New Online Exhibit: “So Once Were We”: Death in Early America
"So Once Were We": Death in Early AmericaMortality is a useful lens through which we may view many aspects of early American society. "So Once Were We": Death in Early America explores American practices and traditions for coping with death, from the early years of European exploration and discovery to the early 20th century and the burgeoning modern funeral industry."So Once Were We" is a partial line from a once-common verse, which has many variations. One, from a Civil War-era tombstone in...
Today in History: The Stamp Act Repeal, March 18, 1766
Guest post by Kayla Carucci, Book Division student assistant and graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Information. With the move from Ellsworth back to campus finally complete, the Clements staff and volunteers grow more excited by the day for the reopening of the reading room. Relocating the collections served as a reminder of how vast and varied the Clements Library holdings are.A five shilling stamp from the Thomas Gage Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University...
From the Stacks: Santa Claus
The Clements staff are busy packing offices and preparing collections for our move back to campus, an all-encompassing task that makes the days pass far too quickly. We take this opportunity to step back from bubble wrap and boxes to reflect on the magic of the holidays.The spirit of generosity that characterizes so much of this season is not only reflected in the exchange of gifts and the gathering of loved ones but also in the special efforts to heighten children's excitement and wonder....
Giving Blueday at the Clements Library
Today the University of Michigan is hosting Giving Blueday, a university-wide campaign to participate in the growing tradition of Giving Tuesday, a global day of generosity to mark the opening of the holiday season. All of us at the Clements Library would like to invite you to join in this initiative. Your support enables us to build and preserve our world-class collection of early Americana. For Giving Blueday you can choose from a number of different funds that advance our mission to collect...
Happy Thanksgiving from the Clements Library
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and here at the Clements Library we're thankful for all of our supporters. From a recent acquisition, The Club Room Gazette, a manuscript magazine produced by members of the Everett Literary Association in 1861. This beautifully illustrated volume is in need of conservation, one of several ways your Giving Blueday donation could be put to good use.December 1st is Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving that celebrates generosity as we enter the holiday season. We hope...
From the Stacks: Skeletons
With Halloween right around the corner, here at the Clements Library our thoughts have turned to all things spooky that send shivers up your spine. While perhaps not as sinister as ghouls and goblins, the bare human skeleton has a disconcerting effect all its own that lends it symbolic weight.Our Book Division has a sampling of tracts that use the human skull as a tool to emphasize the dire impact of immoral behavior. A sermon preached at the funeral of Joshua Spooner, a man who was...
From the Stacks: Preserving a Dried Strawberry
We recently received a Twitter query related to the strangest items in archival collections. Meg Hixon, who did extraordinary work at the Clements Library as a Project Archivist, recalled that we have a dried strawberry in our James Caswell Knox Papers. This small berry was enclosed in a letter written by Catharine Knox on June 18, 1865, to her husband who was serving in Virginia with the 147th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War. While carefully wrapped in a scrap of newspaper, she...
Recent Acquisition: Rare Early Work by Native American Author
Post by Emiko Hastings, Curator of BooksThe Book Division is pleased to announce a significant new acquisition, Diego de Valadés' Rhetorica Christiana (1579). This purchase, courtesy of Liber Antiquus, Early Books & Manuscripts, fills an important gap in our holdings of early printed Americana. It is "almost certainly the first book written by a native of Mexico to be printed in Europe." The book itself is in excellent condition, bound in contemporary limp vellum and with all...
Palm Trees, Sugar, Slavery, and More
Post by Brian L. Dunnigan, Associate Director and Curator of MapsThe Clements Library is known to historians and scholars of other disciplines as a primary source repository of “Americana” dating between 1492 and 1900. For all too many members of the history and the University of Michigan communities, however, that word suggests collections documenting mainland, English-speaking North America, particularly the territory that became the United States. Admittedly, that is the part of the...
Graduate Student Workers and New Finding Aids
Post by Cheney Schopieray, Curator of ManuscriptsGraduate students are a vital part of the William L. Clements Library. As work-study employees, interns, grant-funded workers, and volunteers, graduate students help the Library with many different sorts of jobs and projects. They create inventories and indices, conduct research, arrange and describe collections, copy materials for patrons, perform office tasks, and work on special projects. Students benefit from mentorship by the Library's...