Search finding aids and indexes to our collection. To access the materials you find, you may need to visit the Archives in person.

Find physical books and periodicals in the Hope College library catalog.

Location: For more options, try an advanced search.

Hope College Digital Collections

Featured Special Collections

Archives and Special Collections is a department of Van Wylen Library and promotes 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.

These resources include the archival collections of Hope College, Western Theological Seminary, area governmental units and other members who contract for services at the Archives. It serves as a research center for students, faculty and staff of Hope College, for contractual members of the Archives and for the general public.

Hope by the Numbers

  • 1988Year the Archives was Founded

    Prior to the founding of the Archives, archival work was done by volunteers and part-time staff at Hope College, Western Theological Seminary, the Netherlands Museum and the City of Holland.

    Learn about our history
  • 8,000Total Linear Feet of Processed Collections

    We measure the shelf space necessary to store documents in linear feet. A linear foot is twelve inches wide for documents stored on edge, or twelve inches high for documents stored horizontally.

  • 3Number of Institutions We Serve

    Although Archives and Special Collections is a department of Van Wylen Library at Hope College, we also collect materials for institutional partners like Western Theological Seminary.

    Browse our collections
  • 22,266Researchers Helped Since 1995

    Sarah Lundy joined the archives staff in 2022 and has yet to be stumped by a research question.

    Stump the archivist