Special Collections

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

At Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, the three-dimensional history of the university is collected and lovingly maintained by the staff of Special Collections and University Archives. Their mission is to “preserve the historical memory of the university”—memory that is found in the objects that, by their survival, attest to a timeline grounded in the space between West End Avenue and 21st Avenue South. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives materials and operations will have a new home on campus at 1101 19th Avenue. The historic 1101 building will provide a large reading room and shelving for ready access to the university’s special collections. Read More

The Heard Libraries have acquired the papers of Rissi Palmer, an influential singer-songwriter and Apple Music host who is breaking barriers for country music artists of color. The library’s acquisition is helping Vanderbilt build a world-class archive of African American music in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music. Read More

The Special Collections and University Archives, History of Medicine Collections and the Fine Arts Gallery are ready to welcome back visitors to these facilities by appointment beginning Tuesday, July 6. Read More

Vanderbilt’s partnership with the National Museum of African American Music has moved forward with the university’s acquisition of a rich collection of photos, scrapbooks and more from the life and career of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. Read More

Manuel Zapata Olivella, an Afro-Colombian novelist who became known throughout Latin America as the dean of Black Hispanic writers, will be celebrated during an international conference April 8–10 hosted virtually by Vanderbilt. Read More

A series of trans-institutional courses designed through the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities is using Vanderbilt’s campus as a living lab, giving students—future historians, architects, archaeologists, curators and engineers among them—unique hands-on experiences. Read More

Vanderbilt University is honoring the service of military veterans and celebrating their unique contributions to campus culture through a series of videos, social media posts, photo exhibitions and more to commemorate Veterans Day. Watch a video message from Chancellor Daniel Diermeier saluting Vanderbilt's veterans. Read More

Rare photographs of the Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., a pivotal figure in the history of the civil rights movement and Vanderbilt University, have been acquired by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Read More

Vanderbilt-Fisk collaboration shares achievements of Black women artists in online ‘Women of Rosenwald’ exhibition, supported by the Mellon Partners for Humanities Education program. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries invite the Vanderbilt community to document their experience with the COVID-19 pandemic for a new archive to benefit historians and future generations. 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

An exhibit focused on witchcraft, magic, fantastic beasts, tarot cards and more from Vanderbilt Special Collections is now on display at the Central Library. Read More

"Thinking 3D," an exhibition exploring the origins of modern neuroscience—including imagery of the brain—is open at the Eskind Family Biomedical Library and Learning Center. Read More

An exhibit on the history of irises at Vanderbilt University and Peabody College is on display at Vanderbilt University’s Special Collections through July 2019. Read More

Cecelia Tichi, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and professor of American studies, will discuss the many rules for making it into the top tier of late-19th century high society during a reading and discussion of her book "What Would Mrs. Astor Do?" March 13 in the Vanderbilt Library's Special Collections. Read More

Eleven students shared stories about their first-year Vanderbilt experiences with Nashville poets, and the conversations were transformed into meaningful poems during a literary arts seminar. Read More

The Friends of Vanderbilt's Libraries will host an evening exploration into the card game of whist March 27. Read More