William L. Clements Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids William L. Clements Library |
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William L. Clements Library
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The William L. Clements Library is a special library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's a place where very old and rare books, letters, and other important historical papers are kept safe.
This library focuses on American history, especially events that happened before the 1900s. Its collections are divided into four main groups: Books, Manuscripts (handwritten papers), Graphics (pictures and photos), and Maps.
The Clements Library has many original historical items, called primary sources. These are especially strong in areas like how people lived in the past (social history), the American Revolution, and the early settlement of North America.
The library's collection is huge! It includes about 80,000 rare books, small booklets (pamphlets), posters (broadsides), and old magazines. It also holds 600 old map books (atlases), about 30,000 maps, nearly 100,000 prints and photographs, and 2,600 collections of handwritten papers.
Many people visit the Clements Library each year, including students, teachers, and historians from all over the world. Famous authors, like Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough, have used the library's collections for their books, such as 1776. The library building itself was designed by a famous architect named Albert Kahn.
Contents
History of the Library
The Clements Library was started in 1923 by William L. Clements. He was a former student and leader (regent) at the University of Michigan. Mr. Clements loved collecting historical items. He gave his amazing collection to the university to start the library.
His first collection included about 20,000 rare books, 2,000 old newspapers, many maps, and important papers from a British leader named William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne. Mr. Clements was especially interested in the discovery of the Americas and the American Revolution.
When the library opened, Mr. Clements wrote a book about how he gathered his collection. A newspaper, the New York Times, reviewed the library in 1923. The reviewer praised Mr. Clements, saying the library had everything needed to learn about America between 1492 and 1800.
Besides donating his collection, Mr. Clements also gave money to build the library's home. The building was designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn. He designed it in a style called Italian Renaissance, which looks like old Italian buildings.
Mr. Clements wanted the library to be special. He said it should be separate from the main university library system. It should also have its own group of leaders. Today, the Clements Library still has its own leaders. However, its items are now listed in the University Library's main catalog, called Mirlyn.
From 1935 to 1945, a person named Howard Henry Peckham was in charge of the handwritten papers. During this time, the Clements Library became very famous around the world. It was known as a top place to study the Revolutionary War and British colonial America.
What You Can Find at Clements
The library's collections are organized into four main areas: the Book Division, the Manuscripts Division, the Graphics Division, and the Map Division. There used to be a fifth division for cooking history, but it moved to another library in 2013.
The Clements Library often has exhibits that show off items from its collections. These exhibits are open to the public on weekday afternoons. They feature rare books, handwritten papers, maps, photos, and prints. Past exhibits have explored topics like the history of wine in America, the sugar trade, 19th-century sports, and the War of 1812.
Book Collection
The Book Division holds about 80,000 items. These include books, small booklets, posters, and old magazines. Some of the most important books are about the discovery and exploration of North America. There are also many books printed in colonial America and items from the American Revolution.
Beyond Mr. Clements' original interests, the library now has books on many other subjects. These include African American history, education, Native American history, politics, religion, old speeches, slavery and efforts to end it (anti-slavery), the Caribbean islands, and women's history. Other collectors have also added their items, like collections on crime and the Civil War.
Manuscripts Collection
The Manuscripts Division takes care of about 2,600 collections of handwritten items. These include letters, official papers, diaries, money records, and more. Most of these items are from the 1700s and 1800s in North America.
This division is especially strong in items from the Revolutionary War era. It has papers from British-American colonial times and military history. Other strong areas include the Civil War, social changes in the 1800s (like abolitionism), African American and Native American history, women's history, and the history of health and travel.
William L. Clements started collecting handwritten papers in the early 1920s. With the library's first director, Randolph Adams, he bought many key collections. These included papers from British Prime Minister William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, and military commanders like Thomas Gage and Henry Clinton. They also acquired papers from famous abolitionists like Angelina Grimké, Sarah Grimké, and Theodore Weld.
Map Collection
The map collection was put together to show how our knowledge of the Americas grew from the 1400s to the 1800s. It especially focuses on military history in North America, how the frontier expanded, and the history of map-making. This division was created because Mr. Clements had so many maps and plans.
The Map Division holds about 30,000 maps and plans. About 1,500 of these are handwritten maps. Many came with other collections, like the papers of Gage and Clinton. This makes the library very rich in maps from the American Revolution. Besides separate maps, the Clements Library also has 600 atlases (books of maps).
Graphics Collection
The Graphics Division holds prints, photographs, printed items meant for a short time (like tickets or flyers, called ephemera), original drawings, sheet music with pictures, and real objects (called realia).
When William L. Clements started the library, he had only a few portrait prints and some Revolutionary War cartoons. He wasn't very interested in pictures. The Graphics Division, started in 2002, mostly has items collected over the last 30 years. The fastest growing part of the Clements Library has been the photograph collection. It grew from less than 100 photos in the 1970s to over 150,000 by 2015!
The subjects in this division are similar to those in other Clements divisions. They include American military history, political and social history, views of American cities and landscapes, portraits, satire (funny pictures that make a point), popular culture, hobbies, work, technology, travel, and cooking history. You can find examples of almost every printing and photography method used from the 1400s to the 1900s in these collections.
The library recently got the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography. This collection has over 100,000 photographs taken in Michigan from about 1845 to 1980.
Here are some numbers for the Graphics Division:
- Prints: 9,400 items
- Photos: 150,000
- Ephemera: 10,000
- Sheet music: 15,000
- Artwork: 150
- Realia: 100
Supporting the Library
The Clements Library Associates are a group of people who help support the library. They do this by paying a membership fee. You can join at different levels, starting with a "Student" membership for $5. The Associates program began in 1947. It's believed that members have helped the library buy historical items worth millions of dollars today.
Associates are invited to attend library programs, talks, and exhibits for free. Members also receive the library's magazine, The Quarto, which shares news and new items the library has acquired.
See also
- William Wright Abbot—an archivist who worked on editing and publishing The Washington Papers
- Archive and Archival research
- Peter Force, an early American archivist known for his large collection of historical materials from colonial America and the American Revolution
- James Kendall Hosmer American history professor and librarian
