The UConn Library’s Archives & Special Collections supports the University of Connecticut’s mission of teaching, research and service. It acquires, preserves and makes accessible specialized research collections for students, faculty, staff, scholars and the general public and supports the development and promotion of public programs, exhibitions and similar events to enhance the University’s teaching and research activities.

Archives & Special Collections holds the UConn Library’s collection of rare and special books and other publications, the University Archives, and over 1,200 archival collections of primary sources and records of enduring value. 

The Human Rights collections document human rights violations in the United States and internationally, struggles for social justice, artistic responses, and advocacy efforts by individuals, non-governmental organizations, and state agencies. The Human Rights collections include the Thomas J. Dodd Papers, which document his work as Chief Trial Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials, oral histories and documentation gathered in partnership with the African National Congress in South Africa and the Center for Oral History at the University of Connecticut, the records and library of Human Rights Internet, the records of the Coalition for International Justice, and the Refugee Case Files of the International Rescue Committee. Audiovisual collections include the Impact Visuals Photograph Collection, the U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers, as well as the Mia Farrow and Eric Reeves collections on the Darfur Crisis. Additional human rights materials can be found in the Alternative Press Collection, which contains thousands of national and international newspapers, serials, books, pamphlets, ephemera and artifacts documenting activist themes and organizations, spanning from the 1800s to the present.