Houghton Library has acquired a copy of the 1949 Green Book for African American travelers in the Jim Crow era.

Harvard Gazette

Harvard Library acquires copy of ‘Green Book’— Harvard Gazette

Rare original copy of Jim Crow-era travel guide “key document in Black history.”

People are saying I don’t enjoy the beach, and nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t enjoy sand, water, or direct sunlight, but I’m very happy here in my little tent. Also, there are snacks here.

Why did the Army Corps of Engineers commission a number of globes manufactured from 5/16” thick aluminum magnesium alloy, blank except for precisely machined latitude and longitude lines? (Spoiler alert: we don’t really know.)

The Library of Congress

The History of a Rock Island Arsenal Globe | Worlds Revealed

This post explores the history of a large spherical globe with only latitude and longitude lines in the collections of the Geography & Map Division.

Conservation temporarily undid a badly repaired binding on a 1608 Quechua dictionary so it can be digitized, giving a peek at the sewing and reinforcing waste paper hidden for centuries. https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990045671550203941/catalog

“As many as 4,500 hotel workers at 35 hotels in Boston and Cambridge are prepared to walk off the job after their contracts expire Aug. 31… If it takes place, the strike would be the first citywide hotel action in modern history… representing about two-thirds of the full-service hotel rooms in Boston” https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/08/business/boston-union-hotel-workers-strike-vote/

The Arthur M. “It’s OK, This One Died Before the Release of OxyContin” Sackler Art Museum.

Harvard Will Not Remove Sackler Name From Art Museum and Campus Building | News | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard will not remove the Sackler name from one of three University art museums and another campus building, ending a yearslong campaign by stude...

Protip: You can also make a phone call by holding it up to your ear and speaking into it directly at a low volume.

A great Tumblr post that answers all the questions I had about the photo finish in the Men's 100 Meters (after a brief historical detour).

Sir Frogsworth

How do you take a photo of time?

I’ve been watching the track events at the Olympics since I was a wee lad. It was a tradition in our family. We’d gather around our ancient low...

I'm continuing to collect items related to my exhibition "Face to Face: Portraits of People of Color Before Photography" (which you can see online here: https://storage.net-fs.com/hosting/6288278/35/)--the latest is a portrait of the Reverend Aaron (1695-1745) the first Indian Protestant minister. He is depicted reading a bilingual Bible in Tamil and Greek. #NewAcq #NewAcquisition

I saw this on the acquisition shelf for the Modern department and thought, well I know what collection that’s for.