News
Research in the Archives | Elizabeth McCall on Archival Housing
Researcher Elizabeth McCall visited the Rare Book & Manuscript Library to explore variations of archival housing and "how archival objects are continually shaped through different practices of keeping, from bindings and wrappers to boxes and conservation housing."
Art Properties and the Rare Book & Manuscript Library Acquire Gordon Parks Photographs
Art Properties and the Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquire photographs by pioneering African-American photographer and filmmaker, Gordon Parks, whose work at Life magazine featured a photographic series with writer Ralph Ellison called “A Man Become Invisible.”
1776: Battle of Harlem Heights
The once-disputed location of the 1776 Battle of Harlem Heights, a "much-needed morale boost" for the Continental Army in the American Revolution, was confirmed to have taken place in present-day Morningside Heights through the meticulous work of Columbia College alum Lincoln Diamant, 1943CC.
Archivist Pick: Artistic Encounters in the Archives
The latest installment in the Archivist's Pick exhibition series features six sets of materials drawn from newly-processed Chinese and Chinese-American archival collections from the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, united by a shared thread of artistic expression.
Lost and Found: The King’s College Seal
Did you know that the original engraving of the King's College seal, the predecessor to Columbia University, was lost for over 120 years? The Libraries recounts the history of the seal, which was believed to be lost until the early 20th century and is now held by the University Archives.
A Window into the Business of Mid-Century Paperback Publishing: Sidney B. Kramer Papers and Library
Processing Archivist Cathy Ricciardi unveils "a window into the business of mid-century paperback publishing" through the library and personal papers of Sidney B. Kramer, a founder of Bantam Books.
On View | CU Amateur Radio Club QSL Cards
Currently on view in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library: Colorfully-illustrated postcards known as QSL cards, which were exchanged between amateur radio operators, or "hams." The postcards are part of the Columbia Amateur Radio Club records and originate from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Processing the Myrna Casas Papers
Michelle Lopez, a Fall 2025 archival intern in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, helps to process the papers of Puerto Rican playwright and director Myrna Casas (pictured above), whose archive will aid research in theater and performance history in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean among many other fields.
Explore the World of Pioneering Sound Artist Max Neuhaus
In collaboration with the Max Neuhaus Estate, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library announces that all audio-visual materials in the papers of sound artist Max Neuhaus are digitized and accessible online through the Libraries’ Digital Library Collections.
Confronting McCarthyism: Generational Lessons from Families who Resisted the Red Scare
Join the Lehman Center for American History, in partnership with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, for a historic conversation with children and grandchildren of some of the most significant targets of McCarthyism and the Red Scare.
Exhibitions in the RBML | Selections from the Lydia Davis Papers
On display in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library are selections from one of its most significant recent literary acquisitions, the papers of writer Lydia Davis, a short-story writer, novelist, essayist, translator, and Barnard College alum.
Exhibition | CONTEXT: Art, Books, and Freedom
In “CONTEXT: Art, Books, and Freedom,” an ongoing exhibition in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, artist and curator Meg Hitchcock brings together 15 artists whose work uses books as "means to question its own authority within the context of a revered liberal arts library."
On View | Streets Taken: Photography by Edward Schwartz and Francisco Javier Ramírez
Currently on view in Butler Library, "Streets Taken" places the photographs and archival materials of Edward Schwartz from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library in conversation with new works from MFA candidate Francisco Javier Ramírez.










