The New Haven Mayoral Archive, housed at Southern near the Special Collections section in Buley Library and accessible online, includes material from former New Haven mayors Biagio DiLieto (1980-1990), John Daniels (1990-1994), John DeStefano (1994-2014) and Toni Harp (2014-2020).
In an article on the Tech & Learning website, “Learning Through Primary Source Digitization,” School of Graduate and Professional Studies Associate Dean Jonathan Wharton, who teaches political science, discusses the benefits of using such primary source materials in teaching, particularly when the materials have been digitized.
In the article, Wharton writes, “For a state university to collect, but also provide digital access to, primary sources is a rare feat. Archives and repositories such as Buley’s New Haven Mayoral Papers Collection are unique spaces for developing but also connecting education with research.”
Wharton adds, “It’s one thing for students to read secondary sources such as monographs and journal articles, but it’s quite another to view primary sources at a mayoral repository through a public university library with digitized items.”
