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About the Colorado School of Mines History Archive
Mines: Your History, Your Story
The Mines History Archive tells the story of the School's rich history through its collections of publications, photographs, autobiographies, artifacts, and more.
Our collections represent the years from the beginnings of the School of Mines to today--it doesn't have to be "old" to tell Mines' story.
Want to be a part of history? Want to tell your story or the story of your organization? Share by donating your Mines items!
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Special Collections & Archives This link opens in a new windowFor information on using the Collections, donating, Digital Archives and more.
Related Guides & Resources
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Mines Magazine This link opens in a new windowDigital versions of Mines Magazine, 1910-present
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Library Catalog - Colorado School of Mines This link opens in a new window
Search the library's catalog for physical and electronic resources to find books, articles, maps, videos, and more. -
Mines Repository This link opens in a new window
The Mines Institutional Repository is a database designed to store, index, distribute, and preserve the scholarship of faculty, researchers, staff, and students of the School in digital form. It provides free, worldwide open access to scholarly and administrative works produced by or about the Colorado School of Mines. -
Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) currently includes more than 880,000 digitized pages, representing over 200 individual newspaper titles published in Colorado primarily from 1859 to 1923.
Using the Archive's Materials
Colorado School of Mines history reflects a larger, changing world through its publications, historical records, and primary source materials. Topics to explore include:
- Student organizations and the role they play on campus
- Athletics in Colorado institutions of higher education
- Women in engineering
- Environmentalism and the mineral industries
- Education and educators
- Student humor
- Diversity and the presence of under-represented groups in university and professional life
- War and the military in campus life
- How students choose to depict themselves
- Art and culture in the Mines community
- Technology and how it shapes education
When using Archive materials, consider:
What is the original purpose of the item? What was the intended audience?
What don't you see? What viewpoints aren't represented? When do societal concerns -- for example the environment, economics, global conflicts, women students' influence -- appear?
What would be "normal" for the time? What were the attitudes of that period? That doesn't make something right or wrong, but it helps frame events peoples' reactions.
How did School publications evolve? For example, the Prospector yearbook began in 1912--How did it change with the times? Why?
