Harvard University Archives Photograph Collections

This research guide provides a broad, though not exhaustive, introduction to the Harvard University Archives’ vast photographic collections. With materials dating from the early 19^th century to the present, these collections are comprised of photographic materials of varied formats and subject matters. Photographic prints, slides, contact sheets, and negatives document Harvard’s buildings and campus, academic activities, student life, and athletics.

Where possible, this guide provides links to online finding aids to those collections cataloged in HOLLIS for Archival Discovery, the online catalog for materials in Harvard's many special collections and archives. Within these finding aids, one will find that many photographs are digitized and available for download. If online finding aids do not exist, the guide provides links to collection-level records from HOLLIS, the online library catalog of the Harvard Library. 

The collections enumerated in this guide, roughly spanning the years 1825 to 2004, are broken down into the four following categories:

• Topical photograph collections
• Harvard University News Office photographs
• Harvard Athletics photographs
• Class albums and yearbooks