Rare and Distinctive Collections

Congratulations to all of our graduating Buffs today! Your academic achievements are part of over 140 years of CU boulder history…a history that is five months older than the state of Colorado! To learn more about other graduates and

Meritt W. Stark, MD (1916-1996) graduated from CU Medical School and was a pediatrician in Denver before joining the Volunteer Physicians in South Vietnam for 2 months in 1967. He returned to South Vietnam as a public health physician in 1969 and

Are you a True Crime junkie? Did you know that CU has its own unsolved mystery in its history? Thomas Riha, a Russian History professor at CU disappeared from his home In March of 1969, and has never been found. The mystery involves Riha's divorce

How many degrees are you planning on earning? Ever thought about combining two very different disciplines to get an M.D. and a Geology degree while becoming dean of college? Dr. William Page Harlow did just that!Born November 14, 1867, he was

Are you ready to finish strong?  The above image of students studying during finals week is from 1933 at Norlin Library. This image can be found in the A.A. and Laurence Paddock Photo/Negative Collection.    While looking for the "

Alpha Tau Omega, ATO, is a fraternity that was founded in Richmond, Virginia on September 11, 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. Many famous people have belonged to this fraternity including some notables like Teamster's President, Jimmy Hoffa; NFL Head

Happy Reading Day! Need help studying? Maybe try one of these “reading accelerators” like a metronoscope (in use in the above photo), controlled reader, or tachitoscope, which were used to increase reading retention rates.Officially, the reading

 Walter Orr Roberts (1915-1990) was a renowned astrophysicist whose pioneering work on the sun's corona produced data on the sun's temperature, brightness and atomic makeup, and demonstrated the link between solar flares and weather patterns on

The Roger G. Barry Archive at National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has over 50,000 photographs of glaciers. From glass plate negatives taken in 1890 to chromogenic prints taken in 2017. These documents allow for landscape and glacier

In 1911, the women of the University of Colorado had decided the time was right for a major campus building of their own, one with parlors, bedrooms, a dining room and a gymnasium. To raise money, the CU Women’s League planned a spring festival