COLLECTIONS
In keeping with the themes of education in Northfield and the James Gang, Carleton’s initial contributions to the DHC collection include 22 colorful covers from Jesse James dime novels, contemporaneous letters from a Carleton student telling his family about the Northfield bank robbery, photos of student life, and materials on the history of Carleton College. We will be adding materials to the collection in the future and welcome suggestions and questions on this collection.
Browse the Postcard Collection of Carleton College
See all Carleton Digital Collections
Willis Hall
ABOUT THE COLLEGE
The mission of Carleton College is to provide an outstanding undergraduate liberal arts education, a goal that has been continuous since the school’s founding — as Northfield College — in the fall of 1866 by the General Conference of the Congregational Churches of Minnesota. Opening its doors the following year to students of both genders and “irrespective of race, nationality or denominational preferences,” Carleton would award its first baccalaureate degrees in 1874. The name of the College was changed in 1871 to honor the generous life-sustaining financial support of Mr. William Carleton of Charlestown, Mass.
Today, Carleton’s residential educational program is offered to an exceptionally able student body of approximately 1,800, who form a community of learning on Carleton’s 1,040-acre campus together with a distinguished faculty of some 200 full-time and 25 part-time teachers.
Carleton seeks to develop qualities of mind and character that prepare its graduates to become citizens and leaders, capable of finding inventive solutions to local, national, and global challenges.
Find a summary of items in the Carleton College Archives that related to Northfield or Rice County history here.
CONTACT
Materials in this collection come from the Carleton Archives, (507) 222-4270, and the Carleton Library Special Collections, (507) 222-4273.