The Dana Hall School Archives is located in the Nina Heald Webber 1949 Archives Room in the Helen Temple Cooke Library. The Archives houses a wide range of materials, dating from just prior to the founding of the school in 1881 to the present. Materials include collections of non-current institutional records, such as minutes and reports of boards, departments, and administrative offices, as well as maps, plans, and notes about individual buildings and the campus. Publications by and about the school are also collected, including, catalogs, bulletins, yearbooks, literary magazines, and student newspapers. Other collections are scrapbooks, clothing, and letters and other papers of students and faculty members. The Archives also houses audiovisual materials such as photographs, films, and audio and video tapes of student performances, lectures, school ceremonies, traditions, and other events.
Although access to the Archives is restricted and items may not be borrowed, originals or facsimiles of materials from the collections are available for use by both off-campus researchers and members of the Dana Hall community. Research requests may be submitted to the Archivist, Dorothy DeSimone, by phone (781-235-3010 x2582), mail, or email (archives@danahall.org). Dana Hall School faculty members are encouraged to use items from Archives collections in class sessions and research projects. Use of materials by classes and other groups must be arranged with a member of the library staff, at least one week in advance by email (library@danahall.org). In most instances, classes or other groups will meet in the library classroom or the Archives Group Study room to use original materials. At the discretion of the Archivist, some materials may be photocopied or digitized for use in other locations.
The Digital Public Library of America contains millions of digitized text, images, sounds, and movies from America’s libraries, museums, and archives — including the Dana Hall Archives!