The William L. Clements Library is a rare book and manuscript repository located on the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

's central campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

. The library is widely considered to hold one of the most prominent collections of Americana

Americana

Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...

 and a destination for researchers studying the History of the Americas

History of the Americas

The history of the Americas is the collective history of the American landmass, which includes North and South America, as well as Central America and the Caribbean. It begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age...

 from European discovery to the early 20th century.

History

The Library was founded in 1923 by William L. Clements, an alumnus and regent of the University of Michigan. The library's initial collections were donated by Clements and included his personal collection of "20,000 volumes of rare books, 2,000 volumes of early newspapers, several hundred maps, and the papers of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC , known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782–1783 during the final...

."http://www.clements.umich.edu/History.html Among the restrictions Clements placed upon the library was that it should remain separate from the University's greater library system and be governed by an independent board of trustees. Today, this distinct governing structure remains in place, but the Library's collections are integrated into the University Library's Mirlyn catalog.http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/

Collections

The Library's collections are comprised mostly by primary materials for the study of American history and culture from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century. Particular strengths include the early exploration and settlement of North America, the period of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, and the social and cultural histories of the 19th century.

Public exhibits of American history from the library's collection are on public display on weekday afternoons. Exhibited materials have included rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs and prints. Recent exhibition topics include manuscript Civil War music, items related to the sugar trade

History of sugar

The long history of sugar is interwoven with that of trade, religion, colonialism, capitalism, industry and technology. The labor-intensive nature of sugar cultivation and processing has meant that much of the history of the sugar industry has had associations with large-scale slavery...

, and a forthcoming exhibit on the first year of the American Civil War.

The Library's collections are spread across five divisions: the Book Division, the Manuscripts Division, the Graphics Division, the Map Division, and the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive.

Manuscripts Division

The William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne papers, one of the Library's earliest manuscript acquisitions, remains one of its most prestigious manuscript collections today. Other significant collections include the James S. Schoff Civil War Collection and papers of Generals Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence....

, Sir Henry Clinton

Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)

General Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence. First arriving in Boston in May 1775, from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...

 and Frederick Christian Arnold, Freiherr von Jungkenn, leader of the British-allied Hessians.

The Manuscripts Division also holds numerous important single items, including King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's confirmation of entail for Christopher Columbus's first voyage

Voyages of Christopher Columbus

In the early modern period, the voyages of Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Castile, a country that later founded modern Spain...

, the British Army's marching orders prompting the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...

, several coded letters between John André

John André

John André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...

 and Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...

, and a collection of eyewitness accounts of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/G/Goldstarinv.html

External links

• The William L. Clements Library - official site