Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections is the repository for the archives and papers of institutions and individuals representing such diverse subject areas as literary manuscripts, the history of science and technology, the history of Cleveland Public Housing and fine and performing arts.
Special Collections is also home to the archival collections of the Cleveland Play House, SPACES Gallery, Performance Art Festival (PAF) and Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa). Fine arts materials exist within larger collections as well, such as the WPA (Work Project Administration) prints in the Ernest J. Bohn Housing and Planning Library.
Special Collections autograph letter collections reflect the interests of the donors and consist primarily of 18th - 20th-century English-language letters written by notable individuals in politics, literature and the arts including Mms. de Sévigné, Voltaire, George III, Virginia Woolf, Sherwood Anderson, and John Steinbeck among others.
Browse ArchivesSpace, for finding aids describing our manuscript and autograph collections.
Make a request to view Special Collections materials by appointment or make a photoduplication request by logging in or creating an Aeon account.
View digitized Special Collections materials in Digital Case.
Introduce special collections, archives, primary sources, and their handling and use with modules available through KSL’s Instruction Hub.