Latest Post
Reeder Reel Episode 1: Sam Gruber
Posted March 21, 2025
On the inaugural episode of the Reeder Reel, Sarah and Drea speak to alumni Sam Gruber '24 about his video project supported by the Reeder Media Center.
W&M Libraries Blog
Out with the old, in with the new
Posted
If you are a frequent visitor to our blog, you may notice that things look a little different around here. We have updated our look from the design we initially opened for business with in August 2009.
X Marks the Swem Spot
Posted
This is a 1949 aerial photo of campus long before any of the "new campus" buildings. The "X" marks the spot where Swem Library would be built in 1964.
A clandestine edition of Galileo's Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, 1710
Posted
Earlier this semester we displayed a selection of Special Collections' early modern science books for a group of students and faculty. Among the exhibited volumes was a copy of the second Italian edition of Galileo Galilei's Dialogo or Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, published in 1710.
Swem's Visiting Librarian takes on Chapin-Horowitz Dog Book Collection backlog
Posted
Special Collections and Content Services is thrilled to welcome Xiaoyan Song to the library as Swem's Visiting Librarian.
Assassination News Breaks into Everyday Life
Posted
The United States changed on November 22. The president's promise was lost and the coverage of the event by television affected all who watched with immediacy and intimacy. The American people experienced the tragedy together
Written Memories of Three Generations of Women (1915-1966)
Posted
The Caley Family Papers in Swem Library's Special Collections consist of letters and diaries spanning almost seventy years and three generations of Caley female descendants. From the 1940s through the 1960s , all three generations of women lived, with no male presence, under one roof or within close distance of one another in Sierra Madre, California.
Pieces of a Past Life
Posted
A popular means of documenting personal interests and life events, the practice of scrapbooking dates back centuries. In contrast to the modern practice of pasting family photographs and vacation mementos onto brightly colored paper, early scrapbooks were often compilations of newspaper clippings, artwork, hand-copied quotes, and letters. In addition to being aesthetically interesting, old scrapbooks provide unique insight on the lives of their creators.
Colonel Joshua Fry Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists visits Swem Library
Posted
The Special Collections Research Center was pleased to host a meeting of the Colonel Joshua Fry Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists (NSDAC) on September 16, 2013.
Pennyroyal Caxton Bible donated to Swem Library
Posted
Thanks to the generosity of Bruce and Suzie Kovner, Swem Library has received a copy of the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible. This version of the King James Bible was created by Barry Moser, the noted printmaker and book illustrator, who spent three years designing and setting the type and carving the engravings.
Outreach to students
Posted
Like many special collections at universities across the country, the Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library is dedicated to supporting the research mission of the College, but just as important is its role in enhancing the College's commitment to excellence in undergraduate teaching.
Posters: Not Just For Teenagers Anymore
Posted
Before starting work at the Special Collections Research Center, I assumed archives were repositories of serious things relating to very serious matters. There are most certainly serious documents which serve very important purposes, but there are just so many more things housed in the archives here.
Blog Backlogs
Posted
In the world of archives, the topic of backlogs always comes up: Do you have one? How big is it? What are your plans to attack it?
Exhibits
Posted
Another semester is coming to an end at Swem Library's Special Collections and student employees are getting ready for the hustle of the last few weeks of classes. It is my last semester working at Special Collections, and the year I have spent as a graduate apprentice here has gone by in the blink of an eye.
I Couldn't Say….
Posted
It might be an exaggeration to say that it's been a dream of mine to work at a library, but I was pretty darn excited when I found out that I would be serving my graduate assistantship in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center.
The Civil War Centennial in the Archives
Posted
I have been researching, writing, and planning an exhibit on the Civil War Centennial to be displayed outside the Special Collections Research Center in the Nancy Marshall Gallery. Given that the years 1961 through 1965 were of great historical importance in their own right, one can forget that they also represented the one-hundredth anniversary of the greatest conflict of American history.
Nuevos Borders Argentinos : Antología Cartonera donated to Swem Library
Posted
The generosity of Eloísa Cartonera and the relationship of Professor of Hispanic Studies Regina Root with this publishing cooperative has brought the book Nuevos Borders Argentinos : Antología Cartonera to the Rare Book Collection in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center.
The Things We Know We Do Not Know
Posted
While there are many things in an archive like Swem Library's Special Collections that the archivists and staff know we know, there are also the known unknowns. There are some things we may never know, and a person can accept that, but sometimes there is something that you think must be known by someone and it is just a matter of finding the person who knows it – or a person who is persistent enough to do the research to find the answer.
Association Books
Posted
One of the cornerstones of the Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center is its rare book collection. Contained in this collection of some 50,000 volumes are books representative of human thought and culture, both popular and learned, that range in subject matter from science and medicine to history, literature, travel, and exploration.
Examining Material Culture
Posted
If you have ever seen the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, then you can understand what I do here. I started working at Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center in August and was tasked by Jennie Davy, the Burger Archives Specialist, with identifying artifacts that had yet to be cataloged (meaning the artifacts were patiently waiting for an identification number and description so they could be accessible to the public).
Preserving Memories with Oral History
Posted
In addition to an impressive archive of rare books, periodicals, photographs, and other physical documents, Swem Library's Special Collections manages the W&M Digital Archive that includes both digitized versions of some parts of the physical archive.