Americana

The Beinecke Library’s major strengths in general Americana span the colonial period to the middle of the nineteenth century, complemented by important collections of twentieth century writers and photographers.

A reckoning with our past: Yale examines its historical ties with slavery (Yale Alumni Magazine)
January 1, 2022
Along with dozens of other schools, Yale has opened a long-closed door to a part of its past that had been hidden. In the following pages, you’ll learn about that past, and you’ll read some painful history.
Beinecke Library Fellowships Built Back Bigger and Better
September 28, 2021

Applications Open Now for 2022 Research Fellowships Yale Library’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library has offered research fellowships since 1987. The...
Juneteenth 2021 and the work still to do
June 18, 2021
Yale’s libraries and collections are another important source of educational enrichment and inspiration in the spirit of Juneteenth. For example, the Beinecke Library has a pair of films by Solomon Sir Jones that show Juneteenth celebrations in Texas and Oklahoma in the 1920s. The Beinecke’s collections also include an address by Frederick Douglass delivered on April 16, 1883 in the Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. for the 21st anniversary of emancipation in the District of Columbia; and the gold pen used by President Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.
Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten (PBS)
May 31, 2021
Beinecke to make Frederick Douglass and Douglass Family Papers collection available to the public (Yale Daily News)
February 10, 2021
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library recently acquired the Walter O. Evans Collection of Frederick Douglass and Douglass Family Papers, which document the life of orator, author, abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass. By the end of February, the Beinecke will have fully digitized this collection for public access.
New Acquisition: Philip Morin Freneau annotated books and portrait, 1732-1815
January 31, 2021
The Yale Collection of American Literature has acquired an important collection of annotated books related to Philip Morin Freneau
Words for the Nation: A Playlist of Readings from the Collections
November 2, 2020

Expecting to be waiting in line any time soon? Stressed and looking for prompts from the past for reflection in the present about paths for the future? For...
Reënacting the Trial of a Black Woman Convicted of Voter Fraud (The New Yorker)
November 2, 2020
“Why Would I Dare: The Trial of Crystal Mason,” a show about a woman accused of voter fraud, echoes Langston Hughes’s “The Ballot and Me.”
The Ballot and Me by Langston Hughes: An Historical Sequence, 1956
October 1, 2020

The Langston Hughes Papers are the single most consulted collection in the Beinecke Library’s vast archives. Part of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial...
Virtual Teaching with Beinecke Library Collections
September 24, 2020

Teaching on-site with the collections is a priority for the Beinecke Library. Direct encounters with materials fulfill a mission of encouraging students to...