In Celebration of Bad Poetry Day

In Celebration of Bad Poetry Day

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...
One Hundred Selections from the D. N. Diedrich Collection of Manuscript Americana, 17th-20th Century

One Hundred Selections from the D. N. Diedrich Collection of Manuscript Americana, 17th-20th Century

Dr. Duane Norman Diedrich provided generous gifts-in-kind, funding, and counsel to amass 1,100 individual letters, documents, and other manuscripts, plus nearly 110 bound volumes and archival collections. The entries in this catalog will give readers a cursory view of the prominent public individuals represented in the Diedrich Collection, from John Winthrop to Susan B. Anthony to U.S. President Harry Truman. This pamphlet was produced in conjunction with an exhibition of the Diedrich Collection at the William L. Clements Library, May 25-October 26, 2018.

Interrupted Mothers’ Letters

Interrupted Mothers’ Letters

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...
John Louis Ligonier Letter Books, 1757-1761

John Louis Ligonier Letter Books, 1757-1761

Post by Meghan Brody, Clements Library Volunteer University of Michigan History Major, Class of 2019 I received my first introduction to the Clements Library during a class visit in the winter semester 2017. I immediately knew that I wanted to become a volunteer. ...
Civil War-Era Valentine’s Day Print in the Peter H. Musty Papers

Civil War-Era Valentine’s Day Print in the Peter H. Musty Papers

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...

Locating the Gage Trunks

Every manuscript collection in the Clements has its own tale of survival and travels from the time of its creation until safely ensconced on the shelves of the Library. One of the most interesting is that of the papers of Thomas Gage (1719-1787), British...

Celebrating Mother’s Day at the Clements Library

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,...

The Robins of Spring

In early 1862, George Driver was serving on board the Highlander as a supply officer and doing his part for the Union cause, making his father enormously proud. The George Driver Family Papers include Stephen Driver’s letter to his son dated March 2nd, which...

Love Letters in the Samuel Latham Mitchill Papers

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,...