The archive of Jacksonville History includes many collections from approximately the early 1800s to the present. The holdings consist of over 2,000 linear feet of letters, documents, manuscripts, ephemera, more than 100,000 photographs and negatives, maps, audiovisual materials, books, and artifacts. Donated by individuals, families, and organizations, these materials have been collected over the 96 years of the Jacksonville History Center’s existence, and represent all of Jacksonville.
The purpose of the archives is to preserve materials to provide long-term access to the materials in the collections. To do that, we store them in specific types of folders, boxes, and sleeves that will not cause them to deteriorate faster than they would naturally. We also monitor the environment for temperature and humidity fluctuations, and for signs of pests. To make materials accessible, we organize and describe them in ways that anticipate how people will search our online catalog. Making materials accessible to the public is the most important goal of the archives, and requires a lot of research, subject expertise, and following best archival practices and ethics.
Accepting Donations
The first step in donating items to the archives, is completing an online form, which is reviewed by the archives staff and the acquisitions committee. If the donation is considered a good fit as a new collection or to be placed within an existing collection, the donor is invited to bring the items to the archives for review and to check for evidence of pests or mold. After the donor signs a Deed of Gift, legal ownership of the materials are transferred to the archives, a record is created in the online catalog and made available for public search. You can view our catalog here.
Visiting the Archive
Typically, archives are not used for general browsing, making them quite different from libraries. At the Archive of Jacksonville History, the archives staff needs to know about your topic of research prior to your visit. Our online research request form enables us to find any materials relevant to your request and make them available for an in-person visit to the archives.
Other Archive Services
Some of our services are free, while others have a cost. A research appointment to review our materials is free, but a request for the archives staff to do further research beyond our collections does have a cost. We provide high resolution scans for documents and oversized materials for a fee. And, we are able to conduct and transcribe oral histories, as well as other archive and public history projects on a case-by-case basis, for a fee. You can see our fee schedule here, or get in touch if you have more questions about our services.
Meet the Archives Staff
Erin Mustard, Head Archivist, has a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of North Florida, and a Master of Information (same as Master of Library and Information Science) degree from Rutgers University. She has been working at the JHC for a year and a half in collections development and donations processing.
Shawn Stermer, Research Archivist, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of North Florida, and has been with the JHC for over a year, re-organizing and describing large collections, and providing support for research requests.
Joel Cordova, Digital Collections Archivist, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Digital Humanities from the University of North Florida.
Sherrard Ceglia, Archives Assistant, has worked at the JHC for 17 years and is responsible for cataloging our extensive photograph collection.
Erin Mustard | Head Archivist