Archival Collections

The Joint Archives, a department of Hope College's Van Wylen Library, is the consolidation of the archival collections of Hope College, Western Theological Seminary and other organizations that contract for archival services.

Mission Statement

We promote the educational mission of Hope College and its partner institutions by actively collecting, caring for, interpreting and making available the unique historical resources in its care.

View our full mission statement 

College Publications

Works and writings from Hope College students and administrative offices. Materials are held in Digital Commons, the online institutional repository.

• Alumni Magazine: a monthly periodical aimed at Hope College graduates (ceased in 1979)
• The Anchor: Hope College's student-run newspaper
• Course Catalogs: information about areas of study, important dates in the academic calendar, course schedules and general college history
• The Joint Archives Quarterly: a newsletter put out four times a year by the Joint Archives
• The Milestone: the annual Hope College yearbook
• News from Hope College: a newsletter put out six times a year by the college

Historical Records

Papers, manuscripts and sound recordings dating from 1866.

• Digital Commons: an online institutional repository that provides access to the scholarly and creative works of the Hope College community
• Finding Aids: a database of non-digitized materials held at the Theil Research Center
• Newspapers: selected periodicals issued in West Michigan and the Netherlands
• Oral Histories: recorded interviews with important figures, famous and obscure

Image Collections

The Joint Archives' digital images are hosted in Artstor Public Collections. To use these pictures in your own work, please consult our Image Reproduction Guidelines.

• Burr Tillstrom Papers: biographical information, correspondence, photographs and other resources about the creator of the Kukla, Fran and Ollie television show
• Envisioning Hope College: portraits of important people and places that were involved in the development of the college
• History of Holland: the history of Holland, Michigan, during the 19th and 20th centuries
• History of Science: images used in A Century of Science: Excellence at Hope College (2009)
• Louis P. Dame Papers: essays, articles, photographs and correspondence from doctor and missionary Louis P. Dame
• Nykerk Cup Competition: a competition between freshman and sophomore women of Hope College in the areas of song, oration, and play/drama
• Student Life: images of students at Hope College from the 1860s to the present
• Van Ark Postcard Collection: images of Holland, Michigan, from the 19th and 20th centuries