Norton Strange Townshend (1815-95)
Directly off The Avenir Foundation Room is The Norton Strange Townshend Room, formerly known as the Rare Book Room. An elegant space enclosed by massive, carved oak doors framed with dark green, veined marble, the room serves as an elegant meeting space and houses some of the treasures of the collections. Hanging on the walls are portraits of William L. Clements and past Directors of the Clements Library, Randolph G. Adams, Howard H. Peckham, and John C. Dann. In 2015, Margaret W. Winkelman donated a 1920s Isphahan rug in memory of Stanley J. Winkelman and Robert A. Krause that adorns the floor. The room was named in 2019 in honor of Norton Strange Townshend, whose family papers are an important collection at Clements Library that vividly document family relationships and everyday life in the 19th century. Townshend (1815-95) had a long and multifaceted career in politics, medicine, social reform and agricultural education.
