Hacks for Archival Research – From a Student Perspective
During James Watke-Stacy’s time as Intern for Instruction and Engagement, he was often tasked with looking through the Clements collections for materials that would assist with class instruction or an event. Before graduating last spring, he compiled some lessons he learned through this process to share with students tackling archival research for the first time.
A Day in the Life at The Clements Library: Brynne Smith
Brynne Smith, an undergraduate student, has joined us today for a Q&A to share what her day is like as the George F. Hacker Intern at the Clements!Tell us about your background and how you came to work at the Clements Library. I am from Ann Arbor! I am going into my Junior year this fall at the University of Michigan studying Art History, and I plan on picking up a minor in Museum Studies. After I graduate, I plan to earn a Master's in Library Science and enter the archival field. I have...
Collection Deep Dive: The Weld-Grimké Family Papers Pt. I
For the last year, the digitization team at the Clements Library has been hard at work on digitizing one of our cornerstone collections. Nearly 3,500 letters from the Weld-Grimké collection will shortly be digitally available, allowing remote access to these important documents. Stretching from 1740 to 1930, these letters document the lives of the Weld and Grimké families in South Carolina, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Centered around sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimké, these correspondences highlight the work of women as political actors, religious leaders, and medical practitioners. I had the honor of working through this collection page by page, taking over 13,000 images of these letters and in this blog I’d like to share a brief biographical sketch of the Grimké family and then I will be back to share a bit more about the digitizing process and my interest in this collection.
Donor Stories: Peggy Harrington
Clements Board Member Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Harrington’s introductory experience with the Clements was during her undergraduate years at the University of Michigan. She’d walked by the building and admired its beauty, but didn’t enter until she took a geography class that brought her inside the library. Years later, as a U-M Alum and someone who knew of the Clements’ vast Americana collection, she felt compelled to donate rare materials to the Clements collections.
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, August 2026
Many manuscripts collections have been processed and made available for research, ranging from a Broadway Theaters scrapbook depicting a “School of Educated Dogs” to the papers of WWII veteran Robert S. Simpson, who helped establish a typhus hospital at the liberated Allach concentration camp. As always, all are welcome to visit the Clements to research these materials in person.
Collection Deep Dive: Florence Smith Romaine
Photographed wearing a fur coat and posing alongside three dogs, I first came across Florence in the Clements Library Image Bank. Alongside her fur coat ensemble, two more digitized photographs served as an introduction to Mrs. Romaine. These images captured her time on the stage and later in her mid to late forties, leaving us to wonder who was she in between all of those years? And who was she?
Clements Library Acquires 192 Original Revolutionary War-era Sermons, Begins Crowdfunding Campaign
The William L. Clements Library recently acquired an extraordinary archive of 192 original sermons written between 1765 and 1780 by Rev. Joseph Bowman. Held in a private collection, the existence of the papers were previously unknown. The 2,000 page hand-written collection forms a significant corpus of religious writing that coincides with the final years of the First Great Awakening and continues through the American Revolution.
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, July 2026
The Clements Library is thrilled to make another large batch of manuscript collections available for research. Included in this batch are colorful sample checks, documents penned by poet James Whitcomb Riley, and a fan diary recording celebrations of the 4th of July over the years!
A Day in the Life at the Clements Library: Diana Baxter
Welcome to the 6th edition of a Day in the Life at the Clements Library! Read on to spend a day with Diana Baxter, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan’s School of Information.
Verbiest’s Complete Map of the World Pt II: The Man Behind the Map
Who was Ferdinand Verbiest and why did he create a world map?