Special Collections & Archives
SJSU Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) acquires, preserves, arranges, describes, and provides access to its rich, diverse holdings of rare and unique books, manuscript collections, institutional records, and other primary sources in order to support the diverse teaching and research needs of students, faculty, staff, and the larger SJSU community. SC&A is the central repository for the history of San José State University and has a large collection of university, faculty, and student publications, administrative records, photographs, and ephemera. Of particular interest are materials of archival value pertaining to California State Politics, Social Activism, Chicano History and Culture, Women’s Studies, LGBTQ Studies, California and U.S. History, and other holdings of local, regional, and national significance.
Mission Statement
Special Collections & Archives is dedicated to acquiring books and collections that enhance our department’s strengths and increase the diversification of our holdings, in both format and subject, e.g., original correspondence, writings, photographs, financial and legal records, pamphlets, journals, artwork, and artifacts. SC&A is also active in digital initiatives and welcomes physical materials that may be digitized, as well as born-digital or electronic records.
Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies is the world’s second-largest museum and library devoted to the life and works of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Founded in 1983, when Arizona businessman Ira F. Brilliant donated his collection to San Jose State University, the Center collects and preserves a wide range of materials, including manuscript and printed music, books, recordings, art works, ephemera, and objects. Particular strengths of the collection are the first editions and other printed scores from Beethoven’s lifetime, a comprehensive library of books about Beethoven, and archives of portrait engravings and other artworks. As a special collection located in the university library, and an organized research unit under the direction of the College of Humanities and the Arts, the Beethoven Center and its collections serve a diverse community of researchers worldwide.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies is to serve as the principal resource for Beethoven studies in the United States by building a comprehensive collection of materials related to the composer, his times, and his legacy; and to foster understanding of his life and music by enhancing access to these materials and developing special projects, exhibitions, and other educational events.
Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies
Founded in 1973 as the Steinbeck Research Center, the Center is now the largest Steinbeck archive in the world. In 1997, the Center was renamed the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies in honor of its founder, a professor of English at San José State. The Center houses over 40,000 items — manuscripts, original letters, inscribed first editions, secondary works, film memorabilia, films, cassettes, and over 1,400 photographs. Significant manuscript collections have been donated to the Center by Elaine Steinbeck, the author's widow; Sharon Brown Bacon, stepdaughter of Steinbeck's first wife Carol; and Marlene Brody, Steinbeck's secretary in Paris in 1954. Scholars, students, and members of the community are welcome to use the collection and view the changing displays in room 590 of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.