The AKC Archives is arranged into four major groups:
- Clubs, including AKC Member Clubs and Parent Clubs
- People
- AKC Administrative
- Visual Materials
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.
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:
- Sporting
- American Water Spaniel Club (1939-2005)
- English Cocker Spaniel Club of America (1926-2011)
- Irish Setter Club of America (1860-1991)
- Labrador Retriever Club (1938-2010)
- Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club (USA) (1916-2012)
- Herding
- Bearded Collie Club of America (1969-2011)
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America (1936-2005)
- Hound
- Greyhound Club of America (1889-2007)
- Otterhound Club of America (1931-2007)
- Scottish Deerhound Club of America (1931-2007)
- Working
- Akita Club of America (1885-2019)
- Giant Schnauzer Club of America (1905-2009)
- Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America (1968-2004)
- Mastiff Club of America (1890-2008)
- Newfoundland Club of America (c.1930 – 2003)
- Portuguese Water Dog Club of America (1972-2005)
- Standard Schnauzer Club of America (1905-2009)
- Terrier
- Bedlington Terrier Club of America (1923-2001)
- Bull Terrier Club of America (1947-2011)
- Scottish Terrier Club of America (1902-2005)
- Toy
- Chihuahua Club of America (1956-2004)
- Pekingese Club of America (1909-1985)[collection of Iris de la Torre Bueno]
- Non-Sporting
- Chinese Shar-Pei Club of America (1976-2007)
- Keeshond Club of America (1938-2007)
- Löwchen Club of America (1971-2005)
- Poodle Club of America (1931-2016)
- Miscellaneous Class
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:
- Breed History, Descriptions, and Standards files
- Club Periodicals
- Club Yearbooks, Annuals, and Pictorials
- Club Catalogs
- Breed and Club miscellaneous files
- Studbooks, Pedigrees, Registries, and Statistical Compilations
- Club Codes of Ethics
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.
- Faye Bergman collection of Boxer photographs (1940-1960)
- Filomena Doherty collection of Pug materials (1952-1973)
- Thomas M. Gately papers (1925-1989)
- Wilbur E. “Red” Henry collection of Beagle research materials (1876-1985)
- Dorothy Howe collection of Labrador Retriever materials (1940s-1970s)
- Winkie (W.E.) Mackay-Smith collection of Bull Terrier materials (1967-1997)
- Gustav Muss-Arnolt Pen Drawings collection (1889-1908)
- The Peters family and Windholme Kennel papers (1866-1969)
- George Shepard Page collection of Scottish Deerhound materials (1880s-1930s)
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.
- Club Relation Files (1918 – 1936)
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.
- John Ashbey collection of dog show photography,1974-2003
- Alton Anderson collection of dog photography (1974-1981)
- William P. Gilbert collection of dog show photography, 1979-1984
- John T. Marvin photography collection, 1800-1985
- Margaurite and Kenneth M. McDonald collection of dog show photography, 1947-1979
- Luis Sosa collection of dog show photography, 1992-2004
- Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lewis Wiel Collection of Lakeland, Kerry Blue, and Fox Terrier photographs, 1948-1965
- Missy Yuhl collection of dog show photography, 1974-1996
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.
- AKC Library subject files, 1980-2010
- Sports Illustrated Library News Clippings files, 1950-1993
- Scrapbooks collection, 1897-1985
Library Collections
The 18,000-volume library collection may be explored through the online catalog CAIUS