MARCH 2018 NEWSLETTER
Upcoming Events and Lectures
Map Drawing & Graphic Literacy in the Early Republic

Two-time author and Professor of History at the University of Denver, Susan Schulten, continues our winter lecture series on Tuesday, March 20!

In the decades after the American revolution, schoolchildren routinely made maps. Map drawing and geography were particularly appropriate subjects for girls, both a pathway to literacy and a means of demonstrating accomplishment. Many went on to become teachers themselves and carried these practices with them into an ever-growing national network of female academies and seminaries. By drawing their country, students were making the nation manifest, visualizing territory that most would never see firsthand. Map drawing was part of an intensely graphic education, and a closer look at these charming, detailed, and elegant artifacts reveals a great deal about female education in the early republic.

The lecture will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Robertson Auditorium at the Ross School of Business. Register for the event here.
African American Literature and the Archive Speaker Series
Sponsored by the Clements Library

In collaboration with the College of Literature, Science and the Arts Critical Contemporary Studies program, we welcome three esteemed scholars to campus who will examine archival approaches to African American literature and cultural production. Kinohi Nishikawa, Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at Princeton University, will continue the series with a lecture entitled "Blueprints for Black Writing" on Monday, March 19.

For more information, please visit  this site.
Clements Exhibits
Open on Fridays from 10:00am - 4:00pm
The Pioneer Americanists: Early Collectors, Dealers, and Bibliographers

This exhibit continues through May 18. From White Kennett, the first great collector of Americana, to Hubert Howe Bancroft, who broke new ground in concentrating on the American West, this exhibit tells the stories of sixteen noteworthy specialists who created and nurtured the Americana field from the late seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.

The companion book will be available in April 2018.  It is available for preorder  here.
Upcoming Tours
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of our award winning library. Please register by selecting the link below.

March 16
Researcher Highlight
Brig. Gen. William Hull
Researcher Visit from River Raisin National Battlefield Park 

Rusty Davis, an award-winning volunteer from the River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe, MI, visited the Clements in February to conduct research on John Anderson and the 1817 Military Road survey.

Anderson surveyed the military road running from Detroit to the Rapids of Miami. The original road, first surveyed in 1809, was the first Michigan interstate. On that same road in the summer of 1812, General Hull marched to Detroit. We can still drive the road today; it is now West Jefferson Avenue in Wayne County, Dixie Highway in Monroe County, and M-25 south of Monroe. Learn more about the materials Davis used in his research here.
Upcoming Events
Postcard Curator Lynda Klich to Speak at Michigan League
May 5, 2018 

Famous art collector and philanthropist Leonard A. Lauder has collected postcards ever since he was young. Today, his postcard collection is regarded as one of the finest in the world. 

Mr. Lauder's Postcard Curator, Lynda Klich, will speak in the Henderson Room at the Michigan League on the University of Michigan campus on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 8:00 pm. Her talk will provide an overview of Mr. Lauder's collection with particular attention to his real photo postcards that will be featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston later this year. This event is sponsored by the Clements Library and the Michigan Photographic Historical Society.

For information about attending, contact Cindy Motzenbecker of the MiPHS at motz48073@yahoo.com.
Events Highlight
U-M History Club Documentary Screening

On Thursday, February 15, student members of the U-M History Club filed into the Clements Library for a special screening of Hamilton vs. Burr, a documentary originally featured on the History Channel. The screening served as a prelude for James Lewis' lecture, "Making Sense of the Burr Conspiracy," on February 20. 

Following the film, club members viewed a display of related manuscripts with Manuscripts Curator Cheney Schopieray. Several students tried their hand at deciphering the handwriting and reading the manuscripts aloud. Corey Schmidt, the Clements Library Bonk Fellow, also gave students a walk-through of his digitization process.


Curator Corner
Edward Walsh Watercolor Sketches Now Digitized

The watercolor sketches of Edward Walsh, M.D. are some of the most frequently reproduced materials from the Clements Library. These sketches, done between 1803 and 1806 while Walsh served as a surgeon for the 49th Regiment of Foot at Fort George, Ontario, are vital visual resources for any scholar interested in the history of the Old Northwest. His depictions of Detroit and York (Toronto) are among the best and earliest known views of those settlements. Read more here.
Special Publication
Detroit Map Occasional Bulletin

Our most recent Occasional Bulletin, "Rough Scetch of the King's Domain at Detroit," details a fascinating new acquisition. Sir David William Smith's 1790 manuscript plan of Detroit is the library's most significant find since 2001. It includes details not seen on the seven other known plans of Detroit made between 1784 and 1799. The Bulletin includes images of the map, as well as details about its acquisition, conservation, and history.

You can request a copy of the Occasional Bulletin here.
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