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Orange Key Guide Service Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Orange Key is a volunteer student organization that provides campus tours. Organized in 1935, the organization's primary mission was originally to welcome visitors to the University and shepherd athletic teams from other colleges around Princeton. It eventually expanded its responsibilities to include the campus guide service, and a variety of community service projects. As the number of visitors to campus grew exponentially, Orange Key made the campus guide service its primary focus, and it is that for which it is best known today. The group has operated under various offices on campus in its history. It moved from the Office of Communications to become part of the Frist Campus Center when the center opened in September of 2000 and remained there when Frist began operating under the auspices of University Services in 2003. In 2006 the Undergraduate Admission Office assumed oversight of Orange Key. Orange Key runs approximately 25 campus tours every week and it is one of the University's most active public service programs.
The collection consists of records that document the activities of the Orange Key Guide Service, including tour routes, lists of tour guides, guide selection information, subject files, training materials, and procedure manuals, as well as a card index of buildings, inscriptions, sculptures, and other physical gifts donated to the University assembled by Orange Key Office as a reference for campus tour guides.
Further accruals from the Orange Key Society are expected in the future.
Series 1, the University Donors Card File, was acquired by the University Archives in 1998 (AR.1998.061). Series 2 was acquired by the University Archives in 2003 (AR.2003.024). Series 3 was acquired by the University Archives from the Orange Key Society in 2016 (AR.2016.041).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Container list created by Eleanor Wright '14 in December 2011 and finding aid updated by Christie Peterson in February 2012. Series 3 added and finding aid updated by Phoebe Nobles in June 2016.
No information on appraisal is available.
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Christie Peterson
- Finding Aid Date
- 2007
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
Series 1: University Donors Card File, circa 1980 consists of a card index of buildings, inscriptions, sculptures, and other physical gifts donated to the University assembled by Orange Key Office as a reference for campus tour guides.
The cards in Series 1: University Donors Card File, circa 1980 are organized alphabetically by donor name, or in some cases by honoree or location.
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Series 2: 2003 Accession of Orange Key Guide Records, 1963-2002 (bulk 1985-2002) consists of records that document the activities of the Orange Key Guide Service, including tour routes, lists of tour guides, guide selection information, subject files, training materials, and procedure manuals.
The materials in Series 2: 2003 Accession of Orange Key Guide Records, 1963-2002 (bulk 1985-2002) remain in the original order in which they were received in the archives.
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Series 3: Orange Key Guide Constitutions, Annual Reports, and Reference Files (1953-2009) consists of further records that document the activities of the Orange Key Guide Service. These materials include various versions of the Orange Key Society's constitution from 1956 through 2003.
The Society's annual and monthly reports include information such as the number of tours given and the number of visitors to campus, including "noteworthy" or "interesting" visitors such as "one Finnish medical student" (1960) and Brooke Shields (1981). Annual and monthly reports also include lists of the names of Orange Key guides and committee members, as well as some information on fees for tour groups and the identity of visiting groups. The Society's host program for prospective students began in 1991, and some information about the hosting program appears in annual reports from the 1990s.
Reference material for Orange Key guides includes the Society's printed "Guides for Guides" from 1976 through 2009, as well as files (largely printed or photocopied) on the history and architecture of Princeton's campus, culture and surroundings. A file on "Notable Persons" includes notes for a "Footsteps of Einstein" tour route. A file on the university's 250th anniversary in 1996 contains several unidentified photographs, most apparently dating from the 1960s and 1970s.
Press clippings also included in this series cover the period from 1990 to 1999.
The materials in Series 3: Orange Key Guide Constitutions, Annual Reports, and Reference Files (1953-2009) remain in the original order in which they were received in the University Archives.
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