The collections

The University Collections date from 1881 to the present day. They comprise records of the University of Dundee and its predecessor institutions, University College and Queen's College. They also include the records of merged institutions, including Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the College of Education.

The records cover the administrations of the institutions and the activities, both formal and informal, of staff and students.

Ecclesiastical collections include the Brechin Diocesan Manuscripts and Library collection, the Glasite and Sandemanian Church and the Arbroath and Montrose Methodist Church.

The collections cover over 600 years and include records of individuals and churches. They contain sermons and discourses, correspondence, diaries, transcripts of baptismal and other registers, plans and photographs

The NHS Tayside Archive contains the records of many hospitals and other medical institutions, including Dundee Royal Infirmary, Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum and Sunnyside Royal Asylum, Montrose. Other records include the Dundee General and Mental Hospitals Boards of Management.

The collections include administrative records, and those of staff and patients. Please note that clinical records are closed for 100 years

The Peto Collection contains over 120,000 images taken by the Hungarian photo-journalist Michael Peto (1908-1970). Major themes include pre and post-war Britain; the arts, especially the London ballet scene; Cambridge Prospect Theatre Productions, Eastern Europe, Israel and India.

The collection contains images of musicians from the Beatles, to Louis Armstrong to Benjamin Britten, of icons of film and theatre such Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith and Richard Burton, of political figures such as Nelson Mandela, Khrushchev and Winston Churchill, as well as literary figures like Hugh MacDiarmid, Alan Bennett and Iris Murdoch.

Peto was also prolific in capturing scenes of the every-day, from Welsh miners to street vendors in India, of cafe culture and families.

‌‌Comic strips and cartoons, superheroes and scallywags, satire and social comment - you'll find them all in our comics collections. Ranging from comic strips in the 'Dundee Free Press' to complete runs of 2000AD and other Marvel and DC titles, this resource is proving invaluable to leisure researchers, undergraduates, postgraduates and academics.

Oral history collections

We advise and help individuals and organisations doing oral history projects, and actively engage in the creation of oral history collections, such as the University of Dundee Oral History project and the Strathmartine Hospital History project.