In 2009 the Clements Library marked the 250th anniversary of the British victories of 1759 by presenting a few of the treasures from its collections that illustrate the events and participants in that momentous year. This online version has been enhanced by the addition of further materials.

American Encounters highlights the great range and depth of the Clements Library’s collections related to Native American history. The exhibit features items drawn from many areas of the collection, including books, maps, manuscripts, prints, and photographs, which document over four centuries of hi …

This online exhibit highlights the Clements Library’s best holdings related to the Barbary Wars. Featured items include manuscripts, books, maps, and engravings documenting the United States’ first interactions with the Arab world and the early development of the U.S. Navy.

A project to catalog, digitize, and present a selection of bird’s-eye prints of American cities held by the Clements Library.

This exhibit examines how 18th and 19th centuries African American artists and intellectuals expressed identity through portraiture, photography and literature.

An introduction to the diverse elements of the 18th century fortifications in America. This online exhibit features examples from the Library’s rich collection of plans and maps.

A recent acquisition of the largest existing archive of Henry Burbeck papers, dating primarily from the period of Henry Burbeck’s service as Chief of Artillery in the United States Army from 1802-1815.

Norton Strange Townshend (1815-1895) had a long and multi-faceted career in politics, medicine, social reform, and agricultural education. This exhibit illuminates many aspects of his career and life through biographical information and materials from the Norton Strange Townshend Family Papers.

This exhibit examines the photographic styles and practices that recorded the people, activities, stereotypes, and myths during the early development of photography, focusing on the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Through an exploration of freedom, military service, executive power and visual representations, Proclaiming Emancipation pays tribute to a near-sacred document steeped in the logics of history and the imaginings of myth.

“Reframing the Color Line: Race and the Visual Culture of the Atlantic World” examines early constructions of race in visual culture and asks “what were the origins of racism’s visual vocabulary?”

Mortality is a useful lens through which we may view many aspects of early American society. This exhibit explores American practices and traditions for coping with death, from the early years of European exploration and discovery to the early 20th century and the burgeoning modern funeral industry.

The exhibit aims to showcase the spy letters of the Sir Henry Clinton Papers and to situate them in an educational framework. During the war, a complex network of spies, double agents, and traitors emerged in an effort to learn the plans of the enemy before they were enacted. 

The War of 1812 has sometimes been called a forgotten conflict. This second confrontation between the United States and Great Britain did, in fact, have a considerable influence on the future development of the country as well as its relations with Canada, Native Americans, and Europe.