Special Collections

In celebration of GIS Day on Nov. 19, the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ GIS Lab created “Mapping Vanderbilt’s Past, Present, Future,” an interactive story map that documents how the university’s campus has been imagined, built, contested and reshaped across its 150-year history. Read More

With the impressive jazz collections at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, Vanderbilt students and faculty can delve deep into the history of jazz and the lives, music and impact of its pioneering musicians. Read More

Since her appointment last September as the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ first curator of community histories, Sarah Calise has been steadily expanding Vanderbilt’s LGBTQ+ collections. The process has been equal parts nuts-and-bolts archival work—assessing, collecting, organizing and preserving historical items that document the LGBTQ+ experience in Nashville and Middle Tennessee—and dedicated relationship building. Read More

Clara Morera, The Preboste Juan (King Juan), 2017, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 48 inches (courtesy of the artist and Dorfsman Fine Arts, Miami) Artists from the United States, Cuba and Haiti envision social change through reinterpretation of a lost work Visionary Aponte: Art and Black Freedom brings together… Read More

Kathleen Smith, associate director of special collections for Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Library system, and her team occasionally find themselves on the receiving end of unique objects that have been passed along to the university, from vintage movie posters to—as in the case of items highlighted here—armaments and other war-themed matériel. Read More

Watch video of Mark Dimunation, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress, present as part of the Vanderbilt Library Lecture Series. His talk is titled “Forged in Fire: The Jefferson Collection and the Origins of the Library of Congress.” The nucleus of the… Read More

Watch video of the panel discussion with U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander about his early swearing-in as Tennessee’s 45th governor. The event was hosted by Vanderbilt University’s Heard Libraries  and Law School on April 9. The panel was part of special programming scheduled in conjunction with the exhibit “Come on… Read More

Every day, Vanderbilt students head into the university’s libraries to conduct research toward their degrees. For some of these students, the chance to do research in the library opens doors for their careers. That doesn’t surprise Carolyn Dever, dean of the College of Arts and Science. “Students benefit from their… Read More