Guest blogger, Jisoo Ahn, is a Graduate Library Pre-Professional (GLP) working with CUA Special Collections. In the Aquinas basement lies a space that Special Collections affectionately refers to as the “Stacks”. Behind an unremarkable door is where we house a significant portion of our archival materials related to American Catholicism and CatholicU history. Our staff, Read More

Proactive management of records is a responsibility shared by every department and unit at Catholic University, if not every entity across the Catholic world.  Can this be true, you ask? Well, see statements of both the Vatican and the American Bishops.  We understand that record keeping can appear to be an intimidating – perhaps even Read More

The desire to form communities and act together is inherent in people. This can encompass various aspects of our lives: work, family, sport, recreation, and, of course, faith and spiritual life, which may be manifested not only through affiliation with a specific church or denomination but also through a local community of people who, sharing Read More

Catholic University in the summer is a veritable garden of verdant lawns, blossoming flowers, and the rustling leaves of the campus’ many trees. Yet CatholicU was once home to hundreds of plants which would normally have no way of surviving the hot, muggy summers that our swampy city lovingly provides for us. No, these plants Read More

Special Collections, which includes Rare Books, had a bumper crop this past reporting year of carefully considered rare book acquisitions via purchase, fourteen items from nine both nationally and internationally respected vendors. The latter include new dealer contacts in England, France, Holland, and Italy. Several examples are reviewed in some detail while others due to Read More

Catholic University of America’s Special Collections is home to wide and diverse cultural and historical materials, including devotional museum objects, meeting minutes of the American bishops, correspondence between notables such as George Higgins and Richard Neuhaus, rare renaissance books, and, among all of this, the Young Catholic Messenger, the premier publication, 1885-1970, of Catholic publisher, Read More

Over the past year, Special Collections staff has continued addressing conservation challenges that arise within the Catholic University’s Rare Books collection. You may see our past blogs on the topic in “Part I”, “Part II”, and “Part III”. As in years past, we have continued working alongside Quarto Conservation and have another surprising sampling of Read More

It is often hard to forget your first encounter with a truly antique printed book, looking impressive with its wooden boards and brass clasps, or a medieval manuscript that breathes even more ancient history. Most of us experience this deep feeling of almost reverent awe at looking at or touching it with one’s bare hands Read More

Monsignor George Higgins was a member of the U.S. Catholic clergy, director of the Social Action Department of the forerunner of today’s U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, attendee to the Vatican II Council, and an authority on labor relations. Cesar Chavez was a farm worker, a lay member of the Church, and a union leader Read More

W. John Shepherd, University Archivist & Head of Special Collections, has been selected as the recipient of the Edward J. Belanger Jr. Staff Award for Excellence in Service for 2023. John was recognized by his colleagues for his “highest level of professionalism, competence, and dedication to ensuring the preservation of and access to the intellectual Read More