Enter Landman Library, walk past the circulation desk, and take the stairs down to the lower level. Congratulations, you’ve just entered the University’s Archives and Special Collections, a place to uncover Beaver College and Arcadia University’s incredible history.

The person responsible for combing through those collections–or “records of enduring value,” in the words of the Society of American Archivists–is University Archivist Peter K. Steinberg. Steinberg’s role at the University is to ensure that University archives are processed, described, cared for, and available for use by both Arcadia community members and outside researchers.

“At the moment, I am processing the papers of our Presidents in the wake of the passing of Bette Landman last October,” Steinberg said. “After the papers, I will work on photographs of Presidents. Some of the historical collections include blueprints, documents, and photographs for buildings, such as Murphy Hall and Grey Towers Castle. As well, we have a massive collection of the papers of model-writer-artist Pati Hill.”

Steinberg’s duties day-to-day vary. For a typical processing project, he will organize the items in a logical way, be it chronologically, alphabetically, or by topic. Once the items are organized, Steinberg creates a “finding aid,” which lists the box and folder names, and also includes a description of the contents. The aids will begin appearing online later this year for students, faculty, staff, and others to access.

“The collections in the Archives and Special Collections require any number of considerations, and what I do to one collection may not be what needs to be done to another,” Steinberg explained.

Students, faculty, and staff can visit the Archives and Special Collections to view archival materials documenting the history of Beaver College and Arcadia University. University publications, including yearbooks and newspapers, course catalogs, literary journals, and newsletters; presidential, administrative, Trustee, and departmental records; and a variety of photograph and scrapbook collections are just several examples of items that can be found. Steinberg can help anyone in the Arcadia community sift through the records to ensure they are finding what they need quickly and efficiently, whether for a class assignment or personal interest.

“We have hosted classes, and students have come on their own to look at some of the historical collections,” he said. “We also get reference questions frequently, so this has been a good way to learn what we have and sometimes what we don’t.”

Steinberg arrived at Arcadia in March 2024. Prior to Arcadia, he spent six years at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and 12 years at the Massachusetts Historical Society, largely working on archival digitization. Steinberg is also a leading scholar on American author and poet Sylvia Plath. He has authored or edited eight books on Plath, the most recent being “The Collected Prose of Sylvia Plath” (Faber, 2024), and will appear in an upcoming BBC Radio 4 documentary on the life of Plath.

When asked if he has a favorite item or collection in the Archives and Special Collections, Steinberg admitted he’s still learning about the items, but there are Castle artifacts he’s come to find interesting.

“They range from objects like metal strips and fragments, to cigar and cigarette packages, and textiles like corsets, stockings, and dust rags, to papers like letters, receipts, and soap wrappers.”

To learn more about visiting or donating to the Archives and Special Collections, contact Steinberg at archives@arcadia.edu.