D.H. Melhem: Biographer and Friend of Gwendolyn Brooks

by Taylor Henning Writer D.H. Melhem was born to Lebanese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. During her career she authored eight books of poetry including Notes on 94th Street, Children of the House Afire (later turned into a music drama), Rest in Love, Country: An Organic Poem, Poems for You, Conversation with […]

“Black Steel” by Gwendolyn Brooks

Written by Taylor Henning On March 8, 1971, heavyweight champions Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali faced off at Madison Square Garden in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century.” It was the first time that two undefeated boxers fought each other for the heavyweight title. In this first of three fights between the […]

Happy Birthday Emily Dickinson!

Born on December 10th, 1830, Emily Dickinson was a prolific and reclusive poet whose writing ranged from descriptive and observational to introspective and theoretical and touched on themes of flowers, death, and religion. Though very few of her works circulated during her life, over 1,800 poems hand-bound into “fascicles” were discovered in her room after […]

Women Authors: Fanny Kemble and Katherine Milhous

This week, we will be highlighting four women authors from our collection in honor of their birthdays. These authors wrote on a range of subjects, from gardening to slavery, and show the many different areas in which the Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds important histories. Fanny Kemble was born on this day in 1809 […]

“Endlesse fame shall crowne thy well-ment actions with applause”: An Olimpick Curiosity, 400 Years On

Michael Drayton, et al. Annalia Dubrensia: vpon the yearly celebration of Mr. Robert Dovers Olimpick Games vpon Cotswold-Hills. London: Robert Raworth, for Mathewe Walbancke [i.e. Printed for Dr. Thomas Dover], 1636 [i.e. 1720?] While working on a project to create detailed catalog records for items of interesting provenance, I came across an 18th-century type-facsimile of […]