In the News: West’s The Death of General Wolfe at UMMA
In anticipation of this fall's exhibit, the University of Michigan Museum of Art's magazine presents Benjamin West's painting, The Death of General Wolfe, as both a featured item and cover image. The painting, which generally hangs in the Clements main room, will be on display at the UMMA from September 22nd until January 13th. Clements Curator of Graphic Materials Clayton Lewis also contributes an essay to the exhibit's catalog.West's painting is known for not only depicting history but for...
Classicists in the Map Division
Mary Pedley’s former Latin students have found new opportunities with cartography. Two of her former students, both classics majors, were seeking summer internships at U of M that would use their talents with ancient languages. Hannah Sorscher studies at the University of Chicago and Henry Upton at Kenyon College. With the encouragement of Brian Dunnigan, Map Curator at the Clements, and Karl Longstreth, map curator in the Clark Library, Mary Pedley proposed to them the collation...
Lecture by J. Kevin Graffagnino: “Murder Most Foul: Homicide in Early America,” September 13, 2012
J. Kevin Graffagnino, Clements Library Director"Murder Most Foul: Homicide in Early America"Thursday, September 13, 20124:00 p.m.To complement the Library’s summer exhibit, Clements Director J. Kevin Graffagnino will present materials from the Clements that illustrate the ways our forebears dealt with murder as a vehicle for moral instruction, a basis for social attitudes, and construction of legal policy. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Library at (734) 764-2347...
Today in History: William Hull Surrenders Detroit
Post by Brian Dunnigan, Associate Director and Curator of MapsThe events of August 16, 1812, brought an ignominious end to an American invasion of Canada and sent shock waves through the United States. On that day Brigadier General William Hull surrendered the fort and town of Detroit to British Major General Isaac Brock. Some 2,400 U.S. regulars and Ohio and Michigan militia were taken prisoner, and the Michigan Territory, of which Detroit was the capital, became occupied territory. Detroit...
Brownbag Lecture by Ruma Chopra, “Deporting ‘Dangerous Enemies,’ 1750-1800,” August 23, 2012
The William L. Clements LibraryBrown Bag Lecture SeriespresentsProfessor Ruma ChopraHoward H. Peckham Research Fellow Deporting "Dangerous Enemies," 1750-1800Noon - 1:00 p.m.Thursday, August 23, 2012Great Hall, Clements LibraryProfessor Chopra will discuss her exploration of the British practice of shuttling suspicious subjects throughout North America and the growing bureaucratic powers that supported these deportation schemes during the revolutionary era.Dr. Ruma Chopra is Associate...
From the Stacks: A Piece of the Wright Brothers’ Airplane
Guest post by Esti Brennan, Social Media InternOn August 19th, 1871, Orville Wright was born. The contributions that he and his brother Wilbur made to American history and technology require little explanation--the image of their fragile-winged plane is imprinted in the memory of every American school child, not to mention on two different State Quarters--their first flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina is featured on that state's coin while a later model of their airplane appears alongside an...
From the Stacks: Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi
Guest post by Esti Brennan, Social Media Intern.Though it may occasionally be a confusion between 'Samuel L. Clemens' and 'William L. Clements' that brings people to our collections looking for Mark Twain, they won't be disappointed. Among other things, our Book Division currently houses two variant issues of the first edition of Twain's 1883 memoir Life on the Mississippi. The first issue includes a rare image (seen above) that was removed from later copies of the book, apparently at the...
Latest Quarto: On Education
The Spring-Summer 2012 Quarto is now available. The Quarto is a semi-annual magazine published by the William L. Clements Library and sent to members of the Clements Library Associates. This issue of The Quarto focuses on the Clements Library collections related to education. "Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic," by J. Kevin Graffagnino, Director of the Library. "Maps and Education," by Mary Sponberg Pedley, Assistant Curator of Maps. Emma Willard and teaching the study of history through maps....
Volunteer Interview: Phil Zaret
Welcome to our new series of interviews with the wonderful Clements Library volunteers, in which we'll get to know the people who put their time and energy into processing collections, acting as docents, and assisting our curators on special projects.Phil Zaret has been a volunteer at the Clements Library for ten years, and for nearly all of that time has worked on one project—a vast culinary database drawn from the library's manuscript collections. He'd come to the Clements to work with Jan...
In the News: ‘An Imaginary Arctic’ Exhibit at Hatcher Library
As well as featuring the Clements' own exhibit, Murder Most Foul, the University Record has highlighted another excellent presentation that draws from our materials.Recent Community High School Grad Melanie Langa worked for four years on an independent study project in cartography, inspired by her former teacher Mary Pedley, then adjunct assistant curator of maps at the Clements Library. The culmination of Langa's project is 'An Imaginary Arctic: Speculative Cartography in the Search for the...