# A university heritage display that brings the archives into the light

> Build a university heritage display from your archives: founding, presidents, campus landmarks, colleges and historic firsts, for visitors and alumni.

Source: https://history-showcase.com/use-cases/university-heritage-display · HistoryShowcase · Updated 2026-10-26

Your university’s archives hold the founding charter, presidents’ portraits, campus maps and the first graduating class. Put that history where visitors arrive, organized so a curious guest can explore it.

## What is a university heritage display?

A university heritage display presents an institution’s founding, presidents, campus landmarks, colleges and historic firsts, drawn from its archives and shown where visitors arrive. With HistoryShowcase, archivists organize that history by era, place and people, use Smart Add to suggest entries from finding aids for review, and open the same site on touchscreens in several buildings.

- Made for: university archivists, communications staff and alumni relations directors
- Where schools put it: Visitor center, Library lobby, Student union
- Layouts: Timeline, Portrait gallery, Photo gallery, Profiles
- Visitors can filter by: College, Era, Year
- Cost: Free to use. No payment details required.

## Archives are for more than researchers

University archives are full of the school’s best stories: the handful of students in the first class, the building that burned and was rebuilt, the first women admitted, the president who kept the doors open through hard years. Most of it is seen by researchers and the occasional anniversary book. Visitors, prospective students and alumni walk past the buildings without knowing who they were named for or why.

A university heritage display puts that history where people gather: the visitor center, the library lobby, the student union. Organize it by era, by campus landmark and by people, and draw every story from what your archive can document. Each college or school can have its own collection, so the engineering school’s history sits beside the founding story, and the same site can be shared with alumni wherever they live.

## How does a university heritage display compare with library exhibit cases?

| What matters | Library exhibit cases | HistoryShowcase |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Original objects | Real documents and artifacts on view | Scans and photos of those objects |
| Amount of history shown | What fits in the cases | Founding to today in one timeline |
| Changing the exhibit | Curated and arranged by staff | Edited in a draft, then published |
| Reaching alumni | Visit the library in person | Shared at the site’s web address |
| Each college’s story | A separate exhibit when space allows | A collection for each college |

## What a university heritage display can hold

- **Founding and early years.** The charter, the first faculty and the first class, told from documents and photos in your archive.
- **Presidents and leaders.** Every president in order, with their years and what changed on campus under them.
- **Campus landmarks.** Buildings, gates and green spaces, with who they were named for and photos from construction to today.
- **Historic firsts.** First graduates, first programs, first teams and pioneers who opened doors, each with a documented story.
- **Colleges and schools.** A collection for each college within the university, with its own history and notable graduates.
- **Anniversaries and traditions.** Commencement, homecoming and campus traditions traced back to their beginnings.

## Organizing a university heritage display

Combine a timeline for the whole institution with collections for places, people and the colleges within it.

Site: Our Heritage

- **University timeline** (Timeline): Founding to today, one entry per milestone.
- **Presidents** (Portrait gallery): Official portraits with years of service.
- **Campus landmarks** (Photo gallery): Buildings then and now.
- **Colleges and schools** (Profiles): A sub-collection for each college.

Visitors can filter by: College, Era, Year.

## How do you build a university heritage display?

1. **Choose stories your archive can document.** Pick milestones, people and places with photos and records you can stand behind, and note the source in each biography.
2. **Let Smart Add read finding aids.** Upload a timeline, finding aid or anniversary book and Smart Add suggests entries with sources. Archivists review each one.
3. **Publish for an anniversary or orientation.** Preview privately, then publish for founders day, a milestone anniversary or new student orientation.

## Where should a university heritage display go?

- **Visitor center.** Prospective students and families start their campus tour here.
- **Library lobby.** Near the archives, for guests who want to learn more.
- **Student union.** Current students learn who their buildings are named for.

## University heritage display questions

### Can each college have its own history?

Yes. Give each college or school a collection with its own layout, and add a college filter where visitors need to narrow a long list.

### Can we use the site on several screens around campus?

Yes. The published site runs in a web browser, so you can open it full screen on touchscreens in different buildings and share its web address online.

### How do we keep the history accurate?

Publish only what your archive can support. Every change is a private draft until someone with publishing access publishes, so archivists can review each entry first.

### Can we include athletics history?

Yes. Add athletics as its own collection with banner or profile layouts, beside the founding story and campus landmarks.

## Related

- [College Athletics Hall of Fame Display](https://history-showcase.com/use-cases/college-athletics-hall-of-fame): Inductees, title teams and All-Americans in every varsity sport, ready for recruits and letterwinners.
- [School History Timeline Display](https://history-showcase.com/use-cases/school-history-timeline): Founding to last spring in one chronological line, each event with its year, its story and its photos.
- [School Building History Display](https://history-showcase.com/use-cases/school-building-history): Every building, wing and named space, from cornerstone to renovation, including the ones torn down.
- [HBCU Hall of Fame](https://history-showcase.com/use-cases/hbcu-hall-of-fame): Honor the athletes, coaches, musicians, scholars and alumni who carried your institution’s legacy forward.

Bring your archives to the front door Free to use. No payment details required. Start building, no account needed: https://history-showcase.com/start