To accommodate the extensive work involved in the renovation, the John Hay Library will close beginning June 1, 2013, and will remain closed through the duration of the construction project until Fall 2014. During the construction project, there will be no access to the building, and access to Special Collections & Archives materials by faculty, students, and other researchers will be limited.

We will be able to pull a limited amount of Special Collections & Archives materials from the Hay Library stacks prior to the Library’s closing on June 1, 2013. These materials will be shelved elsewhere temporarily for access by classes and researchers during the renovation period. We are asking faculty and others to help us identify Special Collections & Archives materials that will be needed during the period that the Library will be closed. This input must be provided no later than April 5, 2013.

Specifically, faculty who will be teaching a course during Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 that will utilize Hay Library materials must contact the Library at HayRenovation@brown.edu by April 5, 2013.

Also, graduate students or undergraduate honors thesis students planning to do research using Special Collections & Archives materials during this period (June 2013 thru Fall 2014) must contact the Library at HayRenovation@brown.edu by April 5, 2013.

Please note that any Special Collections & Archives materials located at the Library Collections Annex (as denoted in the Josiah catalog record) will continue to be available throughout the renovation period. These materials may be used at the Annex (10 Park Lane, Providence) or requested for use on campus.

A temporary special collections reading area will be established in the Rockefeller Library to consult Special Collections & Archives materials retrieved from the Annex or that have been requested in advance of the Hay Library’s temporary closing. In addition, the Library encourages use of its digitized Signature Collections (selected Special Collections materials which have been digitized for public use) during the renovation period.

The John Hay Library renovation project is scheduled to be completed by the start of the Fall 2014 semester. With the capable guidance of Seldorf Architects, known for their elegant treatment in designing and renovating cultural institutions, the renewal of this space not only will fulfill important scholarly and programmatic needs of the Library and campus. The project’s completion also will serve to honor the John Hay Library’s founding donor, Andrew Carnegie, whose philanthropy was intended to do “real and permanent good,” benefitting Brown both today and tomorrow. We are most grateful to our generous donors for making this wonderful project possible. The results promise to be a space that will better protect and service the Library’s unique Special Collections, and open both the Library and its collections to inspire Brown students today and for generations to come.

We greatly appreciate the cooperation of all Brown faculty and students and other researchers and friends of the Hay during the period that the Library will be closed. We will provide regular updates on the progress of the John Hay Library renovation throughout the project. Additional information will be available at the project web site (coming soon).

Please contact Tom Horrocks, Director of Special Collections and the John Hay Library, for additional information regarding services during the renovation or other questions about the John Hay Library.

Contact: Thomas Horrocks | Thomas_Horrocks@Brown.edu | 401-863-9480

An exhibit in support of the First Readings 2012 program for the Class of 2016, which focuses on Charles Rappleye’s Sons of Providence.

Using materials from the Brown University Archives and the Hay Library’s extensive holdings of primary sources on Rhode Island history, the exhibit provides an overview of how slavery, the slave trade and emancipation functioned in the politics and social life of early Rhode Island, and the manner in which attitudes toward slavery shaped the founding and growth of Brown University in its first century.

James Manning to John C. Ryland, 12 Nov 1772, James Manning papers, MS-1C-1, Brown University Archives

“With this I send you a Catalogue of those who have received the honours of the College, from the first [to] our last Commencement, I believe, acquired us considerable Reputation amongst the Literate in N. England and had we not to combat with the inveterate Enmity of the N. England Clergy, it would have added to the Number of our Scholars, but they take unwearied pains to prevent any from coming, if possible, and don’t  [?] at the Methods of carrying their Points: but, thank God, they don’t govern the World.”

James Manning was clearly able to overcome the clergy that worked against him.  A total of 40,244 scholars applied to be admitted to Brown University for the 2011-2012 academic year. Of that number a total of 8,454 students began their studies in September 2011.  James Manning would no doubt be flabbergasted by those numbers and extremely pleased.

You can learn more about James Manning’s experience as the first President of Brown University by visiting the Guide to the James Manning Papers (MS-1C-1).  Digital copies of all his correspondence can be viewed by clicking on the link for each item in the inventory.

The exhibit chronicles the experiences of women during their years on campus and beyond. Drawing on materials from the University Archives, Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives, and Feminist Theory Archives, the exhibit illustrates the evolution of women’s education at Brown. On display are photographs, letters, papers, published materials, and artifacts that narrate personal reflections of women at Brown and the University policies that shaped their lives on campus over the past twelve decades.

We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this time. Please contact us with any questions you have regarding the University Archives: archives@brown.edu or (401) 863-2148.

Primary sources:

Rhode Island College miscellaneous papers, MS-1C-1 (contains digitized materials)

James Manning papers, MS-1E-1 (contains digitized materials)

Secondary sources:

Guild, Reuben Aldridge. Early History of Brown University: Including the Life, Times, and Correspondence of President Manning. 1756-1791. Providence: [Printed by Snow & Farnham], 1897.

Bronson, Walter C. The History of Brown University, 1764-1914. Providence: Published by the University [Brown University], 1914.

Brown, Robert Perkins, et al. Memories of Brown: Traditions and Recollections Gathered From Many Sources. Providence, R.I.: Brown Alumni Magazine, 1909.

“Founding”, Encyclopedia Brunoniana

Seeing Ourselves, Showing Ourselves: Brown’s Culture on Display

May 3 -  June/July, 2011

Haffenreffer Museum (Manning Hall)

Students from Brown’s Public Humanities program have curated an intriguing exhibit of museum objects from the University Archives. The exhibit explores how objects, artifacts, and documents represent students’ experiences on campus.

The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology: http://brown.edu/Facilities/Haffenreffer/index.html

The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage: http://www.brown.edu/Research/JNBC/index.html

To locate an undergraduate or master’s thesis:

• Go to Josiah (http://josiah.brown.edu/search/)
• Select Call Number
• Change the type of call number to Other Brown Call Numbers
• Search for the call number:
  • Honors thesis: 1-N HO
  • Master’s thesis: 1-N M
• If you are trying to locate a thesis from a particular year, search for the call number with the year:
  • Honors thesis: 1-N HO YYYY
  • Master’s thesis: 1-N MYYYY

All theses are stored off-site unless they contain Brown University content.  Select Request This to have a thesis sent to the John Hay Library and placed on reserve in your name.

Join University Archives staff to enjoy a tangible glimpse of the lives of students, alumni, and faculty.

March 22, 2011, at noon
Lownes Room, John Hay Library