Standish Room 226b
Sean Conley, College Archivist
Phone: 518-783-2539
sconley@siena.edu
Hours by appointment only
Siena College was founded in 1937 as an institution of higher learning in the Franciscan and Catholic traditions. It all began when seven Franciscan friars acquired the Walter Garrett mansion in Loudonville, named it St. Francis Hall, and St. Bernardine of Siena College was born. Fortunately, this storied start—and all the years to follow—are recorded and documented in the Siena College Archives, housed at Standish Library. Looking back at the history and progression of the College across these many years is vital to respecting our roots and informing our future. Maintaining an Archival Collection at the Library allows us to do just that.
Tucked in a corner on the Library’s upper level, the Archives Room is a veritable shrine to Siena’s past milestones and memorabilia. Each presidential inauguration, each graduating class, each degree program, each building dedication and so on are forever retained here through artifacts and news of the day’s main events. Preserving the past in this way creates a timeline of historical highlights, much of which has been digitized for electronic access.
The Siena College Archives date back to the very beginning and work hand-in-hand with the Special Collections to strengthen Standish Library’s overall holdings. Examples of materials maintained in the archives include:
