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Mystery Solved? Investigating Rare Books from the Hugh H. Davis Collection and Beyond
By Thomas J. Raulerson, Linguistics with a Latin Minor ‘27, Fall 2026 Rare Books Intern Mysteries—our world is full of them. As humans, we love to figure things out; we love to discover, to learn, and to know things. After all, “knowledge,” said Shakespeare, “is the wing wherewith we fly to Heaven” (Henry VI, Part…
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Celebrating Halloween with Rare Books
Mary Moore, PhD Student in Literary History, 2026-27 Rare Book Graduate Assistant Long before I arrived at Ohio University, Halloween had secured its place as my absolute favorite holiday. Perhaps because my birthday falls just three days before, perhaps because I grew up in a Halloween loving family and in a city with its own…
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Meet the Fall 2026 Rare Books Students!
By Miriam Intrator, Head of Archives & Special Collections and Rare Book Librarian Every fall and spring semester we welcome a new cohort of undergraduate interns to the Mahn Center. The internship is for-credit and open to any undergraduate student, from any department, who has completed their first year at Ohio University while maintaining at…
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Digitizing Lost Farfel Leaves
By Lilyana Mays, MA in Art History ‘26, Digital Initiatives Graduate Intern Background My experience with the Gilbert and Ursula Farfel Collection of Incunable and Manuscript Leaves held by the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections is a bit of a long story. In the spring of 2024, months before graduating with BAs in…
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The Courtlandt Gilmour Collection of Theatre Materials exhibit
By Yashvita Kanuganti, Manuscripts Archives Assistant, Linguistics and HTC Religious Studies ‘26 In the June of 2024, amid a sweltering Athens summer, I found myself with a new project in the Mahn Center’s processing room. My supervisor, Manuscripts Archivist, Greta Suiter, had led me to a few boxes of what looked to be parchment and…
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Jonathan Perkins “J.P.” Weethee: Understanding Weethee’s Life
By Kaydence Stamper, History BA ’29, Digital Initiatives Assistant Introduction Jonathan Perkins “J.P.” Weethee (1812-1899) was an educator, minister, author, and locally known community figure from Athens County, Ohio. His journal, dating from 1872 to 1882, has been digitized and made available online through Ohio University’s Digital Archives. I have grown to love Weethee while…
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Founders Day Student Showcase 2026: A Rousing Success!
By Miriam Intrator, Head of Archives & Special Collections and Rare Book Librarian Every Founders Day, which is February 18th, University Archivist Bill Kimok curates an exhibit highlighting a specific theme or moment in the university’s history. Beginning last year, in 2025, we began planning a large-scale event to open the exhibit and to provide…
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Welcome to Spring 2026!
By Miriam Intrator, Head of Archives & Special Collections and Rare Book Librarian A new semester is once again upon us! This newsletter provides updates on upcoming exhibits, events, and opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the broader OHIO and Athens communities. We encourage you to reach out with any questions, for more information, or…
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The Education and Botanization of Women
By Adrian Darden Kautz, History ’27, Digital Initiatives Assistant Working in Digital Initiatives at Alden Library has opened to me many wonderful opportunities to digitize and research unique collections from the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections. A recent opportunity I had to photograph two Ohio University herbaria from the rare book collection sparked…
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Welcome to Fall 2025!
By Miriam Intrator, Head of Archives & Special Collections and Rare Book Librarian Welcome to the start of another new semester and academic year! Each fall brings new events and opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the broader OHIO and Athens communities. Following is an overview of some of what will be available this fall.…