Archives and Special Collections
Madigan Library: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. | Reference Desk: noon-7 p.m.
The Penn College Archives is the repository for the historical records of The Pennsylvania College of Technology and its predecessors The Williamsport Technical Institute and The Williamsport Area Community College. Its primary purpose is to document and preserve College history and to make that history accessible to administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, members of the community and researchers. Although the materials contained in the College Archives document the history and operation of the institution, they can also provide valuable information on the history of the City of Williamsport particularly during the Depression era and the beginning of World War II.
Scheduling Appointments
Penn College Archives and Special Collections are available to the public by appointment only. To make an appointment, or for any questions, please contact us through one of the following methods:
- E-mail: archives@pct.edu
- Phone: 570-320-2400, ext. 7923
Papers & Publications of WTI, WACC, and Penn College
- Montage Yearbooks (WACC 1968 - 1983),
- La Memoire Williamsport High School (1949, 1957, 1958, 1963 - 1970, 1972, 1973)
- News clippings (1940 - 1945, 1967 - 1984)
- College catalogs (WTI - 1950, 1952 - 1955, 1962 - 1964, WACC 1965 - 1988, PCT 1989 - 2006)
- Spotlight, the W.A.C.C. student newspaper, 1966-1987.
- Agenda and minutes of Governance committees
- Penn College Oral History
- Williamsport Technical Institute Oral History
- Photographs
- Williamsport Technical Institute Photographs
- Annual Reports
- Blueprints/Plans/Drawing
- Schedule of Classes
- Publications (Communique - 1983 to 1997, New Week News - 1984 to 1999, One College Avenue - 1991 to present, PC This Week - 2000 to 2001, Spotlight 1966 to 1989)
- Videos of College Productions
- Press releases (May 1990 - August 1996)
Personal Papers
- Kenneth Carl Collection
- Edwin Dorris Collection
- Hugh MacMullan Collection
- George Parkes Collection
- William Homisak Collection
- James Logue Collection
- Clarence Bierman Collection
The College Mace
The mace is a symbol of authority long used by colleges and universities in
commencement exercises to symbolize the power and authority of higher
education. The mace, originally a medieval club used as a weapon of war, can
also be seen as a staff or scepter. In fourteenth-century universities, the
mace was often used to restore order when debates between students and
faculty became particularly heated.
The Penn College mace was designed by Frederick T. Gilmour, an alumnus and former employee of the college. The following description is taken from the 1985-1986 Annual Report of the Williamsport Area Community College:
"The base of the mace is formed by 16 fasces bound together by leather thongs. Above the fasces is a walnut cylinder in which 15 semi-precious stones are set. A hexagonal insignia block--featuring a stainless steel engraving on each face--is above the cylinder. The engravings featured are a key, a set of paired gears, an oscilloscope pattern, a micrometer, a divider and a laurel branch. Atop the insignia block is a chrome-plated polyhedron. Capping the mace is an open book.”
The Penn College mace is carried at the head of the commencement procession by the president of the Penn College Education Association.
Special Collections
Collection Development Policy for Archives & Special Collections
- David Cunningham Collection
- Autographed Cookbooks
- Local history
- Graphic Design
- Penn College Authors
- Prints from Block & Burin magazine
- Pennsylvania Census 1790- 1880 (Microfilm)
- Sanborn Maps for Williamsport 1891, 1912, 1950 (Microfilm)
About Archives & Archivists
Local Newspapers
Links to Local Archives
- Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission: Oral History Resources
- Lycoming College Archives
- Bucknell University Special Collections
- Lock Haven University Archives
