Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections

The VSU Archives and Special Collections supports the University’s commitment to scholarly and creative work, enhances instructional effectiveness, encourages faculty scholarly pursuits, and supports research in selective areas of institutional strength focused on regional need by collecting, preserving, and providing access to records of enduring historical value documenting the history and development of VSU and the surrounding South Georgia region and in support of VSU curriculum.

Before visiting or contacting the VSU Archives and Special Collections, please read our Usage Policy. 

For information on how to make donations, please see our Policies and Procedures.

Special Collections

Our special collections houses rare books relating to Georgia and South Georgia history, books by Georgia authors, books by Valdosta State faculty, books on architecture, geology, and old records, as well as Valdosta State theses and dissertations, and more. You can search our Special Collections on Gil-Find.

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NEWS & UPDATES

Professor to Speak about a Lifetime in the Performing Arts

VALDOSTA—Creative expression knows no boundaries or limits, as Professor Eric Brandt Nielsen shows in his memoir Showboy to Showman: A Lifetime in the Performing Arts.

Nielsen, Professor Emeritus of dance at Valdosta State University, will give a reading and presentation about his life and book at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, September 18, in VSU’s Odum Library Auditorium. The event, sponsored by Odum Library and the VSU Archives and Special Collections, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will follow.

Nielsen dedicated 30 years to developing the dance program and founding the VSU Repertory Dancers. His distinguished performance career spans from show dancing at the MGM Grand Hotel in Reno, Nevada, to performing with numerous ballet companies across the United States. He earned a BFA in Theatre and an MFA in Modern Dance Choreography from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. In addition to his academic contributions, he is an accomplished director and choreographer with an impressive forty consecutive summer stock seasons in musical Theatre.

Nielsen’s career includes extensive international exchanges and study abroad programs in Russia, China, Great Britain, and Hungary. As an author, he received acclaim for his award-winning book, Dance Auditions: Preparation, Presentation, and Career Planning, and was honored with the Dance Educator of the Year Award by the Georgia Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (GAHPERD).

Currently, Professor Nielsen continues to share his expertise as an online English tutor for international students and performs annually in Valdosta's production of The Nutcracker.

Along with the presentation, the VSU Archives and Special Collections is hosting a display of works associated with Nielsen’s career, including performance programs, correspondence, and memorabilia included in the papers he donated to the Archives.

Copies of Showboy to Showman: A Lifetime in the Performing Arts will be available for sale and signing at the event. For more information about the event, contact Douglas Carlson at the VSU Archives and Special Collections at <a href="mailto:drcarlson@valdosta.edu">drcarlson@valdosta.edu</a> or 229-333-7150.

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New: Frank McCall Jr. Architectrual Blueprints Collection

The Frank McCall Architectural Collection documents the career and contributions of Frank McCall, a prominent architect based in Moultrie, Georgia. The collection includes architectural drawings, project files, photographs, and correspondence that reflect McCall’s significant impact on regional architecture.

Community Archives, Digitization, Access, and Preservation Partnership

Together we can preserve and document the rich history of South Georgia by digitizing a portion of your holdings, making them available through online repositories at the Valdosta, state, and national levels, and providing long-term security with digital items preserved in a state-of-the-art digital preservation system. Your materials stay in their local homes for community access but will be widely available. You will be able to tell the stories of our area to a national audience. For more information click here: https://archives.valdosta.edu/online_exhibits/community-archives/index.html

NEW COLLECTION: VALDOSTA DAILY TIMES PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION

The Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections has recently acquired 50 years of the Valdosta Daily Times photo archive in negative form, from the 1960's through 2010. There are 29 boxes, stacked in two rows of three, three levels each. Each box holds 90" of negatives. This is a huge addition to our archive. Materials are being described into a database by student assistants and interns, assigned a unique number, and filed under that number in fiche and media cabinets.

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NEW COLLECTION: GEORGIA ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC PROPERTIES SURVEY

In coordination with the Lowndes County Historical Society the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections is currently digitizing the Georgia Architectural and Historic Properties Survey.

The Georgia Historic Resources Survey of Lowndes County was a project by the Valdosta Heritage Foundation beginning in 2000. The collection consists of property survey of historic structures in Valdosta, Quitman, rural Brooks County and the Turner County towns of Rebecca and Sycamore. The historic properties surveys were created between 1980-1981 by the South Georgia Area Planning and Development Commission.