Down in the basement of Bush Memorial Library (BML), a room full of Hamline history awaits. These archives contain records and artifacts from all eras of Hamline’s 171 years of classes, and among them are a pair of recently donated scrapbooks that document two consecutive generations of students.

The two scrapbooks, originally owned by mother and daughter Clara Brown ‘10 and Shirley Bogue ‘41, document life at Hamline during the early 20th century. Their pages contain notes from the women’s lives, photographs of campus and even confetti from homecoming events. Barbara Bogue, who did not attend Hamline, donated the scrapbooks she inherited from her mother and grandmother.

“They were lovingly compiled examples of a major pastime of women of those times, representing the kind of record keeping that has been typically overlooked by traditional historians,” Bogue said via email.

Donations like this are vital to the Hamline Archives. They help put the full picture of Hamline’s history together and tell the stories of previous students to future generations. Shandi Burrows, Hamline’s Archivist, commented on the donation.

“Getting such unique historical items helps us grow the perspective and stories that we make accessible,” Burrows said through email. “These two particular stories could have been pieced together in the archive using yearbooks, club records, etc., but now we have every detail of their story through their eyes and their own narratives.”

The archives contain items that tell the story of Hamline through the years, from yearbooks and class photos to the previous presidential mace and a baseball jersey from the early 20th century. Together, the artifacts and documents within tell the story of Hamline as a whole. These scrapbooks offer a glimpse into the lives of students in the early 1900s and late 1930s through those students’ own voices. The continuing expansion of the archives elaborates on Hamline’s history and helps fill gaps in current and future knowledge.

After learning about the archives and the donated scrapbooks, sophomore Nattie Bromenschenkel decided to donate the scrapbook she is currently keeping to document her time at Hamline.

“My friends and I take pictures from our time at Hamline and the events, and I put them in the scrapbook,” Bromenschenkel said.

Bromenschenkel also found a personal reason to donate her scrapbook after her graduation.

“I didn’t go into making this to donate to Hamline, but now I’m interested in getting it secured,” Bromenschenkel explained. “Life isn’t promised, and I don’t know when I’ll die. The scrapbook will be safe here.”

The archives collect both older items and more recent ones. Their contents tell the stories of Hamline and the community around it. No item is too small for them.

“What we collect is anything made for and by Hamline students, faculty, staff, and alumni; as well as the surrounding Hamline-Midway area to some extent,” Burrows explained via email.

This vault of invaluable history continues to document history following four years without a permanent archivist. Burrows was hired in 2024, but her position is only part-time.

The archives are open to the public and offer both fascinating objects from Hamline’s history and records of previous students, staff and faculty. Several digital collections are also available on the Hamline website.