Clements Library Centennial Celebration
Centennial Exhibit
Timeline
As part of the Michigan Indian Midsummer Festival, the Clements displayed an exhibition relating to the Indians of the Western Great Lakes, featuring crafts in birchbark, split ash and porcupine quill, as well as prints of Chippewa Indian Treaty Councils by J. O. Lewis in the 19th century.
The library featured in an educational film made by the University of Michigan for adults. The second half of the hour-long program was about early American history, and was dramatized and based on manuscript materials from the Clements. Director Howard Peckham narrated the series.
President Sukarno of Indonesia was granted an honorary degree and delivered a major policy address in the Clements in May 1956.
The original deed certifying the British purchase of Mackinac Island, missing since 1781, was located in Scotland and purchased as a gift for the Clements.
The Clements hosted a an exhibition titled “Prints of Niagara Falls and Other American Scenic Views” which included maps, watercolors, and paintings. These were advertised as displays appealing to honeymooners.
The Clements displayed models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions such as the ornithopter, helicopter, and automobile prototypes. The exhibition was sponsored by a national manufacturing firm and was touring the country as part of the Creative Arts Festival.
The Clements hosted the conference of the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, sponsored by UNESCO. The library was closed while the Council was in session. A special address was given by the Honorable Robert H. Thayer, special assistant to the Secretary of State for the Coordination of International…
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In the summer of 1960, the Clements Library announced its inaugural Lilly Endowment Fellowships. Three scholars were selected for grants, which were intended to support research in the Clements collections that would lead to eventual publication. These were the first visiting research fellowships at the Clements Library, and some of…
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The Committee of Management took the recommendation of a study of the library’s scope to extend its reach to include materials from the second half of the 19th century.