LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Alex Hovan, an LSA senior, works on research in the reading room of the Clements Library yesterday.
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
The main hall of the Clements Library, designed in 1922, contains many historical items and is used to house special
exhibitions and lectures.
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
This original painting by Benjamin West, titled The Death of General Wolfe, is located in the main exhibition hall of the Clements Library. It also can be found in many history books.
he Clements Library, located on South University Avenue between the President's House and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
The library houses one of the largest collections of 16th- to 20th-Century American history in the world.
Founded in 1923 by former University Regent and Engineering alumnus William Clements, the library was not designed as a typical research library. Specific to Clements' wishes, the library is independent from the University's library system and was initially started with Clements' collection of 20,000 rare books.
Under the direction of director John Dann since 1977, the library has grown and expanded while continuing to specialize in original documents and primary sources of early American history.
The expanding collection
The library has developed an international following in its 75 years, and its reputation has prompted numerous donations from people around the world who know their collections will be well taken care of by the library.
"Many of our donators have a University connection, but they know (the collection) will be treated well and used and built on." Dann said.
A collection of more than 45,000 photographs donated by Frederick Currier and Amy McComb records American studio photography during the last decades of the 19th Century.
Focusing on the private lives of Americans during this time period, the collection was so large and comprehensive the library renamed its photography division in honor of the generous donors.
Recently, the library received a large collection of personal letters from World War II Army General George Patton. Donated by a direct descendant, the letters were written by Patton to his parents during his time as an undergraduate at the Virginia Military Institute.
"These letters show how Patton's intellect developed during his early military career," said Robt Cox, former Clements Library manuscript and photography curator and current manuscript curator at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. "He is talking (in the manuscripts) about the emotional distancing that must take place in the military, and how the military is the most respectable institution in the country."
Recently, the library purchased a collection of letters written by military officers on the Ohio frontier during the American Revolution. With this addition, the library strengthened its position as a leading institution for its collection of items from the early period of the United States.
Although the library frequently makes large, expensive purchases, Dann said the most important thing for students to know about is the numerous smaller purchases the Clements makes that give depth to the library's holding.
Students "can't do much with one spectacular manuscript," Dann said. "What a student needs is enough material to give depth to the collection."
Besides gifts from donors, the Clements makes many of its smaller day-to-day purchases through auctions and rare bookstores.
The library also builds its collection through various auctions. Dann said he receives advance copies of auction sale books and goes through them with his staff to determine what the library needs.
"I get a catalog and mark the things that would fit in our collection," Dann said. "I then call a dealer who will attend the sale, taking my bids."
Rare bookstores are another important source of additional material for the library. On a recent cruise to Nova Scotia, during which he gave a lecture, Dann found numerous maps and books in a local book store that he purchased in order to add to the library's holdings.
"It's a funny way you acquire books," Dann said. "It's a non-stop process."
Dann is quick to stress the importance of the library's inexpensive purchases in addition to the library's larger purchases.
"A library has to continually build the collection with inexpensive" items, he said.
Although the library is renowned for its rare collections, it is still young in terms of many rare-book libraries, and is still in the process of seeking additional larger collections and hard to find items.
"People ask, 'What do you need anything more for?'" Dann said. "The library is still young, with a lot still to develop."
One of those developments is the Clements library Website. While only 10 percent of the library's works are indexed in MIRLYN, Cox said he created a comprehensive site indexing most of the library's holdings.
The library is currently working with the Office of the Provost to start the process of indexing all of its holdings in MIRLYN, beginning next year, Dann said.
Anatomy of a library
The library building itself was designed in 1922 by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, in the Italian Renaissance style.
The library's front doors open onto a grand exhibition hall with a 40-foot, two-story ceiling, glass cases filled with rare books and two antique chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The main room serves mainly as an exhibition hall and lecture area.
The second floor contains numerous stacks of books and includes a balcony that opens onto the main hall, providing a bird's-eye view of historical items located in the main hall, including a painting by Benjamin West depicting the death of General Wolfe and a chest from British Revolutionary War General Sir Henry Clinton.
"It's tragic that students are able to go through four years at (the University) without having stepped inside the doors to see the magnificent building and to look up to the left to see the original painting by Benjamin West that many students see in their history textbooks," said Tom Trautmann, an anthropology professor and director of the Institute for the Humanities.
This fall, an exhibition highlighting the exchange of cultures and ideas between North and South America and Europe in the 18th Century will be available for viewing in the main hall.
Beyond the main room and down a flight of stairs lies the rare book rooms, accessible only with assistance from a secretary located in the main exhibition hall and another sign-in and interview procedure downstairs.
Because of the sign-in procedure, the library can appear exclusive. But this is not the case, Dann and Cox said.
"Any student with a legitimate research interest is welcome to use the library." Cox said.
Due to the rarity and fragileness of many of the library's holdings, security checks must be provided in order to ensure the safe care and handling of the material.
"The space is very formal and forbidding, but (the library) has magnificent things and the collection itself is so wonderful," Trautmann said.
The Bentley Historical Library
In addition to the Clements Library, the University contains another library specializing in original historical works.
The Bentley Historical library, located on North Campus, specializes in Michigan history and serves as the official archives for the University.
"We have a lot of material that would pertain on a local and state level for undergraduates." said Bill Wallach, assistant director of the Bentley Historical Library.
The Bentley Library moved into its current location in 1972, and was originally founded by members of the University Board of Regents in 1935. Containing one of the largest collections of state and University resources, the library is used by students and researches from around the world who are in need of early Michigan history.
Many students come to the Bentley Library looking for information about Michigan history in general, but the trained staff is able to help students narrow their focus to find information for a research topic, Wallach said.
"Our reference archivists are skilled in asking the questions that help students define what they want to do," he added.
Open free of charge to all researchers, both the Bentley and Clements libraries do not circulate their collections.
More information about the Bentley Historical library can be found at http://www.umich.edu/~bhl
Why do students use these libraries?
For many students looking for original sources of U.S. history materials, the Clements and Bentley libraries are an invaluable source in order to find material not otherwise available in scholarly research books found in other libraries and through electronic research.
Many times, students will be more interested in discovering and learning about history from original sources that came directly out of the time period being studied, rather than reading about the same events in a history book, Dann said.
"It's a detective game to find evidence and work with raw materials to develop a paper ... not regurgitated through someone else's point of view," Wallach said.
In recent years, there has been a trend by professors towards having their undergraduate students do original research.
"Today, imaginative professors realize that original sources are more exciting than having their students read history books." said Dann. "When I first came to the library, it was not used by undergraduates, only grad students. Now it is very widely used by undergraduates."
Many undergraduates have never had experience working with original sources and developing their own theories, but representatives from both libraries said they are more than willing to provide help to students working at the libraries for the first time.
"We know that lots of times undergraduates may not be involved in using original sources," Wallach said. "We wanted to make it easier for those neophytes who wanted to use something different."
Students said they consider the library to be academically stimulating and helpful to their studies.
"I found the library to be pretty good for research," LSA senior Steve Carter said. "It was not that intimidating."
Seventy-five years later
In celebration of its anniversary, the Clements Library will host a six-part lecture series this fall featuring presentations from some of the nation's leading American Revolutionary War period historians. The lecture series will look beyond the War for American Independence and will include the effect it had on the entire world.
"We want to look (at the period) in the larger context than just guns and trumpets and include this whole movement towards democracy and self-determinism," Dann said.
The lectures are scheduled to be held at 4 p.m. in the main exhibition hall of the library and are open to the public with refreshments afterwards.
More information can be found at the Clements library's Website located at http://www.clements.umich.edu.
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