Collections

Area Studies

African Studies

Holdings include disciplinary topics from the natural sciences and applied fields such as agriculture and public health, to the social sciences, humanities, and professions.

Aden, Mombaza, Quiloa, Cefala

Archives

Architecture Archives

The preeminent archives program in Florida and the Caribbean collecting historical records relating to architecture, landscape architecture, planning and design.

Department Store and Office Buidling for Cohen Brothers, Jacksonville, FL circa 1911

Archives

Florida Political Papers Archives

The papers are manuscript collections of Florida state and national politicians as well as Florida Native American collections. In addition, the papers include local politicians, political activists and organizations, and legal based collections related to political issues.

Ribbon cutting ceremony with Senator Connie Mack and others.

St. Augustine

Governor’s House Library

Documents St. Augustine’s built environment and provides invaluable historical information about the city and its inhabitants through time.

Castillo de San Marcos, facing Northeast, overlooking Matanzas Inlet

Archives

Manuscripts

Archives and manuscripts comprise a significant number of the department’s most heavily accessed primary resource collections.

George A. Smathers in a car in UF Homecoming Parade

Area Studies

Map and Imagery Library

The Map & Imagery Library is made up of a number of different collections ranging from recent aerial photography to antique maps.

Ask Carol

Area Studies

Panama Canal Museum Collection

A leading research collection for the study of the American era of the Panama Canal. The collection documents the U.S. experience in the Panama Canal Zone.

Panama Canal Workers

Print Collection

Popular Culture

The archives includes playbills, programs, posters, photographs, costume and stage designs, clippings, newsletters, theatrical scrapbooks, sheet music, recordings, prints, scripts, and advertising circulars.

A movie poster.

Print Collection

Rare Books

The Harold and Mary Jean Hanson Rare Book Collection illustrates the emergence of literary, cultural, and scientific movements from the late Middle Ages to the present day.

Colored engravings of parrots from a seventeenth-century book

Archives

University Archives

The University’s historically significant public records including files of its past presidents and the papers and records of individuals and organizations associated with the University.

Historic photo of Smathers Library

Our Collections

The Department of Special & Area Studies Collections encompasses collections of unique and special types of materials (e.g., rare books, maps, archives, and manuscript collections) and interdisciplinary collections pertaining to geographical, national or cultural regions. The collections directly support a variety of academic disciplines and research programs.