Cataloging the Edward Surovell Collection of Native American Languages: A Love Story
When life-long book collector Ed Surovell lost his eyesight, he wanted to ensure that his books would be preserved and made accessible for research well into the future. In December 2021, Surovell generously gifted the Clements Library his carefully curated collection of Native American language materials. With over 300 items, this collection represents books printed in more than 20 different Native American languages from North America, with a particular interest in material from the Great Lakes region.
Digitizing Clements Materials
Digitization of Clements collections is an ongoing process, and one we spend a lot of time and energy on! In today’s blog, I’ll walk you through the steps of digitizing an item from our collections.
New Manuscript Finding Aids, September 2026
The manuscript collections at the Clements Library include a wide variety of materials: personal correspondence, scrapbooks, inventories, and even some photographs and printed materials that accompanied collections of handwritten items. This month’s batch of manuscript finding aids are no exception! Read on to learn about the collections that have recently been made available for research.
Collection Deep Dive: The Weld-Grimké Family Papers Pt. II
In a recent blog post, we began to explore the Weld-Grimké family correspondences which the digitization team at the Clements have been working for the last year to digitize and make accessible online. The correspondences represent the big, complicated, fascinating lives of Sarah, Angelina, Theodore and their family through the 19th century and vast political and personal changes. I had the honor of digitizing this collection, letter by letter, over the last year and getting to intimately know this family. Today, I want to continue with some of the themes which drew me into this collection and a bit about the process of digitizing this collection.
Hacks for Archival Research – From a Student Perspective
During James Watke-Stacy’s time as Intern for Instruction and Engagement, he was often tasked with looking through the Clements collections for materials that would assist with class instruction or an event. Before graduating last spring, he compiled some lessons he learned through this process to share with students tackling archival research for the first time.
A Day in the Life at The Clements Library: Brynne Smith
Brynne Smith, an undergraduate student, has joined us today for a Q&A to share what her day is like as the George F. Hacker Intern at the Clements! Tell us about your background and how you came to work at the Clements Library. I am from Ann Arbor! I am going into...
Collection Deep Dive: The Weld-Grimké Family Papers Pt. I
For the last year, the digitization team at the Clements Library has been hard at work on digitizing one of our cornerstone collections. Nearly 3,500 letters from the Weld-Grimké collection will shortly be digitally available, allowing remote access to these important documents. Stretching from 1740 to 1930, these letters document the lives of the Weld and Grimké families in South Carolina, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Centered around sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimké, these correspondences highlight the work of women as political actors, religious leaders, and medical practitioners. I had the honor of working through this collection page by page, taking over 13,000 images of these letters and in this blog I’d like to share a brief biographical sketch of the Grimké family and then I will be back to share a bit more about the digitizing process and my interest in this collection.
New Manuscripts Finding Aids, August 2026
Many manuscripts collections have been processed and made available for research, ranging from a Broadway Theaters scrapbook depicting a “School of Educated Dogs” to the papers of WWII veteran Robert S. Simpson, who helped establish a typhus hospital at the liberated Allach concentration camp. As always, all are welcome to visit the Clements to research these materials in person.