The USM Libraries are home to one of the leading children's literature collections in the United States, the de Grummond Collection. They also house significant manuscript collections, including those of Theodore G. Bilbo, William M. Colmer, and Paul B. Johnson. USM Libraries' comprehensive collection of Mississippi-related books and periodicals is a vital resource for the study of the state's history and culture.

In addition, there is a growing collection of resources related to race relations in Mississippi, including State Sovereignty Commission records, Freedom Summer photographs, and oral histories. These resources, and all of the Special Collections, are available for use by the public at the Cleanth Brooks Reading Room in the McCain Library & Archives.

de GRUMMOND CHILDREN'S LITERATURE COLLECTION

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, one of the leading research centers of its type, contains manuscripts, illustrations, and over 85,000 published works associated with American and British children's literature.[top]

DIGITAL ARCHIVE

The Special Collections Digital Lab creates research quality digital collections of texts, images, and audio materials and makes these collections available to scholars throughout the world. These digital collections will eventually represent the entire range of Special Collections materials: historical manuscripts and photographs, children's literature, Mississippiana, rare books, oral histories, and editorial cartoons.[top]

GENEALOGY

Genealogy materials related to Mississippi are available for patron use in the Cleanth Brooks Reading Room..Through its Historical Manuscripts Collection, the USM Archives provides primary research material on Mississippi's history and culture from the early days of the Mississippi Territory to the present. Its holdings are particularly strong in Mississippi politics,the timber and railroad industries, and the Civil Rights Movement. The University Archives serves as the institutional memory of USM by preserving offical records, photographs, and other materials that document the University's history.

For more information on conducting Genealogy research at the USM Libraries, click here: http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/genealogy.php.

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MISSISSIPPIANA

The Mississippiana Collection is a comprehensive collection of books about Mississippi, by and about Mississippians, and/or published in Mississippi. As such, it constitutes a vital resource for the study of Mississippi history and culture. These books can be accessed through ANNA (the online catalog).

In addition to the Mississippiana book collection, the library subscribes to several serials (magazines, journals, newsletters, and numerous other professional and organizational publications) relating to Mississippi. McCain Library serves as a depository for Mississippi state documents. These items provide information on virtually every facet of state government and the economic, social, and cultural characteristics of the state. Many of these can be accessed on ANNA or by asking the reference librarian. A map collection includes city, country, and state highway maps and various types of soil, mineral, drainage, topographic, nautical, historical, and specialty maps. They document Mississippi and the region from 1699 to the present. Vertical Files consisting primarily of newspaper clippings and pamphlets contain up-to-date information about the people, events, social issues, institutions, cities, and towns of Mississippi. Also included is historical information on a variety of subjects. The Mississippiana Collection maintains copies of telephone books for the entire state, and city directories for the state's major cities.

 In addition to its specific collections, the library maintains a general classification that includes books devoted to a variety of topics, such as literature, the book trade, the publishing industry, and the history of printing in America. It includes early histories of Europe and America, atlases, and guides to other repositories. These volumes are located in Special Collections because of their early date of publication, format, subject matter, scarcity, or fragile condition. [top]

WALEN CIVIL WAR

Ernest A. Walen was a businessman from Gloucester, Massachusetts, who began collecting materials on the Confederacy and the South in general in the 1940s. In 1958, he began corresponding with Dr. William D. McCain concerning membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and that same year he became an honorary member of Camp 584 in Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. Walen's collection, which was willed at his death to the University of Southern Mississippi, was received in October 1969. The Walen Collection contains books, pamphlets, newspapers, journals, maps, regimental histories, and Confederate imprints which document the history of such topics as the South, the Confederate States of America, slavery, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War in general. The collection consists of more than 5,000 volumes, including more than 600 Confederate imprints. [top]

The Sam Woods Rare Books Collection consists largely of books published before 1800, with principal concentration in religion, philosophy, classics, geography, and history. The collection also includes works of art, artifacts, and a variety of illuminated manuscripts and vellum documents. Highlights of the collection include a 1731 Hollman Atlas, a 15th century Spanish Antiphonal, and a rare copy of John Calvin's Commentaries on St. Paul's Letters from 1551. [top]