Special Exhibitions

Unfurling the Flag: Reflections on American Patriotism

March 16–September 27, 2026

Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Unfurling the Flag: Reflections on American Patriotism explores the complex ideological and political power of patriotism in the United States. Over time, conceptions of loyalty, allegiance, and national belonging have evolved, and patriotism has been likewise reimagined and reinvented through national conversations, policies, protests, and bloodshed. This presentation explores the distinctive ways that leaders and common citizens alike have revisited patriotism through historic writings, speeches, maps, photographs, drawings, and other items from Yale Library’s collections.

Additionally, the exhibition highlights the implications of marshaling patriotism to justify foreign interventions, establish hierarchies for national priorities, register dissent, and draw boundaries of civic inclusion and exclusion. What is at stake when we talk about patriotism? How are its ideals informed by the country’s founding documents and expressed in today’s conversations? Unfurling the Flag makes visible the varied meanings that citizens, officials, activists, intellectuals, artists, and others have assigned to national allegiance, and invites gallery visitors to reflect on how our notion of patriotism might continue to unfold in the future.

Curator: Joshua Cochran
 
 

Textured Stories

Textured Stories: The Chirimen Books of Modern Japan

September 2, 2025–May 3, 2026

Chirimen-bon, or crêpe-paper books, were a type of Japanese illustrated book produced between the 1880s and the 1950s and made with textured, fabric-like paper. They came into existence alongside textbooks for Japanese learners of Western languages, and often served as souvenirs for Western visitors to Japan. They covered a wide range of Japan-related topics—fairy tales, folklore, cultural traditions, holidays, festivals, performing arts, and scenes from everyday life—in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and other languages.
Despite their unassuming appearance, chirimen books served as a crucial medium for disseminating knowledge during a tumultuous moment, as Japan, after more than two centuries of limited contact with the West, was rushing toward Westernization while also striving to establish a unique national identity. This exhibition introduces the history of chirimen books—their production and distribution, the stories they tell, the novel forms of international collaboration that brought them into being, and their enduring legacy—while also showing how they drew upon long-standing traditions from Japan and East Asia more broadly.
 
Curators: Haruko Nakamura and Yoshitaka Yamamoto
 
Above image: Detail from Miss Dulcie Harmony [Akiyama Aizaburō], Musical Japan. Tokyo: Akiyama Aizaburō, 1895. Gilmore Music Library

 

 

We also invite you to explore our ongoing exhibitions.

Please check the Hours and Accessibility page on this website for detailed information.

Public Gallery Hours

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 9am – 7pm
Wednesday, 10am – 7pm
Friday, 9am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday, noon – 5pm
 
Past exhibitions are listed below.

  • Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts

    The Qur’an declares that God taught humanity the use of the pen. Taking this commandment to heart, Muslim scholars systematically organized and extended almost...

  • Art, Protest, and the Archives

    ART? It is hard to miss the role of art in protest these days. Bold acts of performativity; vulnerable bodies marching and dancing in the streets; songs,...

  • Revisiting the Past—Imagining the Future

    The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library hopes to inspire an engagement with the past to transform the future. Our mission, as part of Yale Library, is to...

  • Brava! Women Make American Theater

    The Queen of the Cakewalk! Vera Wilson and her trademark toe-posing! The prettiest woman ever charged with murder in Chicago! Industrial pageants and labor...

  • Road Show: Travel Papers in American Literature

    Open weekdays to Yale students, staff, and faculty authorized to be on campus beginning September 1, 2021. All are invited to explore the exhibition virtually...

  • Subscribed: The Manuscript in Britain, 1500-1800

    Exhibition brochure & videos available through links below! View and download the exhibition brochure Watch exhibition videos on YouTube Join the...