After decades of celebrating regional and university milestones, Columbus State University’s Archives & Special Collections is celebrating its own history in 2025 as it turns 50.

Established in 1975, Columbus State’s Archives has preserved the community’s past and documented the lives and experiences of the people who call this area home.

“My colleagues and I are proud to celebrate the Archives’ impact on preserving our rich history, supporting all types of scholarly endeavors, and enriching the lives of our students and others throughout the community,” explained David Owings, director of the Archives & Special Collections and associate dean of the university’s Libraries. “With so much to celebrate, we are marking the occasion throughout 2025.”

Monthly programs will highlight the Archives’ efforts to preserve and document the history of the university, the city of Columbus and the broader Chattahoochee Valley region. They will include local history lectures, family genealogy workshops, exhibits, and specialty behind-the-scenes tours. The year-long celebration will culminate in a public birthday party in November and a dinner program in December.

Individual events will be detailed on the university’s online events calendar.

FEBRUARY’S KICKOFF EVENT

The Department of Art is exhibiting selected maps from the J. Kyle Spencer Map Collection, one of the Archives & Special Collections’ most cherished collections, now through Feb. 22 in the Corn Center’s Illges Gallery on the university’s RiverPark Campus.

On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Owings and Dr. Eric Spears will speak at a reception and gallery talk about the collection’s themes, its significance and their recently published book “Cartographic America: Selections from the J. Kyle Spencer Map Collection.” The event, also in the Illges Gallery, is open and free to the public.

Like the exhibition, the 123-page coffee table-style book draws from the best of the Spencer Map Collection and charts nearly 300 years of American historical geography from the late 1500s to the late 1800s. Both document the evolution of the Americas from European contact with indigenous peoples through the rise of colonial empires, to the formation and independence of the United States. Each map tells its own fascinating story, offering visitors a window into the past through the lens of historical geography.

MORE ABOUT THE ARCHIVES

In addition to preserving university and community history, Owings noted that students and scholars can benefit from the Archives’ other collections. These include personal and family papers, newspapers and publications, local business and civic club records, photographs, art, maps, blueprints and much more that detail life in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley.

One of its newest collections, the historic Ledger-Enquirer photography collection, debuted in November 2023. With philanthropic support, the university purchased the collection from a private collector who acquired it after the Columbus-based newspaper sold it in 2008. It includes more than 100,000 photos spanning a century of local history and news reporting.

Today, the Archives maintains more than 500 distinct collections composed of millions of documents and artifacts. Those are stored in its 5,000-plus cubic feet of climate-controlled facilities on the ground floor of the Simon Schwob Memorial Library. It is open to the public each weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the university is open. Some of its collections have been digitized and can be searched online. Limited opportunities exist for volunteers to assist staff with processing, cataloging, digitizing and preserving the Archives’ collections.

For more information, visit the Archives & Special Collections’ website.