First-hand accounts created at the time events occurred are primary sources. They can provide direct evidence about topics you are researching.
Boston College history can be discovered through many primary sources, from official university publications such as course catalogs and newspapers, to student organization records, photographs, artifacts and more. These records document a variety of experiences and viewpoints including those of students, staff, faculty, and administration. If you're looking for photographs, check our photographs page.
Other newspapers, journals, yearbooks, and student organization materials not listed here are also available. If you don't see what you are looking for, contact us with your area of interest to learn if we have relevant material.
Boston College's first student publication.
Look here for:
Microfilm (1883-2000) and print (2000-present) are available in the O'Neill and Burns Libraries.
Available online (1883-1977).
The Heights newspaper documents student life and campus activities. Beginning in 1971, the newspaper was legally and fiscally separated from BC. It continued using the name The Heights, but with the qualification “Independent Student Weekly of Boston College.”
Look here for:
Sub Turri, Latin for “Under the Tower,” is the Boston College student yearbook. It documents the senior class.
Look here for:
Available in print in the Burns Library (1913-2020)
Available online (1913-2009)
Boston College Bulletin and its predecessors are course catalogs. They are comprehensive documents that include academic, administrative, and service-related information for graduate and undergraduate students. Content varies over the years.
Look here for:
Available in print in the Burns Library
Available online 1868-1911
Available online 1912-1914
Available online 1914-1928
Available online 1929-2019
A newspaper covering campus issues and events from an administrative viewpoint, it began in 1971 after the Heights newspaper became a student publication independent from Boston College. It has been known by the following names: Thursday Reporter (1971-1973); Boston College Focus (1974-1980); Boston College Colleague (1975-1980); Boston College Biweekly (1980-1992), Boston College Chronicle (1992-present).
Look here for:
Available on microfilm at O'Neill and Burns Libraries (1971-1997)
Available online (1992-present)
Boston College’s magazine for alumni is now called "Boston College Magazine." Other names for this publication have been: Alumnus (1933-1935); Alumni Review (1935-1936); Alumni News (1937-1970); Bridge (1970-1978); and, now, Boston College Magazine (1978-present).
Look here for:
Print issues are available at O'Neill and Burns Libraries.
Available online (1933-2011)
Boston College’s first minority student newspaper focused on the experiences of Black students and other minorities.
Look here for:
Print issues are available in Burns Library (1977-1979)
Available online (1977-1979).
The Boston College Fact Book is released annually—typically every January—by Institutional Research & Planning. Much of the information contained in the Fact Book is cumulative and references annual data for the preceding five- or ten-year period. Other information is presented in a single-year format.
Print issues are available in Burns Library (1971-2011)
Available online (1971-present)
Image of Collage staff, 1978
University President's Office Records provide both high-level and detailed administrative information on decisions and changes at Boston College. The Archives does not hold papers for every president of the College, and the records of Fr. Monan and Fr. Leahy are not available. There are access restrictions in nearly every set of records held by the Archives, however, you can request permission to access specific files
For a complete list of BC Presidents, see the Fact Book.
Learn more about each collection below.
Pictured: Relief sculpture of St. Ignatius, 1931, James H. Dolan, SJ, President's Office records
McElroy is considered the founder of Boston College but was never the president, which is why no years in office are listed.
Material dated 1813-2005, (bulk 1813-1878)
Finding aid for McElroy records
Years in office: 1863-1869
Material dated 1851-1982 (bulk 1851-1887)
Finding Aid for Bapst collection
Look here for:
Years in Office: 1870-1880
Material dated 1866-1895
Finding Aid for Fulton office records
Look here for:
Formation of the Young Men’s Catholic Association
Years in office: 1884-1887
Material dated 1897, 1900
Finding Aid for Boursaud office records
Years in office: 1888-1891
Material dated 1866-1895
Finding Aid for Fulton office records
Years in office: 1891-1894
Material dated 1864-1916
Finding Aid for Devitt office records
Look here for:
Draft of Devitt's history of Boston College from its founding to the presidency of Charles W. Lyons, SJ., a later version of which was published in Woodstock Letters in 1935.
Years in office: 1894-1898
Material dated 1897-1929
Finding Aid for Brosnahan office records
Look here for:
Harvard Law School controversy
Years in office: 1898-1903
Material dated 1898-1930s (bulk 1898-1900)
Finding aid for Mullan office records
Look here for:
Harvard Law School controversy
Years in office: 1907-1914
Material dated 1868-1940, (bulk 1907-1914)
Finding aid for Gasson office records
Many items have been digitized (see finding aid)
Look here for:
Years in office: 1914-1919
Material dated 1914-1979, (bulk 1914-1919)
Finding aid for Lyons office records
All items have been digitized (see finding aid)
Look here for:
Years in office: 1919-1925
Material dated 1915-1930, (bulk 1919-1925)
Finding aid for Devlin office records
Many items have been digitized (see finding aid)
Look here for:
Years in office: 1925-1932
Material dated 1909-1958, (bulk 1925-1932)
Finding aid for Dolan office records
Many items have been digitized (see finding aid)
Look here for:
Years in office: 1932-1937
Material dated 1920-1945, (bulk 1932-1937)
Finding aid for Gallagher office records
Many items have been digitized (see finding aid)
Look here for:
Years in office: 1937-1939
Material dated 1922-1944, (bulk 1937-1939)
Finding aid for McGarry office records
Look here for:
Years in office: 1939-1945
Material dated 1929-1948, (bulk 1939-1945)
Finding aid for Murphy office records
Look here for:
Years in office: 1945-1951
Material dated 1937-1975, (bulk 1945-1951)
Finding aid for Keleher office records
Look here for:
Years in office: 1951-1958
Material dated 1930-1971, (bulk 1951-1958)
Finding aid for Maxwell office records
Look here for:
Years in office: 1958-1968
Material dated 1933-1982, (bulk 1958-1968)
Finding aid for Walsh office records
Look here for:
Years in office: 1968-1972
Material dated 1944-1974, (bulk 1968-1972)
Finding aid for Joyce office records
The records are not open, but in limited cases permission may be requested.
Records of Boston College offices are primarily closed; however, you can request permission to access specific files. To find out if office records are open or learn how to request access, contact us with your questions.
Some examples include:
From a photograph album, Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center records
Collected and created by faculty and alumni, these collections document aspects of life, work, teaching, and research at Boston College and beyond. “Papers” may also include photographic, audiovisual and digital materials.
Examples of these collections include:
Look here for:
Performers in King Lear, 1941, scrapbook, John Louis Bonn, SJ, papers
Illustration, The Stylus, 1 December 1885
Front page, The Heights, 1919
Title page, Sub Turri, 1914
O'Neill Library, cover of Boston College Magazine, Winter, 1985
