Instructional Resources
Are you looking for a unique way to engage students in research? Dig into Benedictine University’s history and get your class involved with the archives. We offer assistance to your students whether they are working in the archives for class-wide assignments or on individual assignments.
The Benedictine University Archives houses a number of collections that are useful for course projects. We encourage faculty to contact the archives to discuss materials that are relevant to and available for assignments. Please contact us to schedule a class visit at either (630) 829-6064 or [email protected]. Below are some examples of how the archives might be used for research projects and/or class visits.
Individual Research
The archives holds a number of collections that may be useful for your own research:
Committee Minutes – Are you serving on a committee and need access to committee minutes? The archives has extensive holdings for college committees.
Departmental Histories – The archives has formal written histories for some departments, as well as collections with materials that can be used to research curriculum offerings, majors/minors, and more.
Photographs – A wide selection of photographs suitable for public relations and exhibits are available in the archives. High resolution digital scans of most of these are available by request. Browse our digital collections for a sampling.
See our finding aids for detailed descriptions of our collections.
Student Services
The collections in the Benedictine University Archives contain many resources that are helpful for academic, co-curricular, and personal uses.
Primary Source Research
The Archives is an excellent resource for papers and projects. Because our collections contain unique materials, you are likely to not only find interesting topics for your research, but also intriguing resources to study.
Student Organizations
Are you involved in a student organization? Come to the archives to investigate the history of your organization or contact an archivist at [email protected] to discuss preserving the history of your organization.
Programming
Are you involved in Residential Life, Orientation, Homecoming, or other campus activities? The Archives has a number of resources to bring the history of the college alive for bulletin boards, scavenger hunts, and more.
Family History Research
Are there other Eagles in your family? The archives is a useful resource to track down relatives who attended Benedictine University, St. Procopius, or Illinois Benedictine College, including lists of matriculated students, student publications, and more.
Community Services
General
The Benedictine University Archives staff is eager to assist our community. In addition to providing reference services and research assistance for all interested in university and regional history and our collections, we are available for presentations on local history and archival topics. We are also available to work with local organizations, such as churches and historical societies, to offer guidance and assistance in preserving archival materials.
K-12 Classroom Visits
We welcome visits from elementary and secondary students so that they can experience archival documents and processes at an early age. Archival literacy benefits these students in understanding the role of primary sources in research, as well as the wide array of materials available for research purposes. In recent years, the Archives has provided archival materials for students involved in the National History Day project for both individual research projects and entire classes.
Family History
If you have family members who attended Benedictine University, Illinois Benedictine College, St. Procopius College, Springfield College in Illinois, or Springfield Junior College, the Archives has several resources to assist you in your genealogical research including lists of former students and alumni, yearbooks, newspapers, and, in some cases, photographs.
Please contact us for more information.