University Archives - Guide to Campus Buildings and the Built Environment

For more information please contact the University Archivist.

Primary Sources Related to the Campus Built Environment

The University Archives maintains a wide variety of resources related to the built-environment on campus from the time of the first building at 10th and State to more recent construction projects.

Physical Environment / Facilities Services Records

The most comprehensive documentation related to buildings on campus can be found in the Physical Environment / Facilities Services record group. The records are arranged into three series:

  •  Administrative Subject Files contain correspondence, progress reports, committee minutes, scattered photographs, and other documents related to individual buildings, as well as campus master plans and materials related to urban renewal programs as they relate to the university.
  • Blueprints and Drawings series contain an assortment of drawings related to buildings both extant and long gone. Many of the most current blueprints and drawings are retained in the Department of Facilities Planning and Management. 
  • Property Books were prepared in an effort to track land ownership in the area of the Marquette campus, from roughly Kilbourn to Clybourn and North 19th to North 11th. The books list property owners and assessments and consist largely of photographs of individual properties within the surveyed area. Images are arranged by block and lot number, with an index map and book to guide the user to a appropriate location in the subsequent volumes. Many of the photographs in the property books are digitized in Marquette University History Online 

Digital Collections

Marquette University History Online provides one point of access to thousands of images and texts documenting the history of the university, including images depicting the campus built environment, service activities, and men’s and women’s athletics; as well as a complete run of the student yearbook and two out-of-print campus histories. While some of these subjects have their own entry pages, this is your destination for searching all of this content at once. and represent only a small portion of the University Archives’ holdings

Student Newspaper 

The student newspaper, The Marquette Tribune, covered campus buildings. The publication is in the process of being digitized; a rough index to headlines through the mid-1970s is available upon request. Print copies of the Tribune are available for consultation in the Archives Reading Room.

Student Yearbook

The student yearbook, the Hilltop, also documents the campus built environment with photographic images as well as lengthy commentary, particularly in the early years. Print copies are available in the Archives Reading Room; the entire run has been digitized and is available online.

Photographs and General Information Files 

  • Photographs and General Information Files have individual files documenting many campus buildings. These files may contain photographs, newspaper clippings, programs from dedications and groundbreakings, and more. Depending on the building, the resources can be comprehensive or minimal.
  • Building a Campus is a digital collection with some of the best images from the Photographs and General Information Files.  Building a Campus and additional photographs of buildings and the campus are a part of Marquette University History Online. 

Documentation related to some older buildings is available in the Administrative Subject Files from the Office of the Treasurer. While there is typically a financial focus to the documentation in this series, there are scattered materials with a broader appeal, such as minutes of the Brooks Memorial Union building committee. Other fundraising and financial documentation is available in records from University Advancement.