USN Archives

2015 marked USN’s 100th birthday and our community came together for a centennial celebration. We connected and re-connected, shared stories, attended panels, and honored our history. This milestone event acted as a catalyst to organize and catalog our treasure trove of archival material, now managed by Archivist Liz Bedford. Digitization efforts were undertaken as well to make some of it accessible online. It’s been eleven years since the celebration and we continue to grow access to the archival materials, while being responsible stewards of our history.

Though much remains to be done, the Omeka digital archives is worth browsing. You can also explore the database by name or keyword search. While you're there, you can use the contribution page to share a story or an image from your time at PDS/USN. 

Archives History: Formally initiated in 2012 by USN's first official Archivist, Alumna Claire Ackerman '96, followed by Jenny Winston in 2014, the PDS and USN physical and digital archives got the boost it needed during the school's 2015 Centennial celebration. With the help of many volunteers, Claire established and began organizing the collection and started the Omeka digital archives. Jenny continued to process, categorize, and digitize the ever-growing collection of old photos, old student newspapers, programs, newspaper clippings, artwork and miscellany that has become the bulk of the materials in the archives. Their work was continued by Kat Trammell ‘99 between 2021 and 2025. Liz Bedford, hired in 2026, is the current steward of our constantly growing and ever-evolving collection.

 

We’ve received scrapbook pages and photos from one of the last PDS football stars, class of 1946. We have old yearbooks, trophies, century-old copies of the literary magazine The Volunteer. We have the scorebook from the state champion 1927 girls' basketball team. We have cheerleading and basketball uniforms and a seemingly endless collection of photographs. As the items held within our archives continues to grow, through alumni donations and continued activity, our aim is to preserve our stories and make them accessible for generations to come.

Interested in volunteering for the PDS/USN archives? Contact Archivist Liz Bedford at lbedford@usn.org.

 

Have an item to contribute? Visit the contribution form on the online archives page: Contribute to the archives.

Archives Volunteer Recognition
We are thankful for the dedicated efforts of many volunteers over several decades. If your name does not appear here and should be, please contact Liz Bedford.