In collaboration with the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD), we have launched the Center for American Band History Research, a new initiative bringing together historical collections, scholarship, teaching, and performance to advance the study of the music, musicians, and social resonance of the wind band in the cultural life of the United States.
While the word “vote” appears in the United States Constitution 36 times, the meaning and practice of voting has undergone much transformation since the document’s writing. Changes over the course of the nineteenth century influenced how Americans voted and affected the material culture that surrounded voting. Our new exhibition, Who Counts? A History of Voting in America explores civic engagement, the evolution of the electorate, and the experiences of voters on election day throughout American history.
The William L. Clements Library recently acquired an extraordinary archive of 192 original sermons written between 1765 and 1780 by Rev. Joseph Bowman. Held in a private collection, the existence of the papers were previously unknown. The 2,000 page hand-written collection forms a significant corpus of religious writing that coincides with the final years of the First Great Awakening and continues through the American Revolution.
The Clements Library Digitization Team invites you to discover additional snapshots of history in this new selection of eighteenth century manuscripts, now accessible online through our Digitized Archival Collections.
Earlier this month, the Clements Library opened our new exhibit, For All Ages, highlighting familiar and unique toys and board games throughout American history. Many were not only fun, but also taught practical skills and moral lessons.
The Clements Library is thrilled to welcome our new Head of Reader Services, Joshua Sulser! In this Q&A, we got a chance to learn more about his path to the Clements, his research interests, and his personal collections.
The Graphics Division here at the William L. Clements Library has recently made available the collection of Robert M. Vogel, which contains more than 24,000 items related to industrial and mechanical engineering.
