What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 4:30pm Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 4:30pm Friday 9am - 4:30pm

William L. Clements Library

Home
United States
Ann Arbor, MI
William L. Clements Library

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

The Clements Library is now open for exhibit viewing from 12:00 PM-4:00 PM on Monday-Friday.

Located on the central campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the William L. Clements Library houses original resources for the study of American history and culture from the fifteenth through the nineteenth century. Our mission is to collect and preserve primary source materials, to make them available for research, and to support and encourage scholarly investigation of our nation’s past.

10/28/2026

What would we do without Sam?!

Haunted Histories has begun, come solve a historic murder mystery with us!

📅: October 28, 2026
🕡: 6-9 pm
📍: Clements Library, 909 S. University Ave

10/28/2026

Gulliver’s Travels was published on in 1726.

Its evocative scene of the titular Gulliver being tied down by the miniature Lilliputians people has been replicated throughout print culture including in this charming advertisement for J. & P. Coats Best Six Cord Spool Cotton.

🧵: Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson Printed Ephemera Collection, ca. 1750s-1999

10/26/2026

American political campaigns became media events throughout the nineteenth century, complete with spectacular torch-lit parades and extensive selections of campaign paraphernalia.

We don’t carry torches on poles at political rallies any longer, but things like these pins and ribbons look more familiar.

How do we use print, material culture, and electronic media to get out the vote today? From yard signs to social media blitzes, how do political campaigns attempt to convince voters to head to the polls? 🗳️

👨: [bust portrait of unidentified man].

View these items and more in our current exhibit, “Who Counts? A History of Voting in America" weekdays from 12-4 pm or view the extended online exhibit here: https://myumi.ch/E77P2

10/23/2026

We’re stumped! Graduate Graphics Assistant Ella Brooks-Camper came across this puzzle while processing ephemera collections this morning.

We can’t promise you Fifteen Fancy Designs like C. N. Newcomb could, but we’d still love to see if you can solve it. 🧩

10/23/2026

Take a look at this sewing book from the 19th century, showing beautiful embroidered details in multiple shapes and colors. 🪡

The 47 hand-stitched designs in this sample book range from simple to complicated shapes and patterns to fruit, a circular shell, and Native American-inspired objects such as a bow and arrow, a moccasin, a snowshoe, and a canoe. 🛶

📖: Sewing Designs Sample Book, ca. 19th century.

10/22/2026

Color Hunting at the Clements Library for ! 💚💙💜💛

10/21/2026

Discover the unique resources the Clements Library offers U-M students during Parent & Family Weekend!

Join us this Friday for one of three tours offered throughout the day so you can easily fit a visit into your schedule.

10/20/2026

In October 1836, more than 1,000 Philadelphians signed this 28-foot scroll addressed to President Andrew Jackson, expressing their political support and urging him to visit the city before his term ended. 📜

While writing the finding aid for this unusually lengthy item, Manuscripts Division Processing Assistant Ava Wilcox consulted a printed facsimile. After seeing the original petition fully unfurled, she identified a few details to update in the record. Namely, the check marks next to each name looked like they were done in ink on the copy. When looking at the original item, it was clear that they were done in pencil.

Ava’s finding aid for the Philadelphia (Pa.) Citizens Petition to Andrew Jackson is one of more than a dozen that went live this month! Read our latest Clements Chronicles blog post to learn about the rest: https://myumi.ch/E72mG

10/19/2026

Have you always known you’d make a great detective? 🕵️

Join the Clements Library next week to go undercover and solve a historic murder mystery!

Inspired by our current exhibit, "Who Counts? A History of Voting in America," you'll meet the candidates of a local election, cast your vote, and do themed activities in between viewing exhibit cases.

Additionally, participate in a costume contest from 7:30-8 pm or attend a performance of “A Ghost,” a play from our very own collections at 7 or 8 pm! 👻🎃

Register now to reserve your spot: https://myumi.ch/8JNNR 🦇

10/16/2026

While working with the Edward Surovell Collection of Native American Languages, Graduate Books Assistant Evelyn Best worked closely with 19th-century Ojibwe dictionaries to translate titles of other books into English.

In today’s post on the Clements Chronicles, Evelyn grapples with the implications of dictionaries made by white missionaries to aid in religious conversion and trade.

Despite discrepancies between these rare old dictionaries and modern resources such as the Ojibwe People’s Dictionary, she highlights the research benefit of using both in tandem. Because many of the books in the Surovell Collection are also colonial works, she needed dictionaries that reflected those same 19th-century conventions to fully decipher their titles.

Read more here: https://myumi.ch/39z9p

When life-long book collector Ed Surovell lost his eyesight, he wanted to ensure that his books would be preserved and made accessible for research well into the future. In December 2021, Surovell generously gifted the Clements Library his carefully curated collection of Native American language mat...

Address

909 S. University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI
48109

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 4:30pm
Friday	9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+17347642347

Website

http://www.clements.umich.edu/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when William L. Clements Library posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.