The following collections have been selected as primary source collections that may be of interest to students who have majors related to the Social Sciences. Please note, University Archives and Special Collections offers a plethora of primary source collections that can be used for any research project or assignment.
America in the Depression Years CollectionConsisting of 450 photo slides, the images in the collection were chosen from the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information Collections in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Photographed between 1935 and 1943, the original educational slide set was produced in 1979. The images encompass the entirety of the continental United States with five photographs taken in Florida. Work camps, homeless populations, ghost towns, Japanese Internment Camps, and agricultural communities are only some of the subjects that are the focus of the collection.
Aquila: The FGCU Student Research JournalAquila: The FGCU Student Research Journal publishes exceptional student scholarships from all academic disciplines and levels of study at Florida Gulf Coast University. The journal is published each year and contains research from students across many different disciplines.
Historic Newspaper CollectionThis collection contains newspapers from various organizations, businesses, service-oriented agencies, historical societies, schools, and businesses in Southwest Florida. The newspapers include Hendry County News, The Fort Myers Press, The Florida Flambeau, The Community Press, and others.
The Koreshan Collection presents materials that represent the daily life of the Koreshan settlement in Southwest Florida. Founded by Dr. Cyrus Teed, the Koreshan Unity was a faith-based group that quickly grew into a self-reliant township complete with a functioning economy and source of electricity. In 1961, the remaining members donated the land site to the State of Florida for historic preservation. The Koreshan State Park is open to the public.
The Lee County Black History Society collects material related to the history of the Black community in Southwest Florida. FGCU Archives and Special Collections works with the Lee County Black History Society to digitize and make their materials available online. Learn more about LCBHS at https://www.leecountyblackhistorysociety.org/.
Dr. William R. Maples (1937-1997) was a world renowned forensic anthropologist, who oversaw the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The collection includes images, documents, personal papers, and field notes pertaining to many of his high-profile cases, including the case of Francisco Pizarro, President Zachary Taylor, Joseph Merrick, and the Romanov Family.
An oral history interview is a type of historical research that takes place through a recorded interview between a narrator and a historian. Our oral history collections provide first-hand experience of events and life in Southwest Florida. We also have oral histories that specifically document the history of Florida Gulf Coast University.
The collection covers various racial and social justice movements that span from the late 1800s to the present related to women and gender issues, Civil Rights, LGBTQIA+, immigration, American labor, and radical movements. Please note that language is a constantly evolving construct, so keywords subject headings attributed to materials may be considered unacceptable by contemporary and future standards and social norms. Our intent is to preserve the historical record which may include harmful language when viewed through a 21st-century lens. Modifying, the language would be an act of erasure of the creators’ lived experience.
Zine CollectionZines, derived from magazines, are alternative publications constructed using inexpensive, easily accessible materials. Zines, as a genre, have historically been used by political, social, and counterculture movements to easily and inexpensively proliferate information. The collection has a strong focus on sexual assault, women's studies, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Note that language is a constantly evolving construct and therefore the tags, keywords, and subject headings attributed to the zines may be considered unacceptable by contemporary and future standards as well as social norms. The archives intent is to preserve the historical record which may include harmful language when viewed through a 21st century lens. To modify the language would be an act of erasure of the lived experience of the creator.
