Queens College Creative Services Photographs

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: SCA-0089

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Creative Services, a unit within the Office of Communications and Marketing (previously known as Office of Publicity or Office of Public Relations), in line with its mission, has continuously employed and/or contracted photographers to take pictures of students, events, faculty, staff, buildings, and spaces across the campus of Queens College.

The collection consists almost entirely of black and white photograph prints. The size of the prints ranges from 1” x 1” to 8.5” x 11”, the latter being the most common. There are also a fewer number of color photograph prints in various sizes. The subject matter, provenance, and physical condition of the photos is widely variable. Negatives and contact sheets are also in the collection, often organized by photographer but not explicitly associated with other prints in the collection.

The photographs date from the founding of the college in 1937 to roughly 2007. Most years are represented, but some may be missing, especially earlier years. The photographs are of locations almost entirely within the Queens College CUNY campus.

The subjects of the photographs are extremely wide-ranging. The collection’s subseries, loosely following the original arrangement, are organized by general subject. These include the following: Administration, Faculty and Staff, Student Life, and Buildings and Grounds.

The photographs were originally kept in storage at the Creative Services offices in Kiely Hall at Queens College, and had to be moved when the unit was moving to a different floor in the building.

Dates

1937 - 2010

Creator

Queens College (New York, N.Y.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research. Appointments to examine materials must be made in advance. Please e-mail QC.archives@qc.cuny.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproductions may be provided to users to support research and scholarship. However, collection use is subject to all copyright laws. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Biographical / Historical

Queens College was established in 1937 and has been part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system since 1961. The College was established by Judge Charles Colden and stewarded by first President Paul Klapper to meet the growing population needs of the Queens borough, with the location approved by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Over the years, Queens College has dramatically expanded the academics, campus buildings and grounds, and services offered to students. The demographics, styles, interests, and concerns of the student population, much like the county itself, are constantly in flux. Photos taken over the years and captured in the archive reflect this evolution.

Creative Services is a unit within the Office of Communications and Marketing at Queens College.

The Office of Communications and Marketing consists of News Services, Editorial Services, Creative Services, Photo Services, Marketing and Video Production. The office's mission is to develop integrated communications through media in print, broadcast, video and the Web for a variety of audiences that consistently and accurately project the college's unique strengths.

Queens College Creative Services is responsible for designing and producing hundreds of college publications annually. These include advertisements, student recruitment materials, bulletins, class schedules, commencement materials, brochures for academic programs, exhibition catalogues and announcements, newsletters, fliers for conferences and seminars, programs and posters for special events, invitations, certificates, forms, business cards and stationery, and printed materials for fundraising and alumni, including Queens, the alumni magazine. Creative Services also plans publications and develops concepts, provides creative direction, prepares specifications, and arranges printing and photography. The area maintains quality control for all printed materials and oversees design standards for the campus.

Extent

18 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Queens College Creative Services employs and/or contracts photographers to document academics, student life, and events on campus to create publicity and marketing material about the college. This collection includes photograph prints, photograph albums, and some negatives from the founding of the college in 1937 through about 2007, used by the Creative Services department in its work.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Director of Queens College Creative Services, Georgine Ingber, transferred the collection to the College Archivist Daniel Brenner in the Rosenthal Library Special Collections and Archives department circa 2017, following a move of the Creative Services to new office space.

Related Materials

Related material of photographs documenting the history and students of Queens College may be found in the following collection in the SCA repository: Queens College Photograph Collection.

Processing Information

Due to its size, the collection’s original folder subject headings and the photographs within each were maintained as received from Creative Services. Arrangement of the folders was imposed by the processing archivist, grouping similar subjects together into series and subseries for easier browsing. Several overstuffed folders were split into two or more new folders. Each of those folders retained the original subject label, with the addition of “A”, “B”, “C”, as required.