The purposes of the Gilman Archives include the following:

• To appraise, collect, organize, describe, make available, and preserve records of enduring historical, administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value to the School, in accordance with the law.
• To provide adequate and controlled facilities for the retention, preservation, servicing, and research use of such records.
• To facilitate efficient management of recorded information produced by the School's divisions and administrative offices.
• To provide reference services to assist in the School's administration and operations.
• To participate in selected Office of Advancement events, such as (but not restricted to) mounting special displays for reunions.
• To serve in a public relations capacity by promoting knowledge and understanding of the origins, history, programs, and goals of the School.
• To serve as a research center for the study of the School's history by current and past members of the Gilman community and the scholarly community at large.

The Gilman Archives consists of photographs, publications, documents, oral histories, and various types of memorabilia relating to the history of the School.

Photography Collection

Includes photographs for each class starting with the Class of 1903. Through our partnership with Digital Maryland — a collaborative, statewide digitization program headquartered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Resource Center — over 600 Gilman-related photographs and memorabilia are available for public viewing.

Gilman Collection on Digital Maryland

Publication Collection

Includes a complete collection of Cynosure yearbooks (1918–present), Alumni Bulletin (1942–present), and The Gilman News (1914–present), among other official School publications.

Multimedia Collection

Includes audio-visual material, including recordings of events, concerts, and athletics. The Gilman Archives has digitized hundreds of football and lacrosse film reels dating back to the 1930s.

Memorabilia Collection

Includes textiles, pins, medals, and other ephemera.

The Gilman Archives also has collections of documents from various offices and departments throughout Gilman.

As defined by its mission statement, the Gilman Archives is charged with the collection and maintenance of those School records possessing significant historical, administrative, legal, and fiscal value. Determination of the status of a School record is based upon an informed appraisal of the record's value by the appropriate Gilman administrators.

The decision to preserve records for administrative, legal, and fiscal purposes is the responsibility of Gilman officers and administrators in consultation with the Gilman archivist. In general, these decisions are embodied in the School's records retention and disposition schedules, which are in compliance with governing Gilman School policies and all applicable state and federal laws.

The decision to select and preserve records of historical value is the responsibility of the Gilman archivist. The purpose of collecting such records is to provide documentation of the development and growth of the School, particularly of its primary function of teaching, and its role in the community at large, the activities of its student body and alumni, and the development of its physical plant and grounds. Priority is given to those records that reflect the activities of School officers and committees that formulate or approve School policy, as well as faculty and administrative involvement in these activities.

Any materials deemed unnecessary for the Gilman Archives, for reasons ranging from preservation difficulties to redundancy, will be periodically de-accessioned from the collection. The archivist will be responsible for coordinating de-accessioning decisions with appropriate parties. All efforts will be made to retain a digital record of any materials to be de-accessioned, prior to removal from the collection.

The Gilman Archives is the sole unit responsible for the historical documentation of the Gilman School, its functions, and affairs.

The Gilman Archives is to collect, organize, and preserve the following archival material:

• Materials created by or used directly by Gilman School.
• Records of preceding bodies or closely affiliated organizations.
• Personal papers of individuals connected with the work of Gilman School.
• Objects and memorabilia connected with Gilman School.
• Significant student, faculty, and alumni records, manuscripts, scrapbooks, albums, correspondence, and photographs.
• Two copies of all school publications: yearbooks, newspapers, literary magazines, directories, handbooks, brochures, announcements, programs, and invitations.
• School-related projects and exhibits.

When in doubt, do not throw away school-related material until the archivist evaluates it. Once a decision is made to keep the material, the archivist will accession, catalog, and process it for permanent safekeeping.

A Gift Agreement must accompany all donations.

The Gilman School Archives ("the Archives") is a private collection of materials owned by the Gilman School. Access to the Archives, other than by School personnel who work there, is limited to individuals who have been granted specific permission to view the private materials. Permission to review material in the Archives and use archived material is granted only upon agreement to the following conditions. No material may be removed from the Archives without permission of the archivist.

• Because the use of certain materials is restricted by law, by reason of their origin or by donors, review or use of any material in the Archives is subject to the approval of the archivist.
• Use of records, which are not processed or are being processed, records of exceptional value and fragile documents may also be restricted.
• If material is subject to copyright, it may not be used without the consent of the owner of the copyright or his/her legal successor.
• Departmental or Administrative records may not be quoted, paraphrased, or used in any way without the consent of the Head of the School or his/her designee.
• No record or photograph, nor any part of a record or photograph, contained in the Archives may be cited, paraphrased, published, or reproduced without the prior written authorization of the Head of School or his/her designee.
• Those who use the Archives are required to provide a copy of any material created through the use of Archival records to The Gilman School at no charge to the School.
• The use of material obtained from the Archives shall be in conformity with the law.
• Those who use the Archives shall indemnify the Gilman School and hold it harmless from any claims arising out of use of material from the Archives.
• The terms of this written policy cannot be modified except in a written agreement signed by the archivist or the Head of School.

Gilman's archival records will normally remain closed for a maximum period of twenty years from the date of their creation (the date on which each document was written) unless the office of origin has designated a shorter period. The only records that are restricted for a different period are:

• Board of Trustees and board committee minutes
  • Restricted for 75 years.
• Faculty minutes and records of faculty committees reporting to the faculty
  • Restricted for 20 years except for members of the faculty or administration.
• Records of committees reporting only to the administration
  • Restricted for 20 years.
• Alumni records and employee personnel records
  • Restricted for 75 years.

Access to certain other records may be restricted by law regardless of time passage.

Some records may never be released.

During the restricted period, the records will be available only to the office of origin and the Archives staff. Consideration will be given for access by others when a written request is presented to the archivist and written approval has been obtained from the appropriate School offices now responsible for the function performed by the office of origin.

The records of the School will be made available in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Gilman Archives. Access to Archival material does not imply nor infer permission to use, copy, or quote said material in any manner. Please refer to the Use Policy for those permissions.

Permission to Examine

Permission to examine material will be granted to researchers upon completion of the Application for Use and agreement to abide by the following guidelines. Permission is granted subject to all restrictions placed on the material by Gilman or the donor.

Nondisclosure of Confidential Information

Researchers using unprocessed collections may come in contact with records that contain private or restricted information about individuals or organizations. Please bring any such records to the attention of the archivist immediately. It is important for you to understand that you may not convey this information to anyone by any means.

Protection of Material

Researchers are responsible for safeguarding material made available to them. Researchers may not remove material from the Archives or rearrange its order. Pencils only may be used. Material should not be leaned on, written on, folded, or handled in any way likely to damage it.

Permission to Publish

Permission to examine material is not an authorization to publish it. Separate written application for permission to publish needs to be made to the archivist. Researchers who plan to publish their work should inquire about restrictions on publication before beginning their research. To the extent that it may properly do so, Gilman School will ordinarily grant publication rights to applicants. In granting permission to publish, Gilman School does not surrender its own right to publish any of the material from its collection or grant permission to others to publish material. If permission to publish is granted, the location of the cited material shall be indicated in the published work. A copy of all publications that rely on material in the Gilman Archives should be presented to the archivist as soon as the work is published. Gilman School does not assume any responsibility for copyright infringement of material for which the copyright is held by others.

Photoduplication

The archivist will consider duplication and requests on a case-by-case basis.

Copyright

The Gilman Archives assumes no responsibility for infringement of copyright. Researchers assume full responsibility for any legal questions that may arise as a result of their use of materials in the collections.

Copyright in records created in the course of School business is held by Gilman School. Permission to reproduce School records may be requested by contacting Archives staff at archives@gilman.edu.

The Gilman Archives does not require that researchers request permission to quote from material or publish images of published material (books, woodcuts, engravings) or from most unpublished material (manuscripts, letters, and drawings) in its collections nor does it charge fees for such activities.

How to Cite Archival Sources

Citations to records and papers held by the Gilman Archives should indicate clearly the source of materials used. Proper citation helps both the researcher, who may wish to see records a second time, and the Archives staff, who may be asked to locate complete texts of cited documents. Listed below are examples of suggested citation formats for unpublished materials to be recorded in footnotes and bibliographies. There is no one correct way to cite material in the Archives, but we can provide some tips along with examples in common citation styles. Keep in mind that you might be required to use a specific citation format for your research such as MLA, APA, or Turabian.

Footnotes/Endnotes

• FORMAT: Description, Date, Name of Collection, Box Number, Repository Name, Institutional Affiliation, Location.
• EXAMPLE: Board of Trustee Minutes, 1897, Board of Trustees Papers, Box 2, Gilman Archives, Gilman School, Baltimore, MD.