Poster Collection

Collection

Identifier: RG 46

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Poster Collection ranges from 1877 to the present, with the bulk concentrated from the 1970s on. The collection documents college and department-specific events, student activities and activism, and gender identity and sexuality on campus. It also includes some posters from certain personal paper groups. The posters are foldered and housed according to their sizes, and thus some subjects will be held in several different flat files or boxes. The Subject Guide to Posters lists subjects in alphabetical order with the locations of the posters in those subjects. An older, more detailed inventory exists that can be requested, but posters are no longer being described at the item level.

The collection has not been digitized in its entirety. A small number were photographed in connection with specific digital projects accessible from the Library or Archives websites.

Dates

Creation: 1877 - 2024
Creation: Majority of material found within 1970 - 2024

Creator

Oberlin College (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions.

Extent

49.99 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

Most of the posters came to the Archives informally as transfers from departments or as discrete donations. History faculty members Geoffrey Blodgett, Carol Lasser and Gary Kornblith collected and donated significant posters. Screenprint posters made by students immediately after the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 were given by Paul Arnold, former art professor and printmaker. Seven formal accessions were made between 2000-2017. Archives staff have endeavored to collect posters on campus from time to time for continuity of documentation; however, this activity is limited by available flat storage space.