News

Research from the RBML | Tessa Roynon Writes about Toni Morrison’s Editorial List
Tessa Roynon, librarian at the Swan School, discusses the significance of the Toni Morrison editorial papers, which track her work with a host of renowned and canonical authors, including Toni Cade Bambara and Lucille Clifton.

Memorial Day | Columbia Roll of Honor
This Memorial Day, we pause to remember those who died serving in the United States military, including members of our own Columbia community: The Columbia Roll of Honor, maintained by the University Archives, recognizes students and alumni who sacrificed their lives during military service.

Columbia University Libraries Acquires the Archival Collection of MINUTIAE Mobile App
Columbia University Libraries announces the acquisition of the archival collection of a mobile application, MINUTIAE, among the first of the archives of a mobile application, which documents the content, development, and experience of the "anti-social media app."

Now Available | Columbia School of Library Service Records
University archivists recently processed the alumni files in the Columbia School of Library Service records, which include materials related to the coursework of groundbreaking librarian, curator, and cataloger Dorothy (Burnett) Porter Wesley, B.S. 1931, M.S. 1932.

Show Me Your Cards: Communicating in the Days of Yore
Before texts, tweets, and swipes, there were calling cards, cartes de visite, and dance cards: the original social media of centuries past. These small pieces of ephemera, currently on display in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, tell how we connected, flirted, and formed relationships before the digital age.

Meet Flora Harpham
University archivists introduce Florence Ellen (F. E.) Harpham, the first woman to become a member of the Columbia faculty in 1896 as a "computer" in the Department of Astronomy; her work included analysis of the some of the earliest celestial photographs taken in the United States.

An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia: 5000 Pages with Richard D. Heffner
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'H' is for a 1997 oral history interview of more than 5,000 pages with Richard D. Heffner, academic, broadcast journalist, and former chairperson of the voluntary film rating system in the motion picture industry.

Historias: Latino Arts and Activisms Collections at RBML
The latest installment in the Curatorial Shorts event series will highlight the Latino Arts and Activisms collection, which stewards the archives of Latinos and Latino organizations in New York and other regions, including Dominican-American writer Josefina Báez.

ElfQuest Creators Wendy and Richard Pini Create Landmark Endowment for Future Comics, Collections, and More
ComicBook.com chats with ElfQuest creators Richard and Wendy Pini who established a "landmark endowment for future comics, collections, and more" with the Libraries' Comics and Cartoons collection.

A Revolutionary Friendship: Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama
A panel discussion at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, hosted in collaboration with the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, commemorated the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X and celebrated his friendship with activist Yuri Kochiyama.

ElfQuest Creators Donate $500,000 To Columbia University Comics Archive
Forbes reports that "Wendy and Richard Pini, the couple behind the long-running ElfQuest independent comics series, are donating $500,000 to Columbia University to endow and conserve the school library’s growing collection of comics, graphic novels, and related prose works."

Looking to the Stars: "Celestial Navigation" Exhibit Opens in Butler
"Looking to the stars: 'Celestial Navigation' exhibit opens in Butler Library. Graduate students showcased new works alongside archival navigational and astronomical pieces in the new exhibit," as highlighted by the Columbia Spectator.

A Salute to the CCAA
To mark the 200th anniversary of the Columbia College Alumni Association (CCAA), Columbia College Today visited the University archives to learn more about the origins and early history of the organization - and found just how much alumni have shaped the College and its community.

Belle da Costa Greene and Columbia
To mark the 100th anniversary of the Morgan Library and Museum as a public institution, University archivists remember its first director, Belle da Costa Greene, as "a key partner and contributor" to library exhibitions at Columbia throughout the early 20th century.

1961 to 2024: How Columbia Football Roared Back to the Top
"1961 to 2024: How Columbia football roared back to the top." Columbia Spectator consulted the University Archives to "look back on 63 years of football coaching history - and the rookie coach who brought the Lions their first league title since 1961."

Jews at Columbia: The Early Butler Years and the Trustee Question (1901-1920)
Librarian for Jewish Studies Michelle Margolis continues a series of blog posts about the history of Jews at Columbia with an installment on the first years of the Nicholas Murray Butler presidency during the early 20th century.

Researcher Profile | British Black Panther Movement
Dr. Robin Bunce of Homerton College, Cambridge University, describes how the papers of activist Darcus Howe, held by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and other recently-digitized materials contribute to his research on the history of Black Power in Britain.

Columbia Artists Reimagine Coney Island in New Exhibition
"Coney Island, Spectacular," an exhibition in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML), features artwork and photography by three Columbia students, alongside historical documents and photos from the W.F. Mangels Company collection in the RBML archives.

Processing the Jack and Irene Delano Papers
Cristina Stubbe, an archivist with the Winthrop Group, processed the papers of Jack and Irene Delano, held by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library and including drawings, photographs, and other materials that document the history and culture of Puerto Rico.