New Graphics Finding Aids, Winter 2025
More finding aids have been made available for Clements Library’s Graphics Division collections. Here are some of the highlights!Cover and page of The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album highlighting street views of San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake.T. E. Hecht California Views Photograph Album (ca. 1856-1900) The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album contains approximately 234 copies of photographs of Californian scenery originally produced by various photographers...
U-M Clements Library announces a new exhibit on the Battles of Lexington & Concord coinciding with the 250th anniversary
The William L. Clements Library’s new exhibition, Bloody Work: Lexington and Concord 1775 features historic handwritten letters, documents, and artwork. Opening on April 18, 2025, it commemorates the 250th anniversary of the military hostilities that began the Revolutionary War. The Clements is uniquely positioned to tell this story, as it has some of the strongest Revolutionary War holdings of any library, particularly those pertaining to the British side of the war.On display is the...
Thomas Gage Descendant Deborah Gage visits Clements Library
The Thomas Gage papers, which have been housed at the Clements Library since William L. Clements himself purchased and donated them in 1937, give unique insight into the Revolutionary War from the British perspective. However, they also greatly inform the reader about everyday life in the colonies prior to the revolution. It is this aspect of the Gage story that Deborah Gage, a descendant of General Gage, focused on during A Conflict of Emotions: Thomas and Margaret Gage and the American Revolution on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
Graduate Student Intern Annika Dekker at Ephemera 45
Historic Visual Culture Graduate Assistant Annika Dekker describes her experience attending and speaking at Ephemera 45, the Ephemera Society of America’s annual conference.
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!