Latest Post
Congrats to the Class of 2025 Library Student Employees!
Posted April 30, 2025
As the academic year comes to an end, we’d like to recognize and celebrate our graduating student employees.
W&M Libraries Blog
Remembering the 1918 Earthquake and Tsunami in Puerto Rico
Posted
On October 11, 1918, an 7.5 magnitude earthquake shook the homes of residents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Within minutes, the town was inundated by a large Tsunami. Destruction of buildings and homes in Mayaguez and surrounding towns was widespread.
The £105.00 Mystery: Horatia Nelson's Book
Posted
If you like old books, look carefully at any inscription you find within – you may have a valuable treasure as well as an unexpected mystery to solve.
First Woman in the British Parliament
Posted
Just as Great Britain is on the eve of having its first woman prime minister to serve since Margaret, Lady Thatcher stepped down in 1990, Swem Library's Special Collections received a fewletters written by Nancy, Lady Astor, along with a printed image that she captioned.
Scrapbooks of a Young Theater Fan
Posted
Alma Mae Clarke Fontaine (1909-1999) loved the theater. As a young woman living in New Rochelle, New York, she kept scrapbooks between 1923 and 1926 to document her trips into New York City to attend the theater. These erudite scrapbooks reveal a avid but thoughtful audience member.
Panama Canal, Then and Now
Posted
The Panama Canal is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. In June 2016, an extensive nine year expansion to accommodate larger and deeper shipping vessels was completed. The Panama Canal is just as significant to industry and consumer savings today as it was when it first opened in 1914.
Letters Home from World War I
Posted
After an exchange of words with his father and an undisclosed dispute with the local sheriff, Carson J. Dale (1888-1916) abruptly left his home in Wiggins, Mississippi and headed to England to join the fight in WWI. Under the guise of being Canadian, he joined the 1/6th Gloucestershire Regiment.
"Gore for President": Gay & Lesbian Activism in the 2000 Campaign
Posted
In 2000, the presidential election pitted Vice-President Al Gore against George W. Bush in a contentious and mudslinging campaign season. Issues at the forefront of the campaign focused primarily on domestic topics, such as Medicare and Social Security reform, foreign policy, and taxes.
The World of Buster Brown -According to Tige, His Dog
Posted
The Chapin-Horowitz Collection is my go-to treasure-trove for fun and unexpected sources on pretty much any undergraduate course topic that comes our way during the school year.
Medicine and Slavery at William & Mary
Posted
The records of the Office of the Bursar contain an array of financial information dating back to the 18th century. One of the more interesting aspects of these records that has recently come to light pertains to William & Mary's involvement in the slave trade. Many of the documents contain references to enslaved people who were held by the university as well as payments to slaveholders for the hire of their slaves.
Virginia Gazette, 1893-1921
Posted
Williamsburg, Virginia's current local newspaper, The Virginia Gazette has had various owners and publishers since its initial issue in 1736, plus there were many years when it was not published at all. The longest publication gap was between 1780 and 1893.
Newly Digitized Material: The St. George Tucker Almanacs
Posted
Just as Great Britain is on the eve of having its first woman prime minister to serve since Margaret, Lady Thatcher stepped down in 1990, Swem Library's Special Collections received a few letters written by Nancy, Lady Astor, along with a printed image that she captioned.
A Recent Discovery: Eliza Abrams's Music
Posted
Sometimes researchers discover wonderful new things about treasures in our collections. On a recent visit to William & Mary, Dr. Candace Bailey from North Carolina Central University spent time researching in the extensive collection of bound music volumes in Swem's Special Collections.
The Library of St. George Tucker
Posted
Swem Library's Special Collections holds the library of St. George Tucker. The library has been described by Jill M. Coghlan ("The Library of St. George Tucker" (M. A. Thesis William & Mary. Department of History. 1973.) In her work, she revealed that the library holds a bit more than one-half of the books listed in Tucker's estate.
Bursar's Records: Skins and Furs
Posted
The Bursar's Records contain accounting and financial information for William & Mary dating back to the mid 1700s. Unfortunately, some of these records have been lost due to fires and other events. However, the surviving records contain a wide variety of information that illuminate different aspects of life in early Virginia.
Enslaved People as Collateral
Posted
The records of the Office of the Bursar contain a wide array of financial information dating back to the 18th century. Recently, these records have provided additional information about William & Mary's involvement in slavery and the slave trade. Many of the documents contain references to enslaved people who were held by the College, as well as payments to slaveholders for hiring enslaved people.
Recollections of Two Beloved Wives
Posted
Bishop William Meade graduated at the top of his class at Princeton. He studied for the Episcopal ministry at a time when the fortunes of the Church in Virginia were at a nadir after the disestablishment caused by the Revolutionary War. He was ordained by Bishop James Madison who was also serving as President of William & Mary. Along with Bishop Richard Channing Moore, he led a revival of the Church along evangelical lines.
Dirty Jobs: Processing
Posted
Processing a collection can be a straightforward task: papers (or a collection) arrive here at the SCRC and we can easily discern the logic behind original the order of the collection. If no order is present, then we devise one as we process the collection. But sometimes you receive a collection like this…
Accounting for Enslaved People
Posted
The records of the Office of the Bursar are some of the earliest and most comprehensive records of William & Mary, some from the 18th century survive to the present day! The accounts document the financial interactions of William & Mary and its personnel in the 18th-19th centuries.
All Wrapped Up: The Montebourg Manuscript
Posted
When a 1633 French legal document was donated to Special Collections, a creased, torn, dirty piece of paper was wrapped around it. This wrapper may seem like something that should be thrown away, but it has its own stories to tell.
"Exceptional in Any Age": The Library of Lady Jean Skipwith
Posted
The Library of Congress's reconstruction of Thomas Jefferson's library now receives many visitors who wander through the remarkable library of a remarkable man, institutionalized at the very heart of the US government. The importance and preservation of the libraries of "great men" has been a part of our history for a long time; and most national, university, college, and other institutional libraries are based around those of white men.