Collections : [Columbia University Archives]

The Core Curriculum records contain teaching and administrative materials chiefly pertaining to the longstanding Columbia College courses Contemporary Civilization and Humanities A (now called Literature Humanities). Materials include syllabi, exams, quizzes, teaching resources, administrative correspondence and memos, and curricular reviews and reports. The Core Curriculum records contain limited material pertaining to Core classes beyond Contemporary Civilization and Literature Humanities.

Marie Runyon was an activist and former New York State legislator. Born in North Carolina in 1915, she moved to Morningside Heights and in 1963 began a decades long fight against Columbia University over its real estate practices and expansion in the neighborhood. Runyon founded the Morningside Tenants Committee as well as other tenants' organizations, and she brought a number of cases to court to prevent her eviction from her apartment at 130 Morningside Drive. She also worked for many political and service organizations throughout her career.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Columbia students urged the university to divest from companies doing business in South Africa in protest of South Africa's system of apartheid. After a series of student protests culminating in a month long blockade of Hamilton Hall in 1985, the Trustees voted to begin full divestment. The collection contains the administrative records of this decision making process in the 1970s-1980s.