1. Home
  2. About W&M Libraries
  3. W&M Libraries Blog

W&M Libraries Blog

Two-page spread of a volume from the Marshall Collection, "Santa Claus and His Works." The right page features a color illustration of Santa creating toys.

A New York Holiday: Printing Christmas in the Nineteenth Century

December 5, 2019

Derek Vouri-Richard, Ph.D. student in the American Studies Program and SCRC Graduate Apprentice, introduces a new exhibit he curated. Read on to learn more about the history of New York's media industry and the cultural evolution of Christmas into the holiday we know today. Stop by the Swem Lobby this month to check out "A New York Holiday," which features selections from the Nancy H. Marshall “A Visit from St. Nicholas” Collection.

St. Nicholas broadside, 1810 (Library of Congress)

Every year Swem Library exhibits Nancy H. Marshall’s extensive collection of...

Previous Posts

Feb 2018

  • Founders: The People Behind William & Mary

    February 14, 2018
    This year’s Charter Day marked the 325th anniversary of the founding of The College of William & Mary by William III and Mary II, the first and (to date) only joint-monarchs in British history. An exhibition in the lobby at Swem Library brings the focus to William and Mary – the people, not the university.

  • The Royal Charter: Manuscript and Print

    February 8, 2018
    On February 8, 1693, the Royal Charter establishing the College of William & Mary in Virginia was written. William & Mary President James Blair brought both English and Latin versions of the twelve page document with him from the Court of William & Mary at Kensington Palace. The original copy of the charter establishing the College was lost about the time of the American Revolution.
  • Malachi Gardiner, University Archives Photograph Collection, UA 8

    The Dark Side of College Life

    February 1, 2018
    In my everlasting search for materials relating to African Americans in Special Collections, I was pointed to the 1921 edition of the Colonial Echo. Within its worn cover, there is a single page spread entitled “The Dark Side of College Life.” These are the only words. The rest of the page is filled with several black and white photographs of exactly what one might expect – black employees of the College.

Jan 2018

  • “His Soul is Marching On”: Artifacts from the Raid on Harpers Ferry

    January 17, 2018
    On the night of Sunday October 16, 1859, twenty-three men emerged from the woods surrounding the town of Harpers Ferry, which sits at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in present-day West Virginia. Armed with rifles and pikes, their mission was to successfully secure the large cache of weapons kept in the town’s armory and expel the U.S. military from the area.

Dec 2017

  • Christmas Behind the Scenes

    December 20, 2017

  • Tis the Season

    December 6, 2017
    In this month's dog series post, we decided to focus on dog books related to the December holidays. In doing so, it became quickly apparent that while we have a small number of titles related to dogs and Christmas, we do not have titles related to Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Our awareness of this deficiently will inform future collecting decisions. If there are specific titles you would like to suggest, please hit us up in the comments section.

Nov 2017

  • Basque in the Archives

    November 22, 2017
    Down in the belly of Special Collections sits a mysterious blue velvet box. Its contents are simultaneously mundane and bizarre, important for the study of language in Spain, and remarkably unremarkable. The box bears the inscription Matxin de Zalbaren Gutuna, La Carta de Machin de Zalba, 1416. What is it? Why do we have it? What makes it both special and ordinary?

  • Family Donates Civil War Diary of Henry Alexander Scandrett

    November 13, 2017
    This past spring Sharon Summers, Charles W. Scandrett, Janet S. Hunt, Barbara J. Kaufman, and Sandra S. Ellender generously donated the Civil War diary of Henry Alexander Scandrett to the Special Collections Research Center. Scandrett fought for the Union during the war and recorded his experiences in the pocket diary.

  • Must Love Dogs: 11/11/18

    November 8, 2017
    In 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, an armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany, effectively ending World War I. This Saturday marks the anniversary of this event, commemorated as Veteran's Day in the United States, Armistice Day in France, and Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom.

Oct 2017

  • Processing Reveals Trading Cards of Decades Past

    October 25, 2017
    As a child of the 90's, I'm pretty familiar with trading cards. Pokémon and Yugio cards were all the rage throughout my younger years, but little did I know that trading cards have a much richer history than keeping myself occupied throughout elementary school.

Our Blogs

Posts by Date

December 2019 (1)
November 2019 (5)
October 2019 (4)
September 2019 (2)
August 2019 (3)
July 2019 (5)
June 2019 (4)
May 2019 (2)
April 2019 (3)
March 2019 (3)
February 2019 (3)
January 2019 (4)
more

Topics

Students And Volunteers (78)
Rare Books (41)
#swemspecialcollections (39)
New Material (36)
Graduate Students (34)
Manuscripts (30)
Swem Library (23)
Staff (21)
Exhibits (19)
William & Mary (17)
Campus (17)
University Archives (16)
Events (15)
Politics (12)
Special Collections (12)
more