William L. Clements Library

10/09/2026

On in 1635, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he spoke out in opposition to the exercise of civil authority over religious matters, and in favor of respecting Native Americans' rights to their lands.

With the help of the Narragansett tribe, Williams departed Massachusetts. He went on to found the community Providence Plantation, later The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and now simply Rhode Island.

🖼️: Roger Williams / engraved by F. Halpin ; from an original painting for Benedict's History of the Baptists. [1847]

🗺️: Map of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations / compiled & published by J.C. Thompson. 1887, ©1886.

10/07/2026

The Clements Library is adding new leaves, but not in the form of books! 🍃

Planted during summer 2026, a native plant garden now sits on the eastern side of our century-old building. Beds of local wildflowers and grasses comprise the biodiverse plot, with some being directly cultivated from seeds gathered around U-M.

Graduate Instruction Assistant Samantha Hamilton spent the summer paging through the Clements collections to describe each plant as early Americans had seen and understood them. She stitched together excerpts from these wide-ranging works, which span the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to create an interactive map. 🗺️

Samantha’s map walks you through the species’ physical characteristics, native habitats, and more while including visual materials drawn from our in-house sources. Learn more here:

The Clements Library is adding new leaves but not in the form of books. Planted during summer 2026, a native plant garden now sits on the eastern side of the century-old building. Beds of local wildflowers and grasses comprise the biodiverse plot, with some being directly cultivated from seeds gathe...

10/06/2026

To accommodate our biannual Board Meeting, the Clements Library will be closed for exhibit viewing today, October 6.

The library will remain open for research.

10/05/2026

Students, mark your calendars! 📅

We have two student events coming up this month, and one ticketed event that you get free entry to!

📚: Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair. Sunday, October 11 from 11 am-5 pm. $5 entry, free for students!

🗳️: From 1776 to the Ballot Box, a collaboration with the U-M History Club. Monday, October 12 from 6-8 pm. Free pizza included! 🍕

👻: Haunted Histories. Wednesday, October 28 from 6-9 pm. Wear your best costume and solve a historic murder mystery!

Learn more about these events and more on our website: https://myumi.ch/5JqpA

10/04/2026

What does the Clements Library sound like? 🔊

10/01/2026

groups have been reenacting scenes from the American Revolution since 1788?

While this photograph isn’t quite that old, it does show an early 20th century reenactment of the Revolutionary War.

Over summer 2026, the Graphics Division processed and made available many collections including this set of reenactment photos c. 1920s!

Read our newest publication on our blog, the Clements Chronicles, to learn more about this and other newly available graphics collections: https://myumi.ch/gkg5R

09/30/2026

Interested in joining a community of researchers, scholars, artists, creatives, journalists, and musicians? 📚🎶✍️

Join the newest cohort of long-term, short-term, or week-long fellows making use of the Clements archives for their research!

The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan is now welcoming applications for 2027-2028 research fellowships. Learn more here: https://myumi.ch/ykNzJ

The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan welcomes applications for 2027-2028 research fellowships. Interested in joining a community of researchers, scholars, artists, creatives, journalists, and musicians? Join the newest cohort of long-term, short-term, or week-long fellows ma...

09/29/2026

Women’s suffrage was one of the nineteenth century’s most significant reform movements, combining the energies of people who had learned the ropes of reform working for the abolition of slavery and alcohol. Wyoming’s territorial government allowed women to vote in 1869, which served as an inspiration to the women’s suffrage movement until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919.

Emily Howland of Sherwood, New York was an abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights and suffrage. Her collection of papers includes this fan making a plea to New York voters to “Have a Heart!” and “Vote for Women’s Suffrage Nov. 6!” 🗳️

Visit the Clements Library weekdays from 12-4 pm through December 22 to view our current exhibit, “Who Counts? A History of Voting in America” or view the online exhibit here: https://myumi.ch/E77P2

♥️: Handheld fan, [1917]. From the Emily Howland Papers.

🖼️: View of Murray Street, N.Y. with Dr. Mason's church, 1822 / lith. by G. Hayward, 120 Water St., N.Y. ; for D.T. Valentine's Manual, 1852.

09/28/2026

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09/28/2026

When traveling between the Smoky Mountains and Congaree National Parks, Clements Marketing Coordinator Isaac Burgdorf made a pit stop at the Historic Fryemont Inn.

An undated pamphlet for the “Inn Unique” in Bryson City, North Carolina, can be found here at the Clements. This pamphlet describes the beautiful surroundings and features multiple photographs of the interior, allowing us to compare the space across time.