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Women's History Project

James S. Schoff Civil War Collections

Notice to Researchers: The Clements Library Manuscripts Division is currently undertaking a project
to convert its finding aids to Encoded Archival Description (EAD). While this project is underway, researchers
may want to search the Clements EAD site, as well as the HTML finding aids presented here.

When the Clements Library opened in 1923, it was intended as a repository for rare books alone, but through a unique combination of luck, good timing, and skill, manuscripts soon became a major collecting imperative. The first Director of the Library, Randolph Adams, and its patron, William L. Clements, seized the opportunity to acquire a large collection of the private papers of the 1st Earl of Shelburne, an important figure in British political circles during the late colonial and revolutionary era, and within ten years of the Library's opening, they had added major collections of the papers of several other notable British military and political figures, including Jeffery Amherst, Thomas Gage, Henry Clinton, and George Germain.

Over the years, the Library has assembled one of the finest collections in the United States for research on British colonial and military policy in North America from 1755-1783. These collections, however, are only part of a diverse and tightly integrated body of primary materials useful to researchers interested in American history prior to 1920. While the history, politics and culture of Anglo-America in the late 18th century remains a uniquely strong feature of the holdings, the Clements has developed great depth in its collections relating to several other fields, including the reform movements of the 19th century, particularly anti-slavery; the Civil War; the War of 1812; Native American-white relations; the history of ideas and of American religious movements; naval history; commerce; travel; and education. Geographically, the collections are centered on northeastern North America, but the Library contains several important collections relating to the Caribbean region, South and Central America, the American South, and the West, including the gold regions of California.

The Library has also gathered an important nucleus of manuscript materials relating to the domestic, social, and cultural history of the late 18th through early 20th centuries. These collections are among the fastest growing and most heavily used in the holdings, and are a particular focus of the current collection policy.

Printed guides

• Arlene Shy, ed. Guide to the manuscript collections in the William L. Clements Library (G.K. Hall : Boston, 1978)

• William S. Ewing, ed. Guide to the manuscript collections in the William L. Clements Library (Univ. of Michigan : Ann Arbor, 1953)

• Howard H. Peckham, ed. Guide to the manuscript collections in the William L. Clements Library (Univ. of Michigan : Ann Arbor, 1942)

Reference inquiries

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