What’s In Your Attic 2026
Last month, we hosted a “What’s In Your Attic?” open house-style events where members of our community brought their own paper treasures (letters, journals, photographs, prints, books, and maps) for discussion with Clements Curators and guest Americana collectors. A handful of our guests generously chose to donate materials to the Clements Library at this event, here are a few of those newly donated acquisitions!
Donor Stories: Mary Koslovsky
The work of the Clements Library is predicated on generous donations, both big and small. These contributions sustain the Clements’ mission, strengthen our collections, and connect students and researchers alike to the past. They also support and create scholarly opportunities through our fellowship program. Development Outreach Assistant Samantha Huck spoke with Mary Koslovsky, who established the Alfred A. Cave Fellowship in honor of her late husband Dr. Alfred A. Cave. Sam and Mary discussed Dr. Cave’s nearly 50-year legacy of teaching and scholarship, his research at the Clements, and the impact of her planned gift to the Clements. Dr. Alfred A. Cave was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toledo. His scholarship focused on the ethnohistory of colonial America, Native American history, and the Jacksonian Era. Dr. Cave researched at the Clements while writing two of his books, Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America...
National Nonprofit Day: Philanthropy in the Clements Collections
Happy National Nonprofit Day! Here at Clements, we are proud of the work that we do on a daily basis and are honored by the support that we get from our community. Let’s look back in time through some examples of early philanthropic endeavors.
Recently Acquired Atlases
The Maps Division has added three family atlases to the Clements Library holdings. In 19th century America, these atlases were popular with the general public and combined hand-colored maps with descriptive text about geography, history, and culture of the world.
Introducing the Vogel Collection of Historic Images of Engineering & Industry
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.
About
A Few Collectors who shaped our Collections
Brief Biography: James Stanley Schoff
In 1974, James S. Schoff (1900-1984) donated his substantial collection of unit and campaign histories on the Civil War, as well as funds to purchase additional material, establishing the James S. Schoff Civil War Collection.
Brief Biography: David V. Tinder
U-M graduate, collector, and researcher David V. Tinder (1926-2016) was recognized as an authority on the subject of early Michigan photography. Clements Library Associates Board Member David B. Walters purchased Tinder’s photo collection in 2006 and has been incrementally donating it in honor of Harold L. Walters (U-M Engineering ’47) and Marilyn S. Walters (U-M LSA ’50), establishing the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography.
One Hundred Selections from the Duane Norman Diedrich Collection of Manuscript Americana, 17th-20th Century
Over a 40 year period, Dr. D. N. Diedrich (1935-2018) provided generous gifts in-kind, funding, and counsel to the Clements Library to form an eponymous collection of over 1,100 individual letters, documents, and other manuscripts, plus nearly 110 bound volumes and archival collections.