Archives & Special Collections | Belmont University

Belmont University Special Collections procures, preserves, and interprets the objects and papers related to Belmont University history and its holdings. The collection also incorporates a larger Nashville story, including collections relating to the music history of Nashville, which is also a Belmont story. For further details about specific collections, please reference our finding aids.

Research at Belmont University

Holdings – Please explore Belmont University's collections through our finding aids.

Researcher Form - Please use this link to submit a researcher form. This is the first step in accessing our collections.

Digital Collections

Belmont Digital Repository - The Belmont Digital Repository (BDR) is a collection of scholarly, research, and creative works produced by Belmont faculty, students, and staff. The Repository is administered jointly by the Lila D. Bunch Library and the Law Library in cooperation with individual departments and academic units of the University.

Digital Exhibits - Please click this link to be taken to on-line exhibits produced by Belmont University’s Special Collections. These exhibits are designed to highlight important moments, people, and ideas from the University’s past and its archival holdings.

Belmont History

Belmont College for Young Women was founded in 1890 by Ida Hood and Susan Herron. Please click here to learn more about Belmont’s storied past as well as the important people and places that make Belmont the great institution that it is today.

For a list of past presidents of Belmont, please click here.

Digital access to many of Belmont’s early records, including yearbooks, catalogs, and other student publications can be found here. Belmont University has provided digital access to these items in partnership with Harpeth Hall.

Gallery of Iconic Guitars

The Gallery of Iconic Guitars at Belmont is Music City’s premier venue designed to celebrate some of the most rare and iconic guitars and stringed instruments ever known. Explore the gallery and Stephen Kern Shaw’s collection of stringed instruments.

Frederick Hart Studio Museum

The Lila D. Bunch Library at Belmont University houses Frederick Hart’s Hume, VA art studio. Visiting this re-created studio allows visitors to gain first-person insight into the artistic process of Hart. His tools, clay models, molds, and prototype pieces are all displayed here. For more information please click here.

More Information

Donate or give a gift to Special Collections – Do you have something you think would fit in our Special Collections? Please contact us.

Internships – Belmont Special Collections provides internships to Belmont undergraduate and graduate students as well as those from other universities.

Contact us - For inquiries please contact Special Collections Manager Molly Randolph | (615) 460-6848