Archives and Special Collections at PLU

Today's (virtual) Convocation signaled the start of the 2020-2021 academic year! In September 1963, President John F Kennedy delivered the Convocation address to a joint assembly of PLU and UPS students. He said, "This country has placed particular emphasis from its beginning, from the time of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, on educating our children, not merely to help them, but most importantly because we realized that the free, democratic system of government which places more burdens on the individual than any other system, must depend in its final analysis upon an informed citizenry, and here in these schools and colleges of this state, and the others stretching across the United States, we are trying to build and develop men and women who can maintain in a difficult and hazardous and changing world a free system of government." Welcome back, !

Student Billie Rorick's family helps with the move to campus, 1971. Welcome to our new and returning Lutes!

An ensemble of local musicians, including PLU Music Professor Carlo A. Sperati (far left), perform outside of the Parkland Mercantile Store and Post Office, circa 1897.

Aerial view of the PLU campus and Mt. Rainier, 1983.

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our new collection management system! Users can now search descriptions of our holdings and access digitized and born digital materials through a single platform. Learn more here:

Archives & Special Collections Launches New Collection Management System | Pacific Lutheran University The Archives and Special Collections has launched a new collections management system , providing users with increased access to the library’s rare and unique holdings. The system brings together descriptions of physical records, digitized materials, and born digital content held by the Archives a...

250 students, led by student organizations KWETU and STAAR (Students Taking Action Against Racism) gathered in Red Square to protest the acquittal of the four LAPD officers charged with assault and use of excessive force against Rodney King. Learn more about the Black students and organizations who have shaped PLU with this interactive timeline designed by Nayonni "Nai-Nai" Watts and Peanina "Nina" Moore (Class of 2019): https://www.plu.edu/archives/digital-exhibits-and-resources/blackplu/

Classes are over which means... it's summertime! Students Forestine Wise and Clarice Reinerston take a break to cool off at the beach while on tour with the Choir of the West, 1963.☀️🏖

While we won't be able to celebrate your accomplishments in person this weekend, we want to congratulate the PLU Class of 2020! 🎓💛🖤

Graduating students plant a tree on campus following the 1955 Commencement Ceremony. 🌳

It's the final week of classes at PLU! This semester was full of unexpected challenges, but we've almost made it to this finish line. Here, a group of Lutes enjoy the spring weather by holding class outdoors in 1975. ☀️🌷🌳

It's ! Thank you to PLU School of Nursing alumni and all of the nurses who are working so hard to save lives. Shirley Coleman Aikin, a PLU alum and Professor of Nursing, is seen here instructing two nursing students in 1981.

We've been working our way through our "to read" piles while staying at home! This pile of books is being carried by a student to the new library. In 1967, the whole PLU student body helped move books from Xavier Hall (the former library building) to the new Mortvedt Library! 📚

Who's been using all this time at home to try out some new recipes? Erin McGinnis, Head of Food Services, and Nancy Rahn, Head Cook, examine a tray of freshly baked treats, 1994. 👩‍🍳🍞🥧