Skip to Main Content

UAH Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives

Archives, Special Collections and Digital Initiatives

 

 

 

Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives collects, organizes, preserves, and makes accessible materials of enduring value that support the research strengths of the university. The University Archives houses materials which document the history of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Special Collections focus on the following areas: the history of aerospace, flight and space, science fiction literature, local and regional politics, and the history and culture of Alabama’s Tennessee River Valley. ASCDI seeks to be one of the nation’s preeminent locations for space history research. The unit also works collaboratively with students, staff and faculty to support the creation of, access to, and preservation of digital scholarship.

The unit seeks to play a role in the broader research community by building collections in areas not well covered by other repositories. Consequently, Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives draws visiting scholars to the campus, builds digital communities to engage and educate the public, and enhances the overall reputation of UAH as a center for research and scholarship.

 

Our collection contains:

  • Over 160 archival collections
  • Over 1200 linear feet of material which document individuals and programs related to space history; major collections include:
    • Saturn V
    • Apollo
    • David Christensen
    • Konrad Dannenberg
    • Walter Jacobi
    • Charles A. Lundquist
    • Gerhard Reisig
  • Over 800 linear feet of the Congressional Papers of Robert "Bob" Jones and Robert "Bud" Cramer.
  • Local history collections including those of:
    • The Dallas Manufacturing Company
    • Goldsmith-Schiffman Family
    • Harrison Brothers Hardware
    • Harvie Jones
    • Frances Roberts
  • An extensive collection of science fiction monographs circa 1920-present.
  • Over 13,000 Special Collections monographs in English, German, and Russian which focus on aerospace, science fiction, space history, and local history. 
  • The UAH Historical Collection, which includes the papers of Philip Mason, Ben Graves, and Rudolf Hermann. 
  • 100 plus oral history interviews which focus on space history.