Wilder Bentley the Elder, born in 1900 and died in 1982, is perhaps best known as the proprietor of The Archetype Press, a semi-fabled California printing enterprise which published, among much else, Ansel Adams’ first book of photographs in 1938. Bentley’s artistic pursuits, however, were by no means limited to… Continue reading »
The libraries are closed for the college's annual Winter Shutdown. Library staff will be back online on Tuesday January 5, 2021. Buildings will re-open one day later on Wednesday January 6. Wishing everyone a restorative, peaceful and healthy break. More. Continue reading »
Sawyer and Schow libraries are open. Masking is recommended but optional Read on for details. Continue reading »
“The possession of any old book,” wrote the English bibliographer William Blades (1824–1890) in the final lines of his Enemies of Books, “is a sacred trust, which a conscientious owner or guardian would as soon think of ignoring as a parent would of neglecting his child.” Written in 1880,… Continue reading »
“Behold how pleasant it is,” reads the banner flowing above a stolid image of America’s first (and here rather gussied) president, “for brethren to dwell together in unity.” The quotation comes from Psalm 133, a biblical passage of especial significance for Freemasonry; the image it adorns was meant,… Continue reading »
In the fall of 2020, Williams’ Committee on Diversity and Community was charged with comprehensively engaging with Williams’ histories and to imagine and craft practices of communally accountable institutional memory that reflect the complexity and diversity of the College’s histories. Examining difficult moments of… Continue reading »
Achsah, descending gracefully from her donkey, is greeted by her father Caleb, who reaches a hand out towards the verdant hills in the background and asks her, “What wilt thou?” He has just promised Achsah to his nephew Othniel as wife, his prize for conquering the south Canaan city… Continue reading »
From the end of fall 2020 (post Thanksgiving) to the start of the spring semester in February, library services will be adjusted to best meet the needs of remote learning while accommodating users remaining on campus. Read on for details. Continue reading »
Before expansion tugged America’s centers of industry westward, especially in the decades surrounding the Civil War, the city of Rochester, New York held a distinctive role as the country’s grain milling hub — so much so that it came to call itself the Flour City. When, eventually, it was… Continue reading »
In 1832, so the story went, Henry Clay’s presidential campaign took a literal turn for the worse. Running late for a speaking engagement in Louisville as the election loomed, Clay hired a local Kentuckian to take him up the Ohio River. Promising a shortcut, the boatman (a surreptitious Democrat, as… Continue reading »