William L. Clements Library Newsletter
No. 9, Winter 2017
New Summer Internships Posted: Apply Now

The Clements is pleased to announce four summer internship positions for processing, conserving, and describing historical materials focusing on under-represented peoples in American history. These positions are sponsored by the Office of the Provost as part of the University's initiative on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Current graduate and undergraduate students are eligible for three of the four positions: Intern for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (35614) - one position and Intern for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (35615) - two positions .

Graduate Internship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (35613) is open to current Rackham graduate students.
Map Division: Learning Through Maps

Americans in general, and younger people in particular, are often criticized for being woefully deficient in a geographical understanding of their country, continent, hemisphere, and world. In many ways such criticism is justified, and the noticeable reduction in geography instruction in schools has done nothing to improve the situation. This is unfortunate because regular use of maps can fill the gaps in understanding of the form of our world, and atlases, whether printed or digital, are also fine sources of such information.

For the past few years the Clements Library has been actively collecting a most interesting type of manuscript map.  Often described by dealers and collectors as "schoolgirl" maps, these exercises in cartography demonstrate that training in geography was one element of a good nineteenth-century education.  This type of map is frequently encountered in dealers' catalogs these days, so there has been a good selection of potential acquisitions.  We now hold fifteen examples dating from 1818 to 1884.  
Digital Images from the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York

"If any one among us may calculate surely on a sublunary immortality, Mr. VALENTINE is the man. He has linked his name indissolubly with one of the greatest cities in the world in a manner which time shall strengthen not efface."  These were the accolades heaped on David Thomas Valentine (1801-1869) by The New York Times in 1863. Valentine, who served as Deputy Clerk to the Common Council for 37 years (apparently without promotion) had access to the most ancient archives of New York City. He also had the inspiration to seek out the earliest charts, maps, views of the city and publish them in facsimile form from 1841 to 1866 in his Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York.

If you are seeking visual evidence supporting the study of urban America or the transformation from the colonial to the industrial age, Valentine's Manual is for you. Valentine had an eye for what was historic even in the 19th century and recorded the rapidly vanishing colonial architecture and old neighborhoods of New York. Valentine's presentation of impoverished streets as picturesque is problematic today. However, the print of the ramshackle house on Peck Slip where he grew up testifies to his close familiarity with his subject.
Clements Library SAA Archives Blitz: Students in the Archives

On the mornings of November 14th and November 18th, the University of Michigan's Society of American Archivists (SAA) Student Chapter and the William L. Clements Library organized a two-part Archives Blitz. These events are held by the Student Chapter once or twice a semester. Since the fall of 2014, Student Chapter Archives Blitzes have ranged from several hours to week-long engagements with organizations. Organizations identify projects that they would like assistance with and that they think will be interesting, fun, and professionally engaging for students. Students are oriented and provided with staff feedback throughout the project.

When SAA presented this event structure to the Clements Library, Clayton Lewis, curator of Graphics Material, jumped on the opportunity to have students dive into a collection of photographic postcards -- approximately 55,000+ items. These photographs are a subset of the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, which consists of over 100,000 images of varying photographic types spanning the 1840s to the 1970s. 
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Books by African American Women

While the Library's collection of works by African American women is relatively small, it contains representative examples of at least thirteen different authors, including poetry, fiction, and memoir, spanning the years 1773 to 1894. High points include the first book of poems by an African American woman and the first novel by an African American woman, both of which are housed among the Library's greatest treasures.

The African American literary tradition dates back to 1773, when Phillis Wheatley's first book of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was printed in London. Beginning in the nineteenth century, African American women wrote in a variety of genres, including religious conversion narratives, travel memoirs, and narratives of life in slavery.

As part of the Library's ongoing efforts to acquire materials relating to diverse perspectives on American history, we continue to add works by African American women. Four titles have been added within the last two years, all post-Civil War. These recent acquisitions strengthen our nineteenth-century holdings of African American women's literature and have already proved useful for class visits to the Clements Library. We hope to add many more such works in the future. 
Haitian Revolution Manuscripts

On the heels of the recent acquisition of two French color engravings*, the Clements Library has added to its holdings forty-seven manuscript pages of drafts and retained copies pertinent to Gabriel d'Hédouville's 1798 expedition to Saint-Domingue; and one letter by an unidentified writer from Au Cap, [Saint-Domingue], to French merchant Martin-Pierre Foäche, April 6, 1804.
 
The Hédouville Expedition Collection is comprised of 16 manuscript letter drafts and retained copies, dated from January 26 to December 18, 1798.  The manuscripts offer details about civil and military agent comte d'Hédouville's travel to Saint-Domingue in early 1798 in an effort to solidify French control of the island and encourage the divide between Toussaint L'Ouverture and André Rigaud.  The correspondents include Hédouville, Thomas Maitland, Don Joaquin Garcia, Toussaint L'Ouverture, André Rigaud, and other officials and civilians.
 
The detailed April 6, 1804, letter to Foäche was written only months after Governor Jean-Jacques Dessalines' declaration of Haitian Independence and his order of the 1804 massacre.  The writer provides grim descriptions of whites' attempts to flee, their arrests and executions, a confrontation between General Henri Christophe and an English officer, the impending arrival of Dessalines at Le Cap, the absence of infrastructure, and the state of the author's mercantile house, merchandise, and accounts.

*Vue des 40 jours d'incendie des habitations de la plaine du Cap français, Arrivée le 23 Août 1791, Vieux style and Vue de l'incendie de la ville du Cap Français, Arrivée le 21 Juin 1793. Vieux style both published in Paris at chez Boquet, [1795], and engraved by Jean-Baptiste Chapuy (1760-18-) from artwork by J. L. Boquet.

Thanks to all who attended our special student event on November 29! It was great to see so many new faces in the Library. 


Founder's Day Lecture
At the Cutting Edge: Michigan in 1817
Brian Dunnigan

April 4, 2017
4PM, Gallery Room (Room 100)
Hatcher Graduate Library

Brian Dunnigan, Curator of Maps, will describe what Michigan was like when the U-M first opened its doors to scholars. Using images of original maps, art, architecture, and letters from the amazing collection of the Clements Library, he will transport you back to the Michigan of 200 years ago.

A Michigan Map Society Lecture
From Samuel de Champlain to Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin: Mapping the Great Lakes in the 17th century
Jean-François Palomino

April 18, 2017
6PM, Gallery Room (Room 100)
Hatcher Graduate Library

Join Jean-François Palomino as he discusses early French mapping of the Great Lakes region and two noted cartographers who played a seminal role in introducing the Great Lakes to Europeans.

Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America 
David Silverman

April 20, 2017
4PM, Gallery Room (Room 100)
Hatcher Graduate Library

The adoption of firearms by American Indians between the 17th and 19th centuries marked a turning point in the history of North America's indigenous peoples. Author, David Silverman, will discusses this profound "cultural earthquake" and its impact.

Books will be available for purchase.

American Historical Print Collectors Society Annual Meeting

May 3 - 7, 2017
www.ahpcs.org

42nd annual meeting of the American Historical Print Collectors Society will be held in Ann Arbor. Sessions will not only feature materials from the Clements Library but also the University's Special Collections Library, Papyri Collection, Stephen Clark Map Library, and more.

For more information please visit the  American Historical Print Collectors Society.

Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth
Holger Hoock

May 16, 2017
6PM, Gallery Room (Room 100)
Hatcher Graduate Library

Former Clements researcher and historian, Holger Hoock, author of Scars of Independence (released May 2017) will discuss the American Revolution and the inherent tensions between moral purpose and violent tendencies in America's past.

Books will be available for purchase.
Visit the Clements Library

Research Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 9:00 am - 4:45 pm
Thursday: 9:00 am - 7:45 pm 

Exhibit Hours
Friday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Research: The Clements is open to all researchers who have a need to consult its collections, including students. Please contact us at clements-reference@umich.edu to confirm your visit in advance. Readers must complete an online registration process, which may be done in advance, and present photo i.d. at the reception desk.  Curators are available for consultation and are happy to assist readers with initiating their research.
 
Class sessions: The Library welcomes and encourages class visits for undergraduate and graduate courses that relate to the Library's collections. To request a visit, please contact us at  clementsclassrequest@umich.edu a minimum of three weeks prior to the date you wish to request.

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