Vanderbilt University Libraries

Vanderbilt University Libraries The Jean & Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University are a major research library system with extensive collections, services, and materials.

The Jean & Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University is a major research library system with extensive collections, services, and materials. Connect with a subject specialist to guide you through research, find a space for individual or group study, and locate books, articles, laptops, and iPads to support your academic experience. Stop by for a visit! We are here to help.

The Special Collections and University Archives team is saddened by the loss of Dolly Parton. 🦋✨ Born in 1946 and raised...
09/01/2026

The Special Collections and University Archives team is saddened by the loss of Dolly Parton. 🦋✨

Born in 1946 and raised in East Tennessee, deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Dolly went on to build a legendary career in country music while becoming a champion of literacy and the arts. Through her music and her longstanding commitment to childhood literacy through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, she inspired generations of listeners, readers and writers.

We invite you to celebrate her legacy by viewing photographs and interviews from Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives documenting Dolly and her career.

Image 1: Headshot of Dolly from the program for the second annual Dolly Parton Day, 1971. (Edwin Hamlett Papers MSS.0188, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

Image 2: Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander greeting Dolly at the opening of Dollywood, 1986. (Lamar Alexander Papers MSS.0734, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives) https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.39162995?seq=1

Image 3: Dolly in her Sevier County High School Band uniform. (Edwin Hamlett Papers MSS.0188, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

Image 4: Letter of thanks to the attendees and organizers of the second annual Dolly Parton Day, 1971. (Edwin Hamlett Papers MSS.0188, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

Two new episodes of the “Made in Tennessee” podcast are now available for listening. 🎧 Hosted by Vanderbilt Special Proj...
08/24/2026

Two new episodes of the “Made in Tennessee” podcast are now available for listening. 🎧

Hosted by Vanderbilt Special Projects Librarian Celia Walker and Tennessee-based appraiser Sarah Campbell Drury of Case Auctions, “Made in Tennessee” is supported by a Tennessee 250 grant and recorded at the Vandy Libraries’ Studio 608.

Jeff Sellers, director of education and public programs for the Tennessee State Museum, discusses one of the largest historical artifacts in the state, the Tennessee State Capitol building. How did Nashville attract the highly successful architect William Strickland to design this Greek Revival structure? From where were the building’s raw materials and interior ironwork sourced? Why does Tennessee’s capitol not have a dome like most other state capitols? Sellers answers these questions and shares the evolving story of the enslaved, immigrant and incarcerated workers who built the structure in the years prior to the Civil War.

Miranda Fraley and Tranae Chatman, curators at the Tennessee State Museum, discuss “Tennessee Voices, American Stories,” an exhibition on view through 2026 that uses costume, textiles and other material culture to explore the stories of some exceptional Tennesseans. You may be familiar with state founder James Robertson, but what do you know about his wife, the equally important Charlotte Robertson? Listen to the curators as they share a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this exhibition – who they selected, why they are important, and how they are represented.

Learn more: madeintennessee.org

A manuscript from Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives is featured in the exhibit “Tarot! Renaissanc...
08/11/2026

A manuscript from Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives is featured in the exhibit “Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions,” currently on display at The Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan. The show explores the 600-year evolution of tarot from a card game played by Italian nobility—where each card was a hand-held work of art—to an occult practice and popular entertainment. ✨

The exhibition includes the Vanderbilt-Steele Manuscript, which dates to circa 1450–circa 1500. This manuscript is best known for a sermon titled “De Ludo" (“Of the Game”) that contains one of the earliest references to tarot.

The title of the manuscript derives from its current owner (Vanderbilt) and previous owner (Robert Steele). Steele was a British scholar whose early association with William Morris sparked his interest in medieval manuscripts. The manuscript was purchased by The United States Playing Card Company and acquired by Vanderbilt in 2019 as part of a purchase of the larger George Clulow-United States Playing Card Company Gaming Collection.

Learn more about the manuscript: vu.edu/vanderbilt-steele-manuscript

Learn more about the exhibit: vu.edu/morgan-library-tarot

All Vanderbilt library locations will be closed from Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 5, in observance of Independen...
07/01/2026

All Vanderbilt library locations will be closed from Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 5, in observance of Independence Day. Regular summer operating hours will resume on Monday, July 6.

For a complete list of building hours, visit: library.vanderbilt.edu/hours.

On the latest episode of “Made in Tennessee,” Stephen Wicks, the Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knox...
06/23/2026

On the latest episode of “Made in Tennessee,” Stephen Wicks, the Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art, discusses two artistic brothers who were born in Knoxville: Beauford Delaney (1901–1979) and Joseph Delaney (1904–1991).

Learn about the brothers’ roots in Tennessee, their national and international careers, and how a thoughtful collaboration among Knoxville’s art patrons, historians, archivists and institutions made the East Tennessee city a center for their work.

Hosted by Vanderbilt Special Projects Librarian Celia Walker and Tennessee-based appraiser Sarah Campbell Drury of Case Auctions, “Made in Tennessee” is supported by a Tennessee 250 grant and recorded at the Heard Libraries’ Studio 608.

🎧Listen now: madeintennessee.org

Images:

1. Beauford Delaney
“Untitled (Knoxville Landscape),” 1922
Private collection
Photograph courtesy of Bruce Cole and the Knoxville Museum of Art
©The Estate of Beauford Delaney by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court-Appointed Administrator

2. Beauford Delaney
“Moving Sunlight,” 1965
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 purchase
Photograph courtesy of Bruce Cole and the Knoxville Museum of Art
©The Estate of Beauford Delaney by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court-Appointed Administrator

3. Joseph Delaney
“Sunday School Lesson,” circa 1942
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2020 purchase with funds provided by KMA Collectors Circle
Photograph courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art

4. Joseph Delaney
“Macy’s Parade,” 1974–84
Knoxville Museum of Art, 1990 gift of the artist
Photograph courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art

On Jan. 1, 1863, in the third year of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which state...
06/18/2026

On Jan. 1, 1863, in the third year of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that all enslaved persons in the nation should be freed and allowed men of color to join the Union militia. Despite the expansive language of the order, it did not immediately end slavery as it could not be implemented in areas under Confederate control. This left many African Americans still enslaved in Confederate states as well as in border states that were loyal to the Union.

The Confederacy began its surrender in piecemeal fashion throughout early 1865, though many refused to accept the war’s end and did not free their enslaved workers. The last Confederate state to surrender was Texas in late May. On June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order No. 3, proclaiming all enslaved people in Texas were free. This date, which marked the effective end of slavery in the United States, is now celebrated as Juneteenth.

Images:

1. Muster Roll of Company F of the 127th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops, Feb. 28–April 30, 1865. (MSS.0960, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

2. “The Sin of Slavery and its Remedy,” E. Wright, 1833. (Anti-Slavery Pamphlet Collection, MSS.0731, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

Today, Mountain Dew is America’s sixth most popular carbonated soft drink by total sales volume – but do you know about ...
06/03/2026

Today, Mountain Dew is America’s sixth most popular carbonated soft drink by total sales volume – but do you know about its origins in Knoxville, Tennessee? Learn about the making of Mountain Dew, the graphic design behind the brand, and its connection to Appalachian culture on the latest episode of “Made in Tennessee,” available now!

This episode of the podcast, which celebrates the everyday art and craft objects used, loved and handed down through generations of Tennesseans, will also delve into the collectibles market for older bottles and signs.

Hosted by Vanderbilt Special Projects Librarian Celia Walker and Tennessee-based appraiser Sarah Campbell Drury of Case Auctions, “Made in Tennessee” is supported by a Tennessee 250 grant and recorded at the Heard Libraries’ Studio 608.

🎧Listen now: madeintennessee.org

đź“·: Smithsonian Institution

The first three episodes of “Made in Tennessee,” a new podcast celebrating the everyday art and craft objects used, love...
05/01/2026

The first three episodes of “Made in Tennessee,” a new podcast celebrating the everyday art and craft objects used, loved, and handed down through generations of Tennesseans, are now available for listening. 🎧

Hosted by Vanderbilt Special Projects Librarian Celia Walker and Tennessee-based appraiser Sarah Campbell Drury of Case Auctions, “Made in Tennessee” is supported by a Tennessee 250 grant and recorded at the Heard Libraries’ Studio 608.

Check out the first three episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify:

1. Tracey Parks on Tennessee Furniture 🪑

2. Cynthia Stow on Art Conservation and Tennessee Portraiture 🖼️

3. Jennifer Core and Julia Doyle on Tennessee Samplers 🪡

Learn more: madeintennessee.org

Join Curator of Rare Books Teresa Gray for an online discussion about the exhibit “Infinite Worlds: Science Fiction and ...
04/22/2026

Join Curator of Rare Books Teresa Gray for an online discussion about the exhibit “Infinite Worlds: Science Fiction and the Future of Humanity,” currently on view in the Central Library 4th-floor lobby through May 2026. 🤖🧬👽🛸

Gray will discuss the importance of science fiction as a literary genre and the significance of several authors included in the exhibit. Her talk is on Friday, May 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. via Zoom.

Learn more and register: vu.edu/sci-fi-curators-talk

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding this year, the Heard Libraries are marking a 250 m...
04/22/2026

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding this year, the Heard Libraries are marking a 250 milestone of their own. 🎉

Special Collections and University Archives recently wrapped a two-year project to digitize, describe, link and preserve 250 “small” collections—those that fill a few folders but not an entire box—everything from a handful of photographs each to a single diary to archival manuscripts and letters.

These small collections represent approximately 20 percent of the archives’ total number of collections and showcase the breadth of distinctive items in Vanderbilt’s holdings. Here are just a few:

1. Photograph of the Memphis and Nashville pavilions along Lake Watauga during the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. (MSS.0959, 1897 Centennial Exposition Collection, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

2. Poetry book in French inscribed with “Constance Riveau,” c. 1853–54. (MSS.1037, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

3. 1828 diploma purportedly from the University of Nashville, though the “recipient” does not appear on any official graduation rolls. (MSS.0979, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

4. Letter handwritten by Peabody College student Mabel Beck, 1910. (MSS.0803, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

5. Promotional broadside for Tennessee magician Fetaque Sanders, c. 1930s–1950s. (MSS.1130, Fetaque Sanders Collection, Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives)

To learn more about Special Collections or to schedule a visit: vu.edu/scua.

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