


Childhood In America
Children are challenging subjects for historians, but the Clements holds a wealth of material that is waiting to be examined by students, research fellows, and faculty interested in the history of childhood in America. We’re ready when you are.

Book Review: “Frontier Metropolis: Picturing Early Detroit, 1701-1838”
Guest author Jonathan Quint, a PhD candidate in the University of Michigan Department of History and 2020-2021 Clements Library Intern, reflects on one of the Clements’ most celebrated publications 20 years after its release. Brian Leigh Dunnigan. Frontier...Announcements — Winter/Spring 2020
David P. Harris (1925-2019) Longtime friend and donor to the Clements Library David P. Harris passed away peacefully on August 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. For over a decade, Dr. Harris shared with us his kindness, conversation, knowledge, wit, and extraordinary...
Celebrating Kevin Graffagnino
As a new year begins, we congratulate our first Randolph G. Adams Director J. Kevin Graffagnino as he embarks on retirement. During his tenure, Graffagnino oversaw a comprehensive renovation and expansion of our 1923 building, shepherded major new collections...
Developments — Winter/Spring 2020
With Kevin Graffagnino’s retirement, long-time Clements Library Associates Board member Clarence Wolf has commented that it is, “the end of the era of the bookman.” It is fitting then that for his final exhibit and Quarto, Kevin focused on books. In fact, many...
“I dread it more than tongue can tell”
On June 14, 1864, after a week’s journey amid miles of prickly pear and vast plains, Nathaniel P. Hill (1832-1900) sat down and wrote a letter to his wife. Hill was a former Brown University chemistry professor hoping to make his fortune smelting precious metals in...
Across Two Worlds
On the great plains of the American West amidst the tension between settlers and decimated tribal communities, one remarkable family represented a range of perspectives on the Native American experience. Connected both to old stock from New England and tribal chiefs...