Special Collections Research Center

This exhibit celebrates the 125th year of the founding of what is now called Appalachian State University. The digital exhibit includes highlights from the University Archives that tell the story of the important people, events, and activities that have shaped the institution over time. This exhibit mirrors "125 Years in Retrospect: A Brief Survey of the History of Appalachian State University," which is available in the display cases on the fourth floor of Belk Library and Information Commons.

Students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers.

This collection contains campus guides including detailed maps of the Appalachian State University campus buildings and parking lots. Also included is information about the university as well the town of Boone, Watauga County and Watauga County schools

This collection contains issues of the catalog from 1905 to 2007. The Appalachian State University catalogs were digitized and are hosted by DigitalNC, a statewide digitization and digital publishing program housed in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

The Appalachian Faculty Emeriti Collection showcases biographical information on the Faculty Emeriti of Appalachian State University.

The Appalachian State University Historical Photographs Collection includes over 7,000 photographs from the University Archives. You can search this collection here.

Archivists Kathy Staley and Pam Mitchem began the Appalachian State University Memory Project in 2006 to document the physical, economic, social, administrative, and academic development of Appalachian State University and its surrounding community through oral histories.

Ella W. Thompson and her husband Dr. Lloyd LeRoy Hobbs were students at Appalachian State Teachers College from 1933-1937. Their collection includes scrapbooks, plaques, yearbooks, and ephemera. Only the scrapbooks have been digitized.

This collection includes eleven photographs of images related to Appalachian State Teachers College (Appalachian State University) and Boone, N.C. The images date from 1941-1942. Mary D. Davis graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1942.

Appalachian State University’s yearbook, The Rhododendron, first went into print in 1922, when the school was called Appalachian Training School. It was released yearly until 1992. In 2004, the yearbook returned, but in 2006, production ended again. The Rhododendron was compiled and published by members of the senior class. The digitized yearbooks are hosted by DigitalNC, a statewide digitization and digital publishing program housed in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Appalachian is the student newspaper for Appalachian State University. First published in October 1934, The Appalachian has gone from weekly to bi-weekly publication and was recently awarded four marks of distinction and named an All-American newspaper by the Associated Collegiate Press. The newspaper covers campus events, student life, Appalachian State University sports, and is a forum for student opinions.