Most of our manuscript and book collections come from or are about New England. However, since most of our collections are unprocessed and not described, it is necessary to contact the department for information.

Rare Books and Manuscripts. Aside from our General Rare Book collection, we have several other named book collections. Of particular interest to ANES are: the Anthoensen Press Collection (books of a 20th-century publishing firm located in Portland); Bernard and Shirley S Kazon Collection (18th-20th century books and other printed items about United States political history); Edith C Rice Children's Literature Collection (primarily 19th -20th century English and American books for children); and Textbook Collection (primarily 19th-century American textbooks). The Rice Collection is useful because society is reflected in the books we produce for children.

The manuscript collections are papers of individuals or the records of groups associated with USM. Again, because of USM’s geographic location, most of this material is related to New England history. Of particular note is the Maine State Nurses Association Archives, about 30 linear feet of this professional association’s records. Harriet Sweetser Letters (GEN MS 10) were written by an early graduate of the Gorham Normal School who became a teacher and the first Administrator of Home Economics for the Maine State Department of Education. Sally G. Vamvakias Papers (GEN MS 9) document her tenure with the UMS Board of Trustees in the 1990s.

University Archives contains the records of the University of Southern Maine as well as its precursors, Gorham Normal School through the University of Maine in Gorham (1878-1970), Portland University (1921-1961), Portland Junior College (1933-1957), the University of Maine in Portland (1957-1970), and the University of Maine, Portland - Gorham (1970-1978). This is a wonderful resource for studying higher education in New England.

The Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine contains primary resources documenting three communities in Maine: the African American, the LGBT, and the Jewish communities. These are mostly manuscript collections: papers of individuals and the records of social and political groups.