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This collection contains records from the Alumni Affairs organization (sometimes known as Alumni Services or Alumni Relations) on the St. Cloud State University campus. The items date from 1962 to 1991, with the greater number of items dating from the 1970s and 1980s. Additions to this series may be ongoing.

The majority of materials in this collection are pieces of correspondence between the Alumni Affairs office with former students. These items make up the bulk of the collection and the biographical files are arranged in alphabetical order. These files include a myriad of items, including photographs, correspondence, newspaper articles, donation histories, funeral programs, and obituaries. Some of the biographical files are very large whilst others are quite sparse.

There are a few former prominent students that the Alumni Affairs office kept extensive information on in their offices. These students include Cyril Plattes, Ralph Heimdahl, US Congressman Nick Begich, and Dr. Richard Green.

Cyril Plattes was the Benefactor of the Friedrich Scholarship Fund. This scholarship was set up in the name of a science professor at St. Cloud State that would grant money to students studying environmental issues. For many years Plattes wished that his name be kept anonymous and not linked to the memorial fund. In 1973 the first scholarship in conservation from the George Friedrich Memorial fund was presented to five students.

Ralph Heimdahl graduated from the St. Cloud State Teacher’s College in 1930. He was an art teacher at the State School for the Deaf in Faribault, MN. Later he joined the animation department at Walt Disney Studios, and in 1948 he originated the Bugs Bunny comic strip for Warner Brothers. Heimdahl won the SCSU Distinguished Alumni Award in 1966. An endowed scholarship was established by his widow after his death in 1981 to provide financial assistance to students studying art.

Nick Begich graduated from St. Cloud with the class of 1952 and went on to become a US Congressman in Alaska. On October 16, 1972, he lost his life on a plane flight in Alaska along with U.S. Majority Leader Hale Boggs. The Nick Begich Memorial Commission was established by the St. Cloud State College Alumni Association in 1973 in tribute to the life and work of the former student. The purpose of the Commission was to establish a scholarship fund at St. Cloud State College which would enable political science majors to serve internships in Washington with members of Congress and for other political science scholarships. (2)

Another prominent alumnus included in the files is Dr. Richard Green. He graduated from St. Cloud State College with an MS in Special Education in 1968 and received his doctorate in Educational Administration from Harvard. He worked as Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, beginning either in 1980 or 1981. Dr. Green was the recipient of the 1981 Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1988 he was hired to be the Chancellor of the New York City Schools.

The collection also includes miscellaneous materials on events, a slideshow narration, The St. Cloud State College Magazine, and the position descriptions for the head of Alumni Affairs.

The slideshow narration, Instructional Guide for Filmstrip on St. Cloud State College, was prepared for the Alumni Affairs Office by Doreen M. Keable. The script (sans actual slides or audio cassette) is dated March 13, 1970. According to the script, there is a series of forty color slides that are accompanied by a taped narration. The length of the presentation was approximately ten minutes. Some of the objectives of the slideshow include welcoming alumni and friends of the school to homecoming and other alumni functions.

There are thirteen boxes in this collection which contain records from (and also about) the St. Cloud State Alumni Association. The records date from 1874 to 2006.

The records in this collection are arranged chronologically into seven series. The seven series are:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1914-1974

This series contains correspondence between members of the Alumni Association and also to graduates whilst attempting to create a directory of former students. There is much more correspondence (such as personal letters, greeting cards, and obituaries) that can be found in the Alumni Affairs records.

Series 2: Events, 1881-2006

This series is divided into the many events that the Alumni Association has sponsored throughout the years, such as banquets, reunions, homecoming celebrations, etc. The series contains invitations, reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, and questionnaire forms. The Riverview Reunion folder contains items such as questionnaires/forms, invitations, and correspondence with the former students of the Riverview laboratory school on the campus of St. Cloud State University. The school was used by college students at St. Cloud State to learn how to teach children.

Series 3: Finances, 1932-1995

Included in this series are treasurer reports, ledgers, proposed budgets, statements of assets, expense reports, and share savings account books. The series also contains the paperwork related to the estates of two former St. Cloud State community members, Bessie Campbell and Isabel Lawrence.

Bessie Campbell was a student who bequeathed her home to the Alumni Association. Under the terms of the will, one-fourth of the proceeds were to be set aside for a memorial to honor her sister, Gertrude Campbell. The rest of the money was to be used for freshmen loans. The folder includes such items as property sale bids, correspondence, and resolutions.

There is also a folder for a former faculty member of the school, Miss Isabel Lawrence. Miss Lawrence was a teacher at St. Cloud State Teachers College for forty-two years. She had an unfortunate accident which fractured her hip and landed her in the hospital. The Alumni Association began a fund to reach $2300.00 in cash in order for Miss Lawrence to receive the teacher’s pension for 1931 and also a yearly income of $1054.34. Included in the papers are correspondence related to the estate, a copy of Miss Lawrence’s will, and receipts.

Series 4: History, 1874-1997

The History series contains information not only on the history of the Alumni Association, but also of the Student Alumni Advisory Board, newspaper clippings, a questionnaire regarding the College Chronicle, membership information, brochures, blank award certificates, etc. There is also an informative report included here titled, History of the St. Cloud State University Alumni Association April 28, 1881-April 28, 1981. This was a student project completed by John Urke.

Also included in the history section is an actual Distinguished Alumni Award that was presented to Helen Hill in 1967 by the Alumni Association at St. Cloud State College.

Series 5: Minutes, 1881-1996

This series contains the agendas and minutes from the meetings of various committees involved with the Alumni Association. These include the Alumni Association Committee, the Board of Directors Committee, the Finance Committee and the Budget Subcommittee, the Friedrich Fund Committee, the Membership Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Student Alumni Advisory Board Committee, and the Young Alumni Committee.

Series 6: Publications, 1908-1998

Included in this series are periodicals that the Alumni Association published throughout the years, as well as items relating to alumni associations in general.

Series 7: Miscellaneous

This series contains a scrapbook of past 50th year anniversary reunions of St. Cloud State classes.  The scrapbook includes images of alums at the reunion events as well as a small amount of images of alums while they were students at St. Cloud State.

The 262 letters and 1 poem included in this collection were written by Sinclair Lewis to Marcella Powers between 1939 and 1947. Lewis met Powers in August 1939 when they were both acting in Eugene O’Neill’s play Ah Wilderness! at the Provincetown Theater in Cape Cod. Lewis and Powers began a relationship despite the 36 year age difference between them.

In these letters, Lewis discusses a wide variety of topics - his career, his writing, and his feelings for Powers. During the time of their relationship, Lewis traveled quite a bit throughout the United States giving lectures. He also spent time working in Los Angeles in the motion picture industry and lived in Excelsior and Duluth in Minnesota where he spent much time writing. Lewis also wrote about his social life, including the people that he met, the games of chess that he played, and the books that he read. Many of the letters are very long while others are quite short, with some including cartoons drawn by Lewis.

The letters end in September 1947, shortly after Powers marriage to Michael Amrine. Lewis tells Powers that she will no longer receive an allowance from him, but that if she were ever in need of help that he would be there for her. When Lewis passed away in 1951, Powers was listed in his will.

This collection consists of 44 boxes containing materials authored by current and former St. Cloud State University faculty, staff, and alumni. Materials include, but are not limited to, papers (many of which have been presented at meetings or conferences); studies, reports, and surveys; journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; theses; speeches; poems; and reviews. The primary author's name and affiliation to or position at St. Cloud State University is provided, where known, as are the names and affiliations of co-authors and the citation information for the works. Materials in this collection date from as early as 1886 and include several pieces from administrators and faculty members from the early 20th century. Overall, the majority of the work in the collection was created by faculty members and found publication in journals.

Series 1: Architectural Drawings

This series contains architectural drawings related to current buildings and buildings that used to be on St. Cloud State’s campus. The collection features many projects from the early 20th century as well as several from the 1960s when St. Cloud State’s campus expanded significantly. Since many of these buildings are gone or have changed, these drawings are especially informative with regard to what these buildings originally looked like at the time of construction. Nearly all of the drawings show the building either as they were intended to be constructed or were constructed. There are few drawings that show changes to the building AFTER they were constructed.

Construction documents, the detailed plans and specifications used to construct a building or structure, make up the bulk of materials in these campus building projects. Some projects may include earlier drawings from the Schematic and Design Development phases, where projects go from concept to refined design before final approval, or later As Built drawings that show a building’s appearance after construction, which might differ from what Construction Documents indicate. Architectural drawings have their own unique numbering system. Older projects in this series may follow a simple numerical sequence. More recent projects follow an alphanumeric system. Drawings with sheet numbers starting with A are architectural, S are structural, M are mechanical, E are electrical, and SK are sketch. The majority of the drawings are copies or prints made from originals that would have been drawn on vellum or similar material or copies printed from an original digital format.

Series 2: Architectural Renderings

This series contains architectural renderings related to buildings on St. Cloud State’s campus. They were primarily used by the architectural designers for presentation purposes to convey a sense of what a finished project might look like. Renderings in this series include painted and hand drawn perspectives and prints of 3D computer models. Not all of the designs in the series were built.

The Free Statesman was an alternative independent newspaper published by students of St. Cloud State College, St. John's University, and College of St. Benedict from February 1967 through February 1968 and consisted of 24 editions. The newspaper was created by Leftist students who felt the official student newspapers at their respective schools did not represent their views. Topics include the termination of St. Cloud State professor Ed Richer, the Vietnam War and its protests, campus, local, and national political issues of the day, and area arts, theatre, and culture.

The undergraduate catalog represents the most official publication of St. Cloud State. Dating back to 1869, the catalog describes the purpose of the university, admission requirements, classes and class descriptions, tuition and fees, buildings and grounds, and faculty.  Early catalogs list students by class and often include images of campus buildings.

Starting with the 2012/14, both graduate and undergraduate catalogs are combined together.  These PDF catalogs were created from Curriculum Navigator, the online course management system. In 2022, CourseDog replaced Curriculum Navigator.

The catalog includes both undergraduate and graduate; the catalogs, which were printed separately in the past, are now together.

Most of the catalogs are bound together by year.

This collection contains one photo album of images taken by St. Cloud State alum Andrew Lindgren between 1906 and 1909. These images comprise of most of the early images of St. Cloud State.

The majority of the photographs were taken of campus and the surrounding St. Cloud area. The album also includes photographs from cities in Minnesota, including St. Paul, Minneapolis, Silver Creek, Watab, Stillwater, Buffalo, Monticello, Spicer, and Verndale, as well as spots across the United States and Canada. These include Salt Lake City, Portland (Oregon), Annapolis (Maryland), Cripple Creek (Colorado), Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, New York City, Cape Cod, and Hawaii. There are also images from British Columbia and Novia Scotia in Canada as well as Panama.

Some copies, via photography of the originals in which negatives were created, were made sometime in the 1980s and 1990s from the photo album by St. Cloud State. Only a selection was done, especially those images of campus and around St. Cloud. The printed image copies are in order as they appear in the album.

This collection consists of 12 boxes and one oversize folder that contain the records of St. Cloud State University's radio station, KVSC-FM. The vast majority of the records relate to programming, trivia contests, and station management. The records are from 1965-2015. Additions to this collection may be ongoing.

The records are arranged in four series, which are as follows:

Series 1: Administrative Records, 1965-1990

This series contains records pertaining to budgets, station management, and publications, as well as major changes in the organizational structure, physical space, and radio engineering. The records are organized alphabetically first and then by date. Budget information includes requests, equipment purchases and alottments. This series also includes: FCC license applications, license renewals, construction applications, correspondence, records that relate to the station's power increase and switch from 88.5 to 88.1, equipment and space construction, listener surveys, and the proposal to hire a full time staff person. Publications include brochures and newsletters, as well as issues of Reverb, a music magazine published by KVSC from 1986 to 1990.

Series 2: Radio and Television Guild, 1971-1986

This series consists of meeting minutes and constitution revisions for the Radio and Television Guild, the student organization that managed the station for a time from KVSC's first day through its early years. Subjects covered in the minutes include: guild budgets, trivia contest discussions, other promotional activities, staffing, and programming decisions.

Series 3: Programming, 1967-1988

This series contains program guides and program logs from KVSC's first day on the air in May 1967 through 1971. There are some logs after 1971 here. These records provide detailed information about the type of programs broadcast by KVSC and when they aired.

Series 4: Trivia, 1980-2015

This series contains information about KVSC's annual trivia contest weekend, which began in 1980. The records include trivia answer books, t-shirts, and posters.

The graduate catalog represents the most official publication of St. Cloud State. Dating back to 1953, the catalog describes the purpose of the university, admission requirements, classes and class descriptions, tuition and fees, buildings and grounds, and faculty.

Starting with the 2012/14 general catalog, both the graduate and undergraduate catalogs were combined together.  This catalog is found with the undergraduate catalogs.

The final graduate catalog goes to 2009.