Are you an alumnus of William & Mary looking for descriptions of classes you took while a student? Researching your ancestor who attended or worked at William & Mary? William & Mary Catalogs from 1829 to the present are now available through the W&M Digital Archive.
Modern college catalogs are best remembered for detailed course descriptions and information about degree requirements, but catalogs also include other important information about the university, its people, buildings, and history. In the catalog you will find lists of faculty and staff, highlights of facilities and services, academic policies, descriptions of student groups, and much more information intended to inform current and attract potential students.
Catalogs from the 19th and early 20th centuries are a treasure trove for researchers of not only William & Mary history, but also family history as they list faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Researchers of William & Mary and Williamsburg history will not be disappointed though as they follow the growth and development of campus and its buildings through announcements in the catalog and fold-out maps of campus, which were common in the early 20th century.
Catalogs from 2004 to the present were available electronically from the Office of the University Registrar and were added to the W&M Digital Archive. Swem Library was able to digitize the 1829-2004 catalogs with the support of donors to Special Collections. Digitization by the Internet Archive was made possible through the LYRASIS Mass Digitization Collaborative with funding from LYRASIS members and the Sloan Foundation.
As a result of this project the Catalog is also available via the Internet Archive where users can browse the catalog online as well as download to e-readers such as Kindle.
Issues of the William & Mary undergraduate catalog are also available in Special Collections.
Catalogs from the School of Law are available in the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository.
As the university has grown separate catalogs for schools and divisions have been published by William & Mary including the School of Marine Science, School of Education, and Graduate Arts & Sciences Program. Recent catalogs from these programs are available here, but the majority of these catalogs have not yet been digitized. Historical divisions of William & Mary that no longer exist such as the Extension and Evening Colleges, Richmond Division (Virginia Commonwealth University), Norfolk Branch (Old Dominion University), etc. have not yet been digitized. Interested in supporting access to these catalogs? Contact us.
For further information about researching people, places, events, or other topics related to William & Mary, visit the guide created by Swem Library.