The Thompson Collection — 77 printed works as well as 9 manuscripts acquired in 1923 as a gift from philanthropist Mary Clark Thompson — comprises a small but important section of the Burke Library’s special collections, containing several of its most celebrated printed Bibles. These include the 1611 King James Version, the 1661 Algonguian Bible […]
Behind the Stacks: “At a single view” – Shimeall’s A Complete Ecclesiastical Chart
One of the joys of my job as Collections Services Assistant is the ability to browse the closed stacks where we store our rare books and special collections. One item I happened to find recently was too large and unwieldy to simply peek at, and since there’s no telling when some reader will next request […]
“Our Spiritual Industry Will Go on Uninterrupted…”: The Construction Fire at Riverside Church, 1928
In an earlier blog post about Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a Union alumnus/professor and the founding pastor at The Riverside Church, I described his ministry to American servicemen and women during WWII despite his fierce commitment to pacifism. The Burke’s collection of Fosdick’s papers covers most of his adult life and prolific career as a […]
Mending Martin
In preparation for the Burke Library’s upcoming exhibition on Martin Luther, I am examining and treating some of the Library’s many Luther pamphlets. The Library holds thousands of pamphlets, and more than two dozen relating to the Reformation will be featured in the exhibit. The Conservation Department works with the curator, Matthew Baker, to ensure […]
Behind the Stacks: Acts of the Saints
In the course of preparing more of Burke’s rare books for preservation boxes, I came across a set of the Acta Sanctorum (published from 1643 to 1794) with each volume holding a small piece of waste paper behind the title page. It’s not unusual to find random scraps of paper stuck in the pages of […]
A Word on Edward Robinson
Though perhaps less well-known today than some of Union Seminary’s recent faculty, Edward Robinson (1794-1863), whose papers have recently been processed by Rebecca Nieto, played several important roles in the early life of Union and in the broader world of biblical scholarship. A founding member of the faculty, Robinson was Union’s first Professor of Biblical […]
Left of the Middle – the Donald Laverne Benedict Papers
Don Benedict was many things — a Union alumnus, a founder of the East Harlem Protestant Parish, a WWII conscientious objector-cum-Air Force sergeant (retroactively pardoned by Truman in 1947), a staunch criminal justice reform advocate/prison abolition activist, a minister in the United Church of Christ, an ally and advocate to people of color targeted by […]
The U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Riverside Church in WWII
Reverend Harry Emerson Fosdick, a Union Theological Seminary graduate and professor as well as the founding pastor of Riverside Church, was a pioneer of liberal theology, an outspoken opponent of racism and injustice, and a fierce pacifist. The Burke Library is very fortunate to have been the archival recipient of Rev. Fosdick’s personal papers, some […]
Four Collections Later: LIS Student Paul Paulson’s Semester in the Burke Archives
The following blog post was written by Paul Paulson, the Burke’s most recent archival student intern. Paul is completing his coursework in the LIS program at Rutgers University, and saw several projects through the archival life cycle during his semester with the Burke. Here are some of Paul’s thoughts on the other side of his […]
All Roads Lead Back to Brooklyn
Matthew and I had the pleasure this summer to work with Dr. Henry Goldschmidt in having a library and archives session with the Religious Worlds of New York Summer Institute 2016 fellows. In addition to giving an overview of the resources at the Burke Library and elsewhere, we also had them look through the Department of […]