Why History Matters
Randolph G. Adams Director of the Clements Library, J. Kevin Graffagnino, comments on the importance of history in our society. I speak at a lot of historical events, where I’m preaching to the choir. However, I also speak to civic and business groups like Rotary, Kiwanis, and the Chamber of Commerce. There I face audiences that include “temporal provincials” as described in Michael Crichton’s 1999 novel Timeline. “Temporal provincials,” Crichton wrote, “were convinced that the present was the...
Susy’s Breast and Material History
Guest post by Morgan McCullough, Clements Library 2019 Price Fellow In the American Science and Medicine Collection a small slip of paper lies safely nestled in a folder, a recipe “for Susy’s Breast.”[1] Undated, with author, recipient, and Susy the patient unidentified, this recipe holds many secrets. Despite these mysteries this recipe also reveals much about breastfeeding, a physical and often painful moment in many women’s lives. Details of early American women’s bodies and body care, like...
Announcing the Redesigned Clements Library Website
The Clements Library is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. The redesign includes a fresh look and feel with a more modern, mobile-responsive design. All text has been revised to be more readable and concise, accompanied by larger, compelling images that better represent the library and its collections. Based on feedback from library researchers and staff, our website has been reorganized to be more user-friendly and easier to navigate. The entire site was rebuilt to be more...
Applications welcomed for 2020 William L. Clements Library Research Fellowships
Scholars from across the globe visit the William L. Clements Library to work on books, articles, dissertations, creative projects, and more. In 2019 we welcomed 23 fellows. Fellows are encouraged to present a brown bag talk or write a guest blog post related to their research. After visiting the Clements Library one of our fellows had this to say about the experience: The Clements Library not only has an amazing variety of rich collections but also an incredibly helpful, professional staff....
Imperial Spanish Symbolism: The Pillars of Hercules
This essay by volunteer Derek Brereton examines three examples of the same Spanish cultural symbolism found in some of the oldest collection items at the Clements Library. The Clements Library is fortunate to possess at least three fine examples of illustrations exploiting the Spanish imperial theme of the Pillars of Hercules. The most ornate of these appears in a publication by the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, dedicated to King Carlos V. Cabeza de Vaca’s prose is spare and...
Underground Railroad Documentation and Other Valuable Resources: More Digitized Manuscripts Collections from the William L. Clements Library
The Clements Library is pleased to announce that an additional five manuscript collections are digitized and freely accessible online. The digital versions are complete and presented in a manner that reflects the collections' physical/intellectual arrangements. This selection includes one example from the Library's Civil War collections and an unpublished English-Odawa dictionary (in the Fort Wayne Indian Agency Collection). We would like to express our appreciation for the University of...
Gifts in Kind – Betty Bishop
Betty Bishop’s history with the Clements Library actually started before she was born. My grandfather was recruited to Michigan by Mr. Clements, who was on the Board of Regents at the time. Clements arranged to go down to the Library of Congress where my grandfather was a librarian of the reading room, and asked for a private tour with him being a fellow University of Michigan alum. It turned out, not that my grandfather knew it at the time, but he was being looked over as a possible candidate...
William L. Clements and “The Death of General Wolfe”
The Death of General Wolfe was reinstalled for permanent public display at the William L. Clements Library last month. Over 240 years old and 8 1/2 feet in width, the epic Benjamin West painting once again graces its longtime home after nearly seven years offsite. In this essay, Graphics Curator Clayton Lewis describes how William Clements acquired the painting in 1928. All collectors know the feeling of being haunted by the one that got away. “Buyer’s remorse” from an expensive impulse...
Latest Quarto: Our Favorites
The Summer-Fall 2019 Quarto is now available. The Quarto is a semi-annual magazine published by the William L. Clements Library and sent to the Clements Library Associates. Terese Austin, Head of Reader Services, has taken the helm as editor with support from outgoing editor Brian Dunnigan. Dunnigan, who retired from the Clements Library this summer, has been named curator emeritus of maps by the Regents of the University of Michigan. This issue of The Quarto is titled "Our Favorites."...
The Clements Library Travels to Philadelphia & Delaware in September!
Mr. Clements began his Americana collection focused on exploration and he enjoyed the camaraderie and knowledge of other collectors and libraries around the country. Clements Library staff continue to forge such alliances and to offer opportunities for continued learning. Curator of Graphics Clayton Lewis is a member of the American Historical Print Collectors Society (AHPCS) and is currently serving as the Regional Activities Chair. Out of this collaboration, we developed “A Day at...