The Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation at the University of Rochester is located in Rush Rhees Library. Our collections span a range of subjects and time periods. They include manuscripts, audio and visual material, books and serials, letters, diaries, photographs, ephemera, personal and business records, architectural drawings, maps, and more.
The Chester Carlson Family Papers include a correspondence exchanged between Carlson and his relatives from 1951-1968, as well as letters written to the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory from 1956-1968. Perhaps most significant are the materials related to patents that Carlson developed and his writings about xerography. The collection also includes Carlson's personal journals written from 1931-1968. There are also speeches delivered byween 1954 and 1968. There is a large body of biographical materials created by Carlson as well as others who knew him. Included in the collection as scrapbooks with articles documenting Carlson's life and legacy from 1940-1968. There are also numerous items related to the Xerox Corporation, specifically the 1968 annual report, sales publications from the 1980s, as well as news and articles written about the company.
This collection contains correspondence and printed material on Jaeckle's political career locally in the Buffalo area; then statewide as NY State Chairman of the Republican Party and then on a national level; running Governor Dewey's campaign for the presidency.
Legislative reference and correspondence files, general correspondence files, speeches, reports, press releases, photographs, films, and memorabilia. Please note: This collection is currently unprocessed.
The collection consists of correspondence, minutes, reports, speeches, and clippings from Wilson's participation in numerous business and community organizations. The bulk of the collection is dated 1959-1971, a period of growth for Xerox as well as the city and University of Rochester.
This collection includes the correspondence and other papers of Louis Wiley. The bulk of the correspondence has been indexed and includes letters written to Wiley by persons prominent in government and newspapers, and in the business, social and entertainment worlds from the early 1900s until Wiley's death in 1935. Correspondents include Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walter Duranty, David Belasco, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, William Allen White, Sir Thomas Lipton, Nicholas Murray Butler, Alfred E. Smith, Edna Ferber, Andrew Mellon, William S. Hart, Carrie Chapman Catt, William E. Werner, Cardinal Hayes, Admiral Byrd, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Bourke-White, James Farley, Adolph S. Ochs, and Lord Beaverbrook. A great portion of the letters are concerned with Society of the Genesee meetings or are birthday and congratulatory letters to Wiley. The collection also includes biographical material about Wiley and his family, articles and speeches written by Wiley, and by others about Wiley, newspaper clippings and articles about various dinners honoring Wiley, and about the New York Times and its publisher Adolph S. Ochs. There is a large collection of photographs of Wiley and his friends and family at home and abroad. Also, a group of his decorations from foreign countries, honorary college degrees and various testimonials given him on birthdays and business anniversaries.