The Clements Library website includes events, exhibits, subject guides, newsletter issues, library staff, and more.

Manifestations of Faith (Religion)

Manifestations of Faith (Religion)

The Clements holds resources that enable the study of American religious experience in all its variety, including the explosion of religious print culture in the 19th century, the theocratic persecution of the Quakers in Massachusetts in the 1660s, and eschatological...
Childhood In America

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.

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

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

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”

“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

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...
Golden Dreams, Waking Realities

Golden Dreams, Waking Realities

The American Dream is nebulous, conjuring up indistinct visions of wealth, opportunity, and freedom in its many forms: freedom from want, freedom from obligation, freedom to do as one chooses. When Mexico ceded California to the United States under the Treaty of...