William L. Clements Library

On in 1839, Louis Daguerre’s photographic process is declared as a gift “free to the world” by the French Government.

How cool are these daguerreotype photographs in our collection?

On , 439 years ago, Virginia Dare became the first English child born in the Americas, to members of the Roanoke colony.

Three years later, her grandfather John White, Governor of the Roanoke Colony, returned from a trip to England to find the colony deserted, with only the word ‘Croatoan’ left carved into a tree.

The mystery of Roanoke has found its way into popular culture, inspiring many theories about the colonists’ fates and the meaning behind the mysterious carving.

Thomas Harriot’s account of his voyage to Roanoke Island, “A brief and true report of the new found land of Virginia,” was the first book to describe this English colony. Mr. Clements considered this 1588 publication to be the “star of all Americana,” and was proud to have it in his collection.

This book has been fully digitized and can be read online for free! Explore this and other digitized rare books here: https://myumi.ch/2rDwk

What treasures do you have in your attic? Family papers? 📜 An old dusty book? 📖 Photographs in a format you’re unfamiliar with? 📷

That was the case for many attendees of What’s In Your Attic, an event hosted at the Clements Library this past May.

Curators and guest Americana collectors met with members of the community to discuss the early American materials that they brought to share. Guests learned more about their treasures and preservation methods, with some donating their materials to be cared for as part of the Clements collection.

Donated materials included an 1861 edition of “Gunn’s New Domestic Physician” donated by Shannon Hirth and an 1893 “General Official Atlas of Wayne County, Michigan” donated by Mary E. Rapai and William Rapai in honor of Grace A. Woodworth Levy.

Images courtesy of Kaley Joy, Office of University Development.

that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other of the United States? With over 120 lighthouses across the state, we nearly double the count of the runnerup New York.

These lighthouses have been the subject of countless photographs across the years, as shown with these examples from the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, Real Photo Postcard Series!

Can you recognize any of the lighthouses pictured here?