Where Do You Find the Past at Winthrop?


Looking around the historic campus, it can certainly be found in its buildings and through signage describing significant events. But to add meaning and context to those structures, you need to visit the Louise Pettus Archives & Special Collections.


You might think the Archives would only have information about Winthrop and its community of learners, but that comprises only a portion of what is stored in the building that faces Cherry Road, said Gina Price White ‘83, director of the Archives. The Archives houses more than six million items, including donated manuscripts, family papers, memorabilia and more than 600,000 photographs.


Class memorabilia


Medieval manuscripts D.B. Johnson's chair


Most downloaded item: photograph of Dorothy Schroeder, an All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League player


Did You Know?


The Archives bears the name of Louise Pettus ‘46, a historian and Winthrop professor who spent much of her life chronicling this area’s rich history before her death in 2021. Pettus was among Winthrop’s most generous donors. Throughout her life and after her death, she gave close to $1.5 million to her alma mater. She told the Fort Mill Lions Club in 1988 about her perspective on the past. “History is the story of people and their lives and there are some exciting times— dramatic times—just waiting to be discovered.”


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