Keeping up with Dr. Jones

Since September of 2023 I have been working on Processing the William R. Jones Papers. This collection contains the items created and collected by its namesake who started the Black studies program here at Florida State. Throughout my work with this collection, I have become familiar with many of the topics he covered in his

Bidding Farewell with the Louis Shores Papers

As I prepare to embark on the next chapter of my career as a Librarian Specialist with the State of Florida Library, it is with mixed emotions that I also bid farewell to the last project on my to-do list, the Louis Shores Papers. These are housed within the Florida State University (FSU) Special Collections

New Digital Collection: 17th-20th Century Correspondence and Documents

A series of over 600 documents have now been digitized by the Digital Library Center into DigiNole, FSU’s digital library! The 17th-20th Century Correspondence and Documents collection features manuscripts from 1618-1981 relating to international names and local celebrities. Some recognizable names apart of this collection include: General George Washington, Albert Einstein, and Mrs. Bram Stoker,

Me and Dr. Jones: Glimpses of the Past

The William R. Jones Papers have been a hot ticket as far as projects go here at Special Collections & Archives. Under the guiding hand of our Director of Manuscripts Collections, a handful of us have been sorting away at the documents from a wide variety of dated technology. My colleague Michaela has written about

Recycling and Reuse in Medieval Manuscripts

When you think of the Middle Ages, do you think of recycling? While the concept may seem foreign to us now, medieval people regularly reused and recycled all kinds of objects. Obviously, medieval recycling wasn’t concerned with the idea of reducing single-use plastic or trying to decrease contributions to landfills. Instead, recycling was simply a

TRANSforming the Stacks

***Trigger Warning: trans slurs/derogatory terms***     Our first submission is from Kacee Reguera, a recently-graduated student worker, who has been with Special collections for 2 years. While this project was geared towards the full-time staff, I chose to highlight her contribution first because I’m happy to see this conversation being engaged with by everyone

LGBTQ+ in Rare Books and Manuscripts: A Pride Month Project Becomes a Blog Series!

Hello! My name is Gino Romero. As a student, it was comforting to know that it wasn’t just me, that the institution was also struggling to find these histories. But as a researcher, I was frustrated beyond reason. I wondered why it’s so hard to find these histories. Now I work in Special Collections and

Moving House! Hours for Special Collections & Archives January 28, 2019

We’re very excited that materials from a remote storage facility are being moved to a new home, Strozier Library! This will help us serve materials faster to our patrons. However, for moving day, we need all hands on deck so our Research Center Reading Room in Strozier Library and the Claude Pepper Library will be

Illuminations: Highlights from Special Collections & Archives

While this blog serves as a running feature of highlights from Special Collections & Archives, our newest exhibit makes the materials we talk about online available for the public to see in person. Illuminations the exhibit features items from our manuscript and rare books collections, Heritage & University Archives, and the Claude Pepper Library. Come and

Emmett Till & the Press: The Davis Houck Papers

One of our most meaningful projects in Special Collections & Archives is the management of the Emmett Till Archives.  The Till Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to primary and secondary source material related to the life, murder, and memory of Emmett Louis Till, whose death in 1955 is significant in the history of the African-American