William L. Clements Library
Barbara DeWolfe
Curator of Manuscripts
About
I am the Curator of Manuscripts at the Clements Library. My current interests are the history of underrepresented people, and making the sources of these people more accessible to the public. I have spent most of my career working on subjects related to colonial America and the American Revolutionary era. I am the co-editor of Open Entry, the newsletter for the Michigan Archival Association.
Background
Before coming to the Clements Library in 1999, I worked for over 20 years as a researcher for the Peopling of America project, directed by Bernard Bailyn at Harvard University. This is a multi-volume study on colonial American population. I received my B.A. in history from Stetson University and my M.S. in library and information science (archives management) from Simmons College. I have published an edited volume of letters written by British emigrants to the American colonies before the Revolution.
Responsibilities
As curator, I manage the various operations of the manuscripts division. My responsibilities include collection development; grant writing; the oversight of grant-funded projects; reader assistance; library, university, and professional committee work; class presentations about the Library's primary source materials, and writing articles for publication.
Email: bdewolfe@umich.edu