From the Stacks: Unannounced Visitor to the White House

Post by Cheney J. Schopieray, Curator of ManuscriptsGone are the days of lawful, unannounced visits to the White House. The security of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW has increased steadily since World War II and, for the protection of the First Family, will likely...

Today in History: The First Day of Fall

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Manuscripts Division Curatorial AssistantIn Ann Arbor, the weather has started to have a chilly bite, and at the Clements Library we look to our collections to help celebrate the first day of fall.From our Schoff Civil War collection, we hear...

Today in History: David B. Douglass Papers Addition and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Manuscripts Division Curatorial Assistant In the late evening hours of July 25, 1814, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 commenced, continuing until after midnight. Unplanned and fought in the dark of night, the Battle of...

From the Stacks: Looking Forward to Spring at the Clements Library

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Reading Room SupervisorWe may have gotten several inches of snow in Ann Arbor Monday night, but at the Clements Library we are looking to our collections to get us in the spirit of spring. Flowers are not fully in bloom in Michigan, but they are...

Forging Forward: Sources on Post-Civil War Black Education

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Reading Room Supervisor Here at the Clements Library our collections continue to expand in new and exciting ways. With acquisitions and donations, established collections grow and new ones are formed. The manuscripts division acquires many...

In the News: Clements Library on C-SPAN

C-SPAN Book TV visited the Clements Library on October 22nd as part of the national network’s 2013 “Cities Tour,” a production featuring the history and literary life of selected cities across the country. C-SPAN spent a week in Ann Arbor,...

Today in History: Halloween

“This is holy eve,” Richard Coulter wrote in his journal on October 31st, 1847. He was serving in the American Army that Halloween due to the Mexican War, and he noted the differences between how the day was observed in Mexico and back home in Greensburg,...

Today in History: the Perseid Meteor Shower

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Reading Room SupervisorIn the early morning hours of August 12th, the Perseid Meteor Shower will be at its peak for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. As we pass through the trailing dust left by the Swift-Tuttle comet, we should witness a...

From the Stacks: Rachel and Andrew Jackson in the Lamb-Sykes Family Papers

Guest post by Katelyn JedroKatelyn Jedro, former graduate student at Wayne State University’s School of Library and Information Science (grad. Spring 2013), completed her 2013 winter semester practicum at the William L. Clements Library. She confronted the...