“… IT WAS AMAZING. It’s so neat to think that we have these primary documents available to us as students. That makes PC a small school with big resources.” “Holding a piece of history in one’s hands, she said, makes the researcher believe that everyone can be a part of it.” “I guess that’s why I like history so much,” The experience gave her a greater appreciation for both history – and PC. - Whitney Harrison

Presbyterian College’s archives and special collections pose an interesting dichotomy. Obviously, it is a place devoted to preserving history, which means there are items there that are old. On the other hand, the valued materials are housed in a new, state-of-the-art facility – and that has “future” written all over it.

Dedicated last fall, the new three-story, 19,000 square foot Russell-Arnold Archives was part of a $4.5 million project to renovate and expand the James H. Thomason Library where the archives and special collections are held.

At the dedication ceremony last fall, 1973 alumnus Andy Douglas – a college trustee and a leading contributor to the library project – praised the “phenomenal” new addition.

“I’m thrilled about the way we’re able to show these exhibits now,” he stated.

“Before, they were in a room in the old part of the library. Now, we can take care of them and be good stewards of the things that have been left to us and provide a place for scholars to come in and study them.” This is just as Dr. Ernest J. Arnold, a 1936 graduate of PC, envisioned. Arnold and his wife, Frances, have long supported the college as benefactors of the Russell Program and the annual Arnold Symposium. They also held an historic collection of Civil War era artifacts, manuscripts and books belonging to Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and generations of his extended family that now has found its permanent home at PC.

The Jackson-Arnold Collection joins the college’s other special collections – including the library of college founder William Plumer Jacobs; a sizeable collection of religious pamphlets and literature; and an interesting textile-era collection bequeathed to the college by Clinton’s Bailey family.

As Douglas pointed out during the rededication of the library facilities, the collection provides the college more than an opportunity to preserve history. In the hands of scholars, he said, the collection provides opportunities for history to come alive to new generations.

Associate professor of history Dr. Anita Gustafson already has made good use of the college’s special collections in her History of the South class. In the Russell-Arnold Archives, she has found antebellum pamphlets, published sermons, editorials, and Bible society tracts from the mid-19th century South.

“Some of the materials would be considered questionable by today’s standards,” she said, “but they do provide an interesting reflection of pre-Civil War attitudes in the South. In the class, I assign each student a different pamphlet and have him or her do research and write about it. Having these collections available to our students is a pretty significant research tool and gives them a great sense of the history and culture of the period. It’s also a great opportunity for them to use primary documents in their student research.”

Gustafson said she hopes her colleagues in the faculty will also take advantage of the college’s archives and special collections.

“The new facility is much more accessible,” she said. “There are great resources there and it’s a wonderful place to work.”

One of Gustafson’s students, recent graduate Whitney Harrison, put the college’s archives to good use on her honors research project – a research paper on the history of female students at Presbyterian College. Reading original letters, minutes from the board of trustee meetings, and old issues of The Blue Stocking, Harrison learned a great deal about the history of her alma mater, and the attitudes of history’s participants.

Not only did Harrison – who graduated last spring and is now a law student at the University of South Carolina – have an opportunity to read a letter written by a group of women during the 1960s, but also she was able to meet and interview some of the women who signed it.
“They were kind of feisty,” she said. “I got to see some of the coolest stuff – stuff that was written in favor of co-education and some written by men who were against it. … It was amazing. It’s so neat to think that we have these primary documents available to us as students. That makes PC a small school with big resources.”

“Holding a piece of history in one’s hands, she said, makes the researcher believe that everyone can be a part of it.”

“I guess that’s why I like history so much,” Harrison said.

The experience gave her a greater appreciation for both history and PC, she said.
“This project gave me a greater appreciation for what PC is, where PC has been, and where it’s going,” Harrison said. “It was a great experience doing hands-on research and I know it’s making a difference for me in law school.”