Newly Cataloged Books, Winter 2025
The Book Division has been hard at work making rare and historic books available for research. Check out some of our newly cataloged works from 2025!
Meet the Newest Staff of the Clements Library!
We’re excited to introduce some new faces to the Clements Library staff. From development to digitization, these members bring passion and expertise in their respective fields, and we hope you’re as thrilled to meet them as we are!
“The Sound of Harps Angelical”*: A Celtic Harpist’s Journey through the Collection of the William L. Clements Library
By Alexander Lawrence Ames [Website]Figure 1. Allegorical female figure of America, with a harp. Clad in classical robes, the figure holds a piece of sheet music titled “UNION 1800.” Mezzotint, hand-colored; 30.2 x 25.1 cm. Prints POR.E Ame. [Catalog Record]Come, sing to me of other days,When Fortune sweetly smiled,When Time, entranced in pleasure’s maze,Was of his wings beguiled. —Juliana Frances Turner, “Stanzas Addressed to My Harp, on Receiving it from England,” The Harp of the Beech-Woods...
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, February 2025
From the diary of a member of the Midland Baseball Club of Oxford to the papers of British Consul-General James Colquhoun, the Manuscripts Department has made a wide variety of collections available for research this month.
Reimagining Early America in Full Color
Was the 19th century really as dull and drab as the era’s prints and photos might suggest? Far from it! While we might picture early America in black and white, that’s because photographs obscure garish fabric colors, busy wallpaper patterns, and rainbow-hued books. To help you see beyond the gray and sepia tones of the era, Outreach Assistant Sam Huck sat down with Jayne Ptolemy, our Associate Curator of Manuscripts and the main curator of the exhibit, More than Gray: Reimagining Early America in Full Color, for a Q&A.
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, December 2024
The Manuscripts Department has been hard at work making historic hand-written materials available for research. Check out sixteen new finding aids published this past December!
![[Transcriptions]: Trading Pumpkins for Medical Care in 1850s New Hampshire](https://clements.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241030_125224-1080x675.jpg)
[Transcriptions]: Trading Pumpkins for Medical Care in 1850s New Hampshire
One of the many professions represented in the wealth of account books at the Clements Library is that of the country doctor. Here, for example, is a page from the ledger of Dr. Josiah Morse of Stewartstown, New Hampshire, whose patient network extended well beyond the boundaries of his hometown. The following transcribed excerpt shows interactions between John Lamphier of Canaan, Vermont, and Dr. Morse.
New Graphics Finding Aids: 2024
The past year has been an incredibly busy time for the Clements Library’s Graphics Division, with over 80 new finding aids having been created for a variety of collections that can now be requested for use in the reading room. Let’s take a look at a few highlights!
An Accidental Trailblazer: the Marion E. Grusky Rucker Collection
Lee Rucker Keiser writes about her mother, Marion E. Grusky Rucker, a World War II veteran, teacher, and beloved family member. Read about Marion’s service in the U.S. Navy, teaching abroad, and Lee’s decision to donate her mother’s papers to the William L. Clements Library.
![[Transcriptions]: Grimké and Weld Women Vote in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, March 7, 1870](https://clements.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sarah-cropped.jpg)
[Transcriptions]: Grimké and Weld Women Vote in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, March 7, 1870
Sarah Grimké Weld was 25 years old when she wrote the following letter to William Hamilton. She, along with her mother Angelina Weld and aunt Sarah M. Grimké marched with around 50 other women to vote in local elections at Hyde Park on March 7, 1870. In this letter to her friend and future husband, she explained the significance and purpose of the vote, commented on her dentist’s affection for her (which she rejected), and updated him on her work at the Woman’s Journal.