The Library's Garden Level (Lower Level) is currently closed due to storm flooding. More about garden-level closure. (Posted on: 03/08/2024 03:24pm)
While October 20th, 1947, seemed like an ordinary Monday for many Washington Congressional staffers, for some the day began by throwing their feet on the floor with a feeling of dread in the pit of their stomachs. On this day, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) held special hearings that were to last two to three weeks. The New York Times reported...
Puck was an American humor and satire magazine published from 1871-1918. Published in both English and German language editions, the magazine was founded in St. Louis and moved to New York City within 5 years. Most issues were 32 pages in length. They included colorized cartoons on the front page, and a large, colorized political cartoon on the centerfold. Many well-known....
Special Collections and Archives is home to the David S. Somerville Collection which features comic books from both Marvel and DC Comics, and many other books that focus on superheroes and other pop culture characters. Marvel has its roots in comic books, but has also made movies, television shows, and video games. Marvel Comics was originally established in 1939 ....
Many beauty and fashion trends quickly fall out of vogue, but others have more staying power. In Special Collections there are many fashion books and magazines produced in numerous time periods, as well as historical retrospectives that focus on the history of fashion and cosmetics. Women in particular ....
In the late 18th century, a new genre of American literature began to appear. Sometimes dictated and sometimes written, the slave narrative opened the window into the lives of Americans living in bondage. Northern abolitionists and others were avid readers of slave narratives, many of which became best sellers. Slave narratives were also influential in...
Dr. Leonard Osborne was a U.S. Navy surgeon based in Maryland during the War of 1812. His personal journal, dated 1809 to 1815, is one of the many treasures held in Special Collections and Archives. In it, he describes medical lectures he attended, some medical treatments, various locations his ship visited, and his fellow seamen. He also included some...
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, African-American poetry and fiction began to develop in two distinctly different ways. As educational opportunities improved in selected areas of the United States, some black writers sought to emulate the traditional forms and themes of classical white authors. Still others began to...
The Jan Dailey and John Money Correspondence Collection documents the shifting understanding of sex and gender identity in psychology and psychiatry in the late 20th century. The collection contains letters and articles from 1974 to 1996 that focuses on topics such as gender identity...
Special Collections and Archives holds a letter from abolitionist, John Brown, to his wife and children dated November 23, 1855. Brown is best known for attempting to to start a liberation movement among enslaved African Americans and for his unsuccessful seizure of the United States Armory located in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859, which is considered a precursor to...
Special Collections and Archives holds many rare, unique, limited, and first edition works of American literature, including books by famed author John Steinbeck whose books of fiction and non-fiction have often sparked controversy....
