Archives & Special Collections News

Jeff Schlanger donates his musicWitness® Project Archive to the University of Pittsburgh Library System

The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the archive of the musicWitness® Project, which is the moniker of visual artist and sculptor Jeff Schlanger (1937-2026), a prolific, multi-media artist who drew over 1,400 live jazz performances at major events in New York City, Canada, France, and Finland.

A person lifts a sheet of paper from a printing plate, revealing the title page of the sheet music I Am Satisfied while the mirrored plate below shows the reversed text and musical notation.

Grant from NEH Will Help Library Preserve and Share Rare Gospel Music

A $190,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will support the ULS's work to preserve and share the Charles and Frankie Pace Collection, one of the earliest archives of modern Black gospel music....more

Portrait of Dr. Larry Glasco with the front cover of his book, August Wilson’s American Century: Life as Art featuring a photo of August Wilson on the cover

Portrait of a Historian: Celebrating Larry Glasco and his Biography on August Wilson

Join us Monday, November 2, 2026 from 4-5:30 p.m. at Hillman Library, Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room, as we mark the publication of Dr. Larry Glaso’s August Wilson’s American Century: Life as Art. A discussion featuring Glasco and fellow scholars exploring August Wilson’s life and work, Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and the history of the city’s Black community.… more

Japanese print: Momijigari 紅葉狩 Description: A noblewoman (far left, wearing a black wig) reveals her true form as a giant demon. Her serving women also transform into their demonic true forms and attack Taira no Koremochi (far right). Taira no Koremochi prepares to vanquish the demons with the sword given to him by the local God of War.

Hyland Gallery Talk: From Noh to Kabuki with Hiroyuki Good

Hear directly from curator Hiroyuki Good about his exhibit, "From Noh to Kabuki: Reimagined Stories in Ukiyo-e" on Friday, November 6, 2026 from Noon-12:30 p.m. at The Hyland Gallery Archives & Special Collections Exhibits, Hillman Library, Third Floor. During this talk, you will see original Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints) from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, depict both Noh and Kabuki plays.… more

Bookplate materials, including illustrated bookplates, lettering, and printmaking tools

Creating with Context: Make Your Own Bookplate

Do you like to write your name in your personal books? Join us for on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 from 4-5:30 pm in Text & conText Lab at Hillman Library and learn about the history of ex libris or bookplates, labels with a printed design intended to indicate ownership usually pasted inside the front cover of a book, and their tremendous value in the library world....more

Illustration of children in period dresses; younger in blue and yellow hat holds a cloth doll, older in green dress at left.

Celebrating 50 Years of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Collection of Historical Children’s Literature and 125 Years of the Training School for Children’s Librarians

Join us on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 from 6-8 p.m. at Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room, Hillman Library, Third Floor to celebrate the Nesbitt Collection’s 50th anniversary and the 125th anniversary of the world’s first training program for children’s librarians. Enjoy a panel discussion on children’s education through books and storytelling, an exhibit of rare Nesbitt materials, … more

Book cover of "The Feathers Wars and Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds" with author James McCommons and a small image of George Shiras III

15th Annual Audubon Day: George Shiras III and the Battle for The Migratory Bird Act

Join us Friday, November 20, 2026 from 10-11 a.m. in the Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room, 340 Hillman Library as author James McCommons explores the role of George Shiras III, a Pittsburgh lawyer, congressman, world’s first wildlife photographer & inventor of the trail camera, and the originator of what became the Migratory Bird Act… more

Small representation of a mosaic of the Archives & Special Collections

The Library Celebrates America 250

Two hundred and fifty years of American history is neither simple nor settled. Our Archives & Special Collections preserve the voices, images, and stories that make up that history in its full complexity — the celebrated and the contested, the familiar and the forgotten.

Black-and-white archival photograph of five people wearing traditional European folk costumes displayed in a library exhibit case with labels and documents.

Pitt's Nationality Rooms & NRIEP Centennial: Archives & Special Collections Exhibit Opening

Celebrate 100 years of Pitt’s Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Program (NRIEP) at the grand opening of two new exhibits! Join us Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 5–7 PM at Hillman Library, 3rd floor, The Hyland Gallery Archives & Special Collections Exhibits....more

Historical photograph showing two women posing in front of an Italian monument, highlighting transnational cultural traces

Hyland Gallery Talk: Read the Room! Uncovering the Italian Room's Transnational Traces

Join lead curator Dr. Lina Insana, Professor in the Department of French and Italian, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 from Noon-12:45 p.m. for a gallery talk on the new exhibit, Read the Room! Uncovering the Italian Room's Transnational Traces. This exhibit documents the transnational networks and economic class dynamics at play during the Room's development in the 1930s and 1940s.… more

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
…
Next page
Last page

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Contact Us