Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) is a renowned rare book and special collections repository at the University of Oregon (UO). SCUA grew from the work of the History Department, which began collecting materials about Oregon history shortly after the University was founded in 1876. Holdings increased further with the Oregon Collection, which began as part of the celebrations of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, with oversight by the social activist and advocate for American folk arts, Allen Eaton. The Oregon Collection formed the nucleus of rare books at UO, augmented in the 1930s by significant donations of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and incunabula by Edward Sanford Burgess.

From 1938-1943, John Henry Nash formed the University of Oregon Library Press where he supervised the design and composition of books selected by students. SCUA was formally created in 1947 as a library department to acquire manuscript, book, and photograph collections under the leadership of Curator of Special Collection, Martin Schmitt, who was the recipient of the 1972 Waldo Gifford Leland Prize for the Catalogue of Manuscripts in the University of Oregon Library. Schmitt partnered with Edward Kemp, Acquisitions Librarian, to acquire manuscript collections from individuals around the world. Kemp’s work, Manuscript Solicitation for Libraries, Special Collections, Museums, and Archives (1978) laid out the first systematic approach to acquiring manuscripts for institutional collections. In 1969, Kenneth Duckett, manuscripts librarian and then-director of SCUA, wrote an award-winning work titled, Modern Manuscripts: A Practical Manual for their Management, Care and Use (1975).

In 1948, the Special Collections was named the official repository for permanent University records. After decades of neglect and under-staffing, the records management operation to administer non-permanent records of the University were officially separated from SCUA in 2015 and placed administratively under the Office of General Counsel.

Each year, SCUA acquires thousands of unique manuscripts, books, photographs, and other printed materials, which are vital in the research of students and scholars both nationally and internationally. Its archival holdings include the papers of some of America’s most beloved authors, including Ken Kesey and Ursula Le Guin. The manuscript holdings contain the records of Utopian communities, LGBTQIA+ populations, environmental organizations, independent film producers, missionaries to China, and pioneer-settlers, to name but a few. The rare book collection of 200,000 titles contains over 100 incunabula, 75 Medieval and Renaissance codices, works of every major fine press in England and America (including every work by John Henry Nash) and a comprehensive collection of Pacific Northwest poets. The SCUA is also home to some of America’s most accomplished photographers, including Charles W. Furlong, Edward S. Curtis, Zig Jackson, Doris Ulmann, Tee Corinne, and Jacqueline Moreau. The history of the university is explored in broad stokes in our Frequently Asked University History Questions.

SCUA is housed in the 1937 portion of the Knight Library. Librarian M.H. Douglass campaigned for construction of the building, as Fenton Hall had become woefully inadequate. Designed by architecture dean and campus architect Ellis Lawrence, and built under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, Knight Library, listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings, was expanded in 1950 and 1966, and expanded, renovated, and renamed in 1993-1995. SCUA's stacks were renovated in 2017 with temperature and humidity controls added to all storage areas.

The main space, which features a high ceiling and fine natural light from the ample north-facing windows, has always been used as a reading room. When the building opened in May 1937 it was the Open Shelf Reading Room, and later the Upper Division Reading Room. At each end are cedar panels carved by Art Clough, with the assistance of Ross McClure and Jim de Broekart. In 2006, the room was renamed in honor of a donor, the Paulson Investment Company, Inc. The room underwent a major renovation in 2019 to include new carpet and furniture, task lighting for researchers, public computers and a new reference desk. New exhibit cases were also added to enhance the display of collections and build on an active exhibition program.