by Clements Library | Nov 25, 2010 | Collections, Holidays, Today in history
Guest post by JJ Jacobson, Curator of American Culinary HistoryIf Americans have any one person to thank for the Thanksgiving holiday, it is Sarah Josepha Buell Hale. Hale waged a decades-long campaign for the establishment of a national Thanksgiving Day on the last...
by Clements Library | Oct 11, 2010 | Holidays, Today in history
When Columbus returned from his 1492 voyage to the New World, he reported his discoveries in a letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Editions of this letter were printed in major cities across Europe, spreading the news of his travels. This book is significant...
by Clements Library | Sep 30, 2010 | Holidays
The Spelling Society was founded in 1908 as the Simplified Spelling Society. Its aims are to “[raise] awareness of the problems caused by the irregularity of English spelling and to promote remedies to improve literacy, including spelling reform.” In 1980,...
by Clements Library | Sep 19, 2010 | Holidays
Last year for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the Clements Library Chronicles highlighted a variety of materials related to pirates, including books, manuscripts, and a broadside poem. This year, we offer just one exceptional item: the Pirate Atlas. The Clements...
by Clements Library | Apr 1, 2010 | Holidays
On April 1, the Clements Library celebrates the birth of our founder, William L. Clements (1861-1934). This tradition was first recorded in the Clements Library Annual Report for 1937-1938: “Our new period started with the ceremony which in years to come...
by Clements Library | Feb 14, 2010 | Holidays, Today in history
Saint Valentine’s Day was first established in 496 A.D., and became associated with the celebration of romantic love in the Middle Ages. In the United States, mass-produced paper valentines were first sold in the mid-1800s. The Ephemera collection at the...
by Clements Library | Feb 11, 2010 | Books, Collections, Graphics, Holidays, Manuscripts, Maps
The Clements Library has a wealth of materials on African American history, documenting many aspects of slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, and beyond. Much research remains to be done with these materials, to more fully explore the African American...
by Clements Library | Dec 21, 2009 | Holidays
This holiday card from 1929 was created for Mr. William L. Clements, the founder of the Clements Library. The illustration is based on an etching of the exterior of the library by Wilfred B. Shaw. His work can also be seen in the circular Clements logo on the library...
by Clements Library | Dec 7, 2009 | Books, Holidays, Manuscripts
While the origins of this obscure December 7 holiday are unclear, the tradition of having letter-writing days can be traced back to a time when handwritten letters were the most common form of communication. Before the invention of the telegraph, the typewriter, or...
