections held across the library. The special collections and archives of the BU Libraries extend from the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, which serves as the […]

Dr. Lydia Wytenbroek Selected as Inaugural Recipient of Nursing Archives Associates Archival Research Award

The Nursing Archives Associates (NAA) have selected Dr. Lydia Wytenbroek, assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, as the inaugural recipient of the NAA Archival Research Award. The award supports historical research about nursing and health care, and encourages the use of the History of Nursing Archives housed in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University Libraries for primary source […]

BU Libraries to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with community tours of King Reading Room

The Boston University Libraries join the Howard Thurman Center, the City of Boston, BU African American & Black Diaspora Studies, and BU Government & Community Affairs in inviting all to the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. The annual celebration features thoughtful and inspirational speakers and provides community members and opportunity to tour the Dr. Martin […]

From BU Today: Robert Redford’s Mysterious, and Little-Known, Tie to Boston University

Upon the passing of legendary actor and director Robert Redford last week, the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at BU Libraries invited BU Today to learn more about its Robert Redford collection and view the annotated scripts, promotional materials, personal sketches, and other materials he gave to the University. From BU Today: “The collection has over a dozen […]

BU Libraries celebrate Della Hardman Day

On July 26, the BU Libraries celebrated Della Hardman Day with the Martha’s Vineyard community. This annual celebration honors the legacy of Della Hardman—an artist, educator, author, and advocate for cultural understandingand social justice—whose papers are preserved by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at the BU Libraries. After earning her master’s degree in fine […]