Manuscripts and Archives

Harvard Divinity School Library holds over 5,000 linear feet of archival material, including letters, diaries, photographs, and drafts. We collect this material in paper, audiovisual, and digital formats.

As the official repository for the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and Beacon Press, the collections are particularly strong in the Unitarian Universalist (UU) tradition, and also include UU ministers' papers, the records of UU congregations, and the records of UU-affiliated groups.

Beyond the UU tradition, we collect the papers of Harvard Divinity School faculty, select records of Harvard Divinity School, and the records of other religious organizations and individuals.

Martha and Waitstill Sharp waving as they leave for Europe (bMS 1446/198)

An array of colorful diaries kept by Universalist missionary, Quillen Shinn (bMS 510/1)

Photograph of Indian spiritual leader, Anandamayi (bMS 556/11)

For a comprehensive search of all of the HDS Library's archival collections, try a Divinity Library-targeted search on HOLLIS for Archival Discovery.