Special Collections

The Special Collections and University Archives Library will be closed Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th for an extended Fourth of July Holiday. Please contact us if you need assistance. Have a safe and restful holiday. Read More

As Vanderbilt began renovating Kirkland Hall in 2022 in anticipation of the Sesquicentennial celebration this year, a tantalizing piece of history awaited construction crews. In its cornerstone was a time capsule, interred in 1874 when the building was still known as the Main Building. Shortly before the capsule was… Read More

Skip Pfeiffer worked on the TV news archive index for 13 years before switching to abstract writing, which he does to this day. (photographer unknown/Vanderbilt) The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive recognize Skip Pfeiffer for reaching the 50-year milestone at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Vanderbilt University is making big plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the university, dating from Cornelius Vanderbilt’s letter of March 17, 1873, in which he offered to endow a university in the Nashville area. In honor of that event, our distinctive collections curators… Read More

Please join us Thursday, February 16, Noon–1:00 p.m. in the Central Library Community Room for a moderated lunchtime panel (lunch served first come, first serve) on the life of one of the most well-known American librarians and experts in illuminated manuscripts in the early-mid twentieth century, Belle da Costa Greene,… Read More

Please join us Tuesday, February 14, Noon–1:00 p.m. in the libraries’ Special Collections for a reception catered by Hattie B’s for the exhibition, The Reinvented Life of Belle da Costa Greene. One of the most well-known American librarians and experts in illuminated manuscripts in the early-mid twentieth century, Belle… Read More

Manuscripts and photographs pertaining to the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike from the Reverend James M. Lawson Papers are now available in Jstor to campus scholars. On February 1, 1968, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, two sanitation workers for the city of Memphis, were crushed to death in a garbage… Read More

Join library staff on Zoom as we explore newly accessible materials in distinctive collections. We’ll follow up on collections that were recently digitized, including collections from Delia Zapata Olivella, Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr., John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, Yusef A. Lateef and Senator… Read More

The libraries are pleased to announce a timely exhibition on the life of Reverend James M. Lawson, Jr. now on display in Central Library’s foyer and on an accompanying online exhibition.  The exhibition contains documents, photographs and realia from more than seven decades of Lawson’s life which capture moments… Read More

New Exhibition in Special Collections: Miniature Books from the Vanderbilt Libraries by Molly Dohrmann A new exhibition, opening this fall in Special Collections, highlights some of the smallest books in our collections. For centuries miniature books have captured the imagination of readers around the world. Miniature books require specific skills… Read More