Special Collections closes May 6 for move to Hodges Library

UT’s Special Collections will close for several months and reopen in a new location within the John C. Hodges Library (1015 Volunteer Blvd.). Services and collections will be unavailable from May 6 through August 2. During the move, manuscript collections, rare books, and the university’s archives all will be inaccessible. The new Reading Room is … Continued

UT Libraries Releases Smokies Photos Online

The University of Tennessee Libraries Digital Library Initiatives department and The Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project are proud to unveil the Thompson Brothers Digital Photograph Collection, an online collection of stunning images of the Great Smoky Mountains. Prominent Knoxville-based photographers in the 1920s through the 1940s, brothers Jim and Robin Thompson began their careers at … Continued

UT Employee Gives Tiny Gift

For years, it’s been tucked away inside a jeweled pillbox in her desk drawer and taken out only when nostalgia hits. But Tina Bentrup of UT Libraries’ Interlibrary Services department has decided to share her unusual and diminutive treasure with the rest of us. Bentrup recently donated a miniature book to the Special Collections Library, … Continued

A Tiny Gift of History

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library Acquires Miniature Literature The Special Collections Library at the University of Tennessee has acquired a copy of the miniature book Orphan Willie, a story of a young boy who grows up to fight in the Union Army during the Civil War. Published in 1862, the book is 64 pages … Continued

Medieval and Renaissance Exhibit Opens at Special Collections Library

“Scribes, Scholars and Students,” a new Special Collections exhibit, opens on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007, at 3:00 pm in the Special Collections lobby located on the second floor of the historic James D. Hoskins Library. Light refreshments will be served. As part of the university’s Medieval and Renaissance Semester, the “Scribes, Scholars, and Students” exhibit … Continued

UT Libraries Help Preserve Education, Arts Literacy, History of Smokies

From Pi Beta Phi to Arrowmont: Bringing Education and Economic Development tothe Great Smoky Mountains, 1910-2004 KNOXVILLE — With help from a nearly $250,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the University of Tennessee Libraries recently completed a project that preserves the history of education and arts literacy in the Great Smoky … Continued

Letterboxing comes to the UT Libraries

“Ascend the great staircase. Look up at the stars. See Shakespeare, Newton, Dante, and many others in gothic arched glory,” reads part of a clue guiding visitors through UT’s Hoskins Library building. This isn’t just any scavenger hunt, but rather an example of a complicated, eccentric and highly-addictive pursuit called letterboxing. Letterboxing is a kind … Continued

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library acquires rare invitation to Sam Houston’s 1829 wedding

The Special Collections Library at the University of Tennessee recently purchased a copy of an invitation to the sudden January 1829 wedding of then-Tennessee governor Sam Houston and Eliza Allen. This rare item may be only one of its kind. Aaron Purcell, university archivist, discovered the piece on eBay.com and purchased the invitation on February … Continued