In January 1931, a lecture by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld at Chicago’s Dill Pickle Club, just south of the Newberry, was postponed by authorities because of its “indecent” subject matter. Hirschfeld was a trailblazing advocate who founded the world's first gay rights organization. #pride

Thanks to @apnews.com for the America 250-themed piece on our large-letter postcards! The Newberry's Will Hansen reflected on the postcards and the mid-century optimism they embodied. Visit us to view postcards in-person or look them up via @digitalnewberry.bsky.social apnews.com/article/amer...

We’re bringing our First Oval Office Project to Chicago! In partnership with The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Illinois & @newberrylibrary.bsky.social, join us June 6 in Washington Square Park as we display our hand-sewn replica of Gen. Washington’s dining tent. ⛺: https://bit.ly/3Q4vN5Y

Summer seminars @newberrylibrary.bsky.social are posted! Registration is a few weeks off, but it's nice to browse in advance. I am looking forward to digging into NIghthawks. www.newberry.org/calendar/nig...

Here's some great, neat news!

We're pleased to share we've acquired the collection of Poetry Slam founder Marc Kelly Smith, who started the series in Chicago in 1984. The collection consists of over 30 linear feet of materials documenting the history of the Slam and its predecessors. www.newberry.org/news/the-new...

Historians Danielle Allen and Scott Stephenson will take a deep dive into the history, impact, and contemporary resonance of the Declaration of Independence in a free program on 6/6 at 2pm. Allen will sign her book, "Radical Duke," following the event. Register: www.newberry.org/calendar/all...

Save the date! Our next exhibition features popular art about liberty from 1812 to the Civil War and WWI, and works by Nina Allender, John T. McCutcheon, Leslie Rogers, Thomas Nast, and Art Young. See the diverse, inspiring, and contradictory ways that liberty has been conceived and realized.

William Shakespeare was born on this date in 1564, and The Garden of Shakespeare's Birthplace - from an early twentieth century oilette postcard - is one of many Shakespeare-related items in the Newberry's collection, including an original copy of his First Folio (published in 1623). #historysky

From our artifacts cage with Library Assistant Alexis - "Officium Seraphici Patris Nostri Sancti Francisci" is an oversize a choral score by the Franciscan Order in 1773. The book was intended for use in mass, the musical notation being large enough for parishioners to read it from a distance.

This Library Week, we are showing how we protect some of our most valuable collection items. These spheres are FM-200™ Clean Agent Extinguishing System Units. They disperse a colorless, odorless clean agent used in waterless fire suppression, removing heat or free radicals thereby extinguishing.

This #nationallibraryweek, we’ll be sharing how staff find their joy in our collection. Here's Jill Austin, VP for Public Engagement. “The Dil Pickle Club collection, particularly the photo documenting the entrance on Tooker Alley, remains my favorite item and collection.” #findyourjoy

The Newberry on this platform brings us joy!

Calling all historians, we might have a purposeful skill for the folks over at the @newberrylibrary.bsky.social - transcribing handwritten texts in their collection. It could make for an excellent assignment I should think. www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga...

We’re celebrating the joy of libraries all next week! What brings you joy at the Newberry? Take a photo of yourself, a book, or another item that brings you joy. Upload it to social media and tag us with #findyourjoy. We’ll provide a special prize to one lucky poster.

Thank you to all who attended our 2026 Award Celebration yesterday evening honoring author Jonathan Franzen! Special thanks to our Event Co-Chairs Michael Pope, left, and Christopher Hagenah. The Newberry Library Award is presented annually to recognize extraordinary achievements in the humanities.

Our friends at ZINEmercado & @newberrylibrary.bsky.social are hosting Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest in Chicago on Saturday May 16th! 🌱 www.newberry.org/calendar/zin... #zines #IndigenousZines

A few selections from last week's Edible Books Festival, including our winner of the Golden Spatula: a cake dressed up as a Victorian poisonous green book, a shade created by combining copper and arsenic (by the Victorians). Also featured are The Works of John Locke and Bookfish. #historysky

Thanks to WBEZ and the Sun-Times for their coverage of our America 250 activities, starting with our "Free and Independent" exhibition opening Thursday. Our presidential portraits featured here with our colleague Jill Austin. www.wbez.org/wbez-newslet... @wbez.org

This Thursday! Just a few seats remain (but you can also stream on Zoom for free) for our Writers on Writing event with @newberrylibrary.bsky.social -- we can't wait to welcome Jennifer Egan to Chicago! She'll be in conversation with @michaelzapata.bsky.social. www.newberry.org/calendar/wri...

To fully digitize its archives, the Newberry Library is tapping people who can decipher a foreign language: cursive.

Ha ha! My recent article, "Found in Translation," about the @newberrylibrary.bsky.social's Newberry Transcribe project, for @chicagomag.com, is now online. Enjoy! Share! Consider transcribing a few letters and diaries! www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga...

Always a pleasure to see an article of mine in literal print.

This postcard from our Digital Collections is especially apt as the University of Illinois women’s team opens the NCAA tournament tomorrow! Illinois is a No. 7 seed and takes on Colorado in Nashville. Illinois’s men’s team was victorious last night against Penn. An exciting time in Champaign!

The Sunday ban was just the first spark. The Lager Beer Riot blended European beer riot patterns and US political traditions in a way no one expected. It changed Chicago history forever. I cover it all in an upcoming virtual course w/ @newberrylibrary.bsky.social. www.newberry.org/calendar/bee...

The Newberry recently celebrated a milestone: 150k public items in Digital Collections! Images include the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Records documenting everyday life along the route, which covered the Midwest and stretched all the way to Wyoming. @digitalnewberry.bsky.social

Reserve your seat for our Award Celebration on April 10 at The Drake! We are thrilled to honor Jonathan Franzen, recognizing his cultural impact through monumental novels such as "The Corrections," "Freedom," and "Crossroads." All proceeds support the Newberry. www.newberry.org/calendar/202...

Transforming Fairy Tales @newberrylibrary.bsky.social, 3/31-4/21, 6-7:30pm CT. www.newberry.org/calendar/tra...

Y'all: Spaces are still available in my @newberrylibrary.bsky.social online seminar for this term! It's a discusson of Chicago poetry, from Sandburg and Brooks to our lucky city's contemporary poetry Renaissance: Coval, Olivarez, Marshall, and Ewing. Check it out: www.newberry.org/calendar/chi...

Our next exhibition opens April 9 and features a rare broadside of the Declaration as well as John Jay's handwritten draft of The Federalist No. 3. Learn more --> www.newberry.org/calendar/fre...

The Newberry’s Center for Renaissance Studies recently held its Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference in Premodern Studies, welcoming advanced doctoral students from more than fifty universities. Attendees represented fields of classical, medieval, Renaissance, and early modern studies.

RBS has been integral to helping librarians Megan Kelly & Rebecca Flore make the medieval collections in their libraries more accessible to researchers. Read about their efforts at rarebookschool.org/impact-story-cataloging-fragments-in-chicago @lisafdavis.bsky.social @newberrylibrary.bsky.social

Happening tonight!

Happy Presidents Day from our painting of Abraham Lincoln in the 3rd floor reading room! We hold three George Healy portraits including Lincoln, Grant, and Arthur. It has been said artist Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Barack Obama was influenced by Healy’s portrait of Lincoln. #historysky

Here's a look at the artist whose works are all around the Newberry, including Presidents Arthur, Grant, and Lincoln on the 3rd floor, and our namesake Walter Newberry on the 1st floor. Healy came to Chicago thanks to the city's first mayor, William Butler Ogden. www.newberry.org/blog/the-pai...

Trianon Ballroom in Woodlawn, "The World's Most Beautiful Ball Room," hosted the 1926 National Charleston Contest, 100 years ago this month. A couple from Grand Rapids, Mich., took home 1st place. Alas, the Trianon was demolished in 1967. Postcard from our Teich Postcard Collection. #historysky

Florence Price was the first African American woman to achieve national recognition as a symphonic composer, including for the Chicago Symphony. Price's first major work was Symphony in E minor, premiered by the Symphony (1933). Image: Chicago Reader archives. #blackhistorymonth

We’re excited to share today that the Newberry has received a $4 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand access to our Indigenous Studies collections and strengthen collaboration with tribal nations. www.newberry.org/news/newberr...

Read about western resistance in the Revolutionary War and the 1st published mention of Jean Baptiste Pointe de Sable, who was briefly imprisoned at Fort Michilimackinac. Col. De Peyster was key to rallying Indigenous nations to the British. On the blog: www.newberry.org/blog/de-peys... #historysky

Throughout 2026 we will be commemorating America’s semiquincentennial, including exhibitions, programs, and classes. Our new web page features these events and much more, including key America 250 collection materials. www.newberry.org/the-newberry...

Thanks to Tribune critic Lori Waxman for this review of our exhibition "Mapping Outside the Lines," highlighting the exhibit’s investigation of the political, epistemological, and navigational implications of lines and the maps that contain them. Open through February 14. @chicagotribune.com

Adult Education registration now open! ⬇️

Due to the extreme cold, the Newberry will be closed tomorrow, Friday, January 23. The library will re-open the following day, Saturday, January 24, and NewberryFest will continue as scheduled.

Spend some quality time this spring with George Eliot and @newberrylibrary.bsky.social. Registration now open. www.newberry.org/calendar/mil...

Want a break from current events? Join my @newberrylibrary.bsky.social course this April about a demagogue who rises to power in a close election, and foments civil unrest by wielding government force against immigrants! ...well, at least my story has beer. www.newberry.org/calendar/bee...

Registration for our Winter/Spring term of Adult Education is now open! The Newberry provides thought-provoking classes led by passionate, expert instructors. cc: @sjventurino.bsky.social @rogersparkman.bsky.social @dawnsardellaayres.bsky.social www.newberry.org/learn/adult-...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other pastors at the 125th anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church, held at the Shoreland Hotel, 5454 S. Shore Dr., June 24, 1958. He gave a speech a few years after First Presbyterian became one of the first racially integrated congregations in Chicago. #mlkday

Newberry VP Will Hansen recently sat down with How We Read, sharing vivid memories of reading Ray Bradbury and Emily Dickinson. "I read on the train a lot. My sustained pleasure-reading time is that thirty-five to forty minutes on the train." howweread.substack.com/p/hwr-18-wil...

ICYMI, what were the top 5 most requested items in the Newberry's collection in 2025? The Popol Vuh, the creation account of the Mayan people, is a mainstay of the most-requested items list. Read on to learn if it is still the No. 1 most-requested item. #chicago www.newberry.org/blog/the-5-m...

NewberryFest returns on Saturday 1/24, and it's all about maps! This open house event features curator presentations, tours, a book sale, and a paper-making workshop. Registration is free, visit www.newberry.org/calendar/new... to learn more.