The Washington and Lee University Special Collections & Archives Department collects, preserves, and makes accessible materials supporting the diverse teaching and research needs of our students, faculty, staff, and the greater community. This site houses the digital exhibits curated by our students, staff, faculty, and community members. We have sorted the exhibits into two categories, Institutional History and Local History, to distinguish between to the major areas of our collection: archival records from the history of Washington and Lee University and unique and rare materials that tell the history of Lexington, Rockbridge County, and beyond.

This collection of digital exhibits is a work in progress. Please contact Mackenzie Brooks or Paula Kiser if you encounter any technical errors. Contact the Special Collections staff with questions about the materials and items contained within these exhibits.

For descriptive information about the holdings of Special Collections and Archives, view our Finding Aids.

For digital collections of archival material and current scholarship, visit the Digital Archive.

Recent Exhibits

  • Military Life and Veterans

    The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at W&L was founded in 1950 and lasted until 1990. During the 40 years of its history, the ROTC program made up a significant part of the student body and culture on campus, and veterans make up a sizeable amount of W&L alumni today. This research portal contains primary sources pertaining to W&L veterans and the ROTC program, including newspaper articles, interviews with veterans and alumni, and faculty letters.

  • Sisters at the Loom: A Baer Family Legacy

    In 1832, in Panther Gap, near Goshen, Anna Baer wove a bed coverlet for her family. She saved the pattern she used, along with twenty others she and her sisters had collected. Nearly two hundred years later, a group of handweavers has produced a set of textiles from those patterns. The materials created by modern weavers have been added to the Baer family collection.
  • SABU students

    Student Association for Black Unity (SABU)

    The Student Association for Black Unity (SABU) was founded in the winter of 1971 and has continued to evolve with campus culture over the last 50 years. This research guide contains materials that focus on the inception of S.A.B.U. (1971-1985) and its connection with the present campus community.
  • Black Awareness Week poster at Rollins College

    Pathways to Diversity

    Four institutions (Centre, Furman, Rollins, and W&L) account for their history on their own pathways to diversity.