by Cheney Schopieray | Oct 31, 2025 | Collections, Holidays, Manuscripts, Today in history
A nod of the head to Robert Burns and Clara L. Walmer from the Clements Library this Halloween 2025. Over 150 years ago, in the early 1870s, the annual celebration of Halloween in the United States was fading, according to one journalist. In The True Democrat of York,...
by Clements Library | Oct 30, 2025 | Events, Holidays, Library Work, Public Programs
Last night, October 29, we hosted our third annual Haunted Histories event. Organized by student intern Sam Huck, the historic murder mystery featured a variety of activities which provided guests with clues to solve the case.
by Clements Library | Aug 17, 2025 | Acquisitions, Books, Collections, Exhibits, Giving, Graphics, Holidays, Manuscripts
Happy National Nonprofit Day! Here at Clements, we are proud of the work that we do on a daily basis and are honored by the support that we get from our community. Let’s look back in time through some examples of early philanthropic endeavors.
by Clements Library | Aug 18, 2018 | Books, Holidays, Manuscripts
No commemoration of Bad Poetry Day would be complete without a nod to the (in)famous poet (and native Michigander) Julia A. Moore. The Clements Library is the proud owner of several editions of her collected poems. Born in Plainfield, Michigan, in 1847, Julia Moore...
by Jayne Ptolemy | May 11, 2018 | Holidays, Manuscripts
Frequent use hones mothers’ multitasking skills into an art. Holding a child on her hip while cooking, chatting up a toddler while trying to finish some paperwork, or folding the laundry while persuading an independent-minded youngster to put on their shoes, a...
by Clements Library | Feb 14, 2018 | Holidays, Manuscripts
While serving as a drummer with the 61st Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, Ohio-native Peter Henry “Hank” Musty wrote many a letter to his friends and family back home. Hank was most often in communication with his parents and his brother...
by Clements Library | May 12, 2017 | Holidays, Manuscripts
In the late afternoon of October 22nd, 1831, Maria Bradford gave birth to a “plump & fat” little girl whose “good lungs, made a great noise the minute after she was born.” “As soon as I heard the child cry,” she remembered,...
by Clements Library | Feb 14, 2017 | Holidays, Manuscripts
Samuel Latham Mitchill was a man of many interests. He held a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, studied law, taught chemistry and botany at Columbia University, and served in both state and national legislatures. Even with so much on his mind, his wife,...
by Clements Library | Oct 31, 2016 | Holidays, Manuscripts
Perhaps no image is more synonymous with Halloween than that of the witch, a woman dressed in black with a pointy hat and a broomstick. But this seemingly innocent costume has roots stretching back to the colonial period when being called a witch was a serious, often...
