Teaching with Slides: The History of the Visual Resources Collection at Yale

On view from March 13, 2023 to March 3, 2024

Yale University’s Visual Resources Collection dates to the 1930s and comprises approximately 370,000 slides (both lantern and 35mm) and 187,000 mounted photographs related to global art, architecture, and material culture. The collection was formed in response to curricular needs to support teaching and research in the Arts and Humanities. Yale’s VRC slide library was an independent entity located on High Street until 2008 when it was folded into the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library operations and collections, and physically moved to the Haas Arts Library.

The history of this collection mirrors the development of many visual resource collections in the twentieth century: from small operations within art history departments to broad collections that supply images for diverse uses across campus and outside the university.

This exhibition is a celebration of the history of the Visual Resources Collection and the key partners who contributed to the impact and evolution of this collection at Yale Library.

Curated by Sarah Coe, Visual Resources Support Specialist at Yale University Library; Tess Colwell, Arts Librarian for Research Services at Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library; and Maria Zapata, Technical Assistant at Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library