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AKC Library at the headquarters in New York City.
©American Kennel Club

The AKC Archives is arranged into four major groups:

In addition to the library book and periodical collection, there is also an assortment of photographs, pamphlets, clippings, pedigrees, and more in the Library & Archives vertical files.

Contact the Archivist for further information on undescribed materials and/or to make advance appointments (required) to consult archival holdings.

AKC Library at the headquarters in New York City.
©American Kennel Club

Clubs

This group contains the bulk of the AKC Archives’ holdings: AKC Parent Club and select Member Club records. The collections varyingly consist of meeting minutes, constitutions, by-laws, officer lists and files, original research on breeds, correspondence, brochures, pamphlets, premium lists, show catalogs, club publications, photographs, audio-visual material, and more.

The club collections are broken into their respective breed groups:

The AKC Library & Archives holds a multitude of AKC Parent Club-produced and breed-specific materials which were not acquired as part of the large, formally deposited collections above. This collection has been recently inventoried and includes:

To discuss the deposit of club records with the AKC Library & Archives, directly contact the Archivist.

People

Individuals who have played a major role in the sport of the purebred dog – often as judges, breeders, artists, authors, handlers, and owners – are included. The bulk of the collections consist of correspondences, photographs, personal research, pedigrees, scrapbooks, and more.

AKC Certificate of Incorporation.
©American Kennel Club
AKC Certificate of Incorporation.

AKC Administrative

The bulk of this collection consists of various departmental records from 1884 to the present. Records include the following items:

  • Board of Director Meeting Minutes (1884-present)
  • Constitution and By-Laws (1884-present)
  • Rules Applying to Registration and Dog Shows (1933-present)
  • Dog Show and Field Trial Rules and Regulations (1884-present)
  • Department Collections – This consists of select AKC departments such as Club Relations, Gazette, and Executive Officer files.

Many of these materials are now digitized and may be accessed here.

Visual Materials

The Visual Materials group consists of heavily graphic-based collections, including photographs, slides, negatives, and ephemera. The bulk of these collections are win shot negatives and other dog show imagery taken by leading photographers of the sport. Photographs are present in personal papers, club records, and other collections as well.

Vertical Files

The AKC Library has vertical files of various dog-related materials that have been assembled by staff over the years. Often provenance is unknown.

Comprehensive information and biographical files arranged by subject have been assembled from the AKC Gazette and other publications; these are not exhaustive resources but are supplementary to the existing archival collections.

More detailed description and inventorying of vertical file contents is an ongoing initiative.

Rare Books Library at the AKC headquarters.

Library Collections

The 18,000-volume library collection may be explored through the online catalog CAIUS