A Day in the Life at the Clements Library: Oksana Linda
Welcome to “A Day in the Life at The Clements Library!” On the fourth edition of this series, we will meet with Oksana Linda, the Rare Book Cataloger at the Clements Library!
New Manuscript Finding Aids, April 2026
Eleven manuscript collections were made available for research this past month, including two collections graciously donated by Dan Casavant and one by Sue and Mike Jandernoa!Book Titles scrapbook, [ca. 1920s?] An unidentified compiler made this scrapbook, likely around the 1920s, by clipping letters and images from periodicals and other sources to create rebuses of book titles. For example, From Log-Cabin to Whitehouse (1920) and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1902) are represented.Brooklyn...
Verbiest’s Complete Map of the World Pt I: The Map
This is part one of a two part series. Read part two here.The western hemisphere from the Complete Map of the World (坤輿全圖, Kun yu quan tu) created by Ferdinand Verbiest (Nan Huairen, 南懷仁) for the Kang Xi Emperor of China in 1674. Few folks who know the Clements Library or its collections would think to look for Chinese materials there. Yet China is to be found in the study of the history of the Americas whether through migration or through the Chinese lens looking at the Americas from...
Poems Around the Civil War Pt III: An Offense on the Home Front
“An Offense on the Home Front” peaks with the stoic elegance that my great-great grandmother demonstrated in dealing with “uncouth rebel youth.”
Collection Deep Dive: The Weld-Grimké Quilt
There are some things the written word just will not tell us, which is why we’ve always been so drawn to the material objects that get saved alongside them. The exquisite, oversized quilt that came to the Clements Library as part of an addition to the Weld-Grimké Family Papers from donor descendant Charlotte Mason in 2007 demonstrates this particularly well.
This is Who Works at the Clements Library!
Let’s take a look back in time to see the staff of the Clements Library before they got where they are today!
Browsing the William L. Clements Library’s Collections
Finding what you are looking for can seem daunting in the robust, world-class collection of the William L. Clements Library. Students, professors, and professional researchers reach out to our staff every day for help locating items on specific topics. This blog post briefly describes some methods for searching our collection and some resources that may help.
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, March 2026
This past month, 19 new manuscript finding aids were made available online. Seven of those were written by our wonderful student interns! These collections offer glimpses into the everyday lives of a farmer and a sheriff, reflections on experiences as a prisoner of war, business records, and more.
Poems Around the Civil War Pt II: War Picnic
Guest blog post by Wendy Chapin Ford ’77. Wendy was a panelist on Bookworm #25 where she discussed her book of poetry A Frontier Romance: Tiger Bill and Kate. Genealogical research led her to be inspired by her great-grandparents’ story. Now as she continues to delve into her family history, she has written new poetry based on her relatives’ experiences during the Civil War. In a three part series, she shares these poems, and the Clements provides illustrations. This is part two of the series,...
A Day in the Life at The Clements Library: Ella Brooks-Kamper
Welcome to “A Day in the Life at The Clements Library!” On the third edition of this series, we will meet with Ella Brooks-Kamper, a student at the University of Michigan School of Information. Ella is the Historic Visual Culture Fellow. That’s right Wolverines, you can work here too!