Archives & Special Collections

 

Welcome to the Archives and Special Collections!

Washington College has a long history of collecting and preserving primary resources. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and members of the Chestertown community have collected many of the materials in the archives to support research. Items have been placed in the library for long-term preservation and wider availability. Stop by and visit when you are on campus. 

An Account of Washington College

Written by the College’s first president, William Smith, it provides the most detailed and reliable account of the founding of Washington College available. For the accurate detail it provides on the chartering, endowment, board and faculty, and first Commencement, Smith’s Account is a unique document on the founding of a college in Federal America, without parallel among the dozen or more colleges founded in the United States at the end of the eighteenth century. Read it here in our digital archives. 

The Miller Library Archives Collection is dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Kohl Sr., P’ 85.

The Washington College seal is based on a design believed to have been created by Charles Wilson Peale’s daughter Elizabeth, who taught at the college in the late 1700s.

Have questions or need help?

Archives Collection Research Request Form

Our Team:  Lindsay%20Sheldon,  Director of Archives and Technical Services