Archives

Alumni Heritage Project

The Alumni Heritage Project is a special collection of the Alvernia University Archives. Its mission is to maintain a collection of alumni memorabilia which will provide a historical record of student activities and preserve the culture developed by Alvernia students.

Representative types of items acquired and maintained in the collection include yearbooks, programs, handbooks and other printed materials; clothing items such as beanies and blazers; jewelry such as class rings and pins; mugs, paperweights, dance favors; correspondence, and so forth.

The Alumni Heritage Project began in 1998 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the college. The original suggestion for the Project came from Mary Ann (Schaefer) D'Alonzo, '69, and Sister Rosemary Stets, OSF, '71. Soon a committee was formed with the addition of RoseMarie Winters, '82, Sister Rose Colette Rowe, OSF, '68, and Darlene Berk, Director of Alumni Relations. Sister Alodia Podczasy, OSF, agreed to serve as chair.

Initially established as an undertaking of the Alumni Association’s History Committee, the group has worked to encourage the donation of student memorabilia and sponsor various activities to increase an understanding of student life in the early days of Alvernia. One popular activity is the Alumni Heritage Photo Project which engages alumni in the identification of students and activities in old photographs from the Archives’ collection.

The Alumni Heritage Project is now formally housed in the Alvernia University Archives which retains ownership of the materials. Only unconditional donations of gifts are accepted. Anyone interested in making a donation should first contact the Archivist at 610-796-8351 or gene.mitchell@alvernia.edu. Alvernia University is not responsible for the return of unsolicited items. It also cannot appraise items for tax purposes.