Newberry Library

UW-Madison undergraduate Madelyn Watson says she had "imposter syndrome" when she first arrived at the Newberry. "It seemed like the kind of place where 'real' researchers went to look at important things." But when she walked in the front door, she found a warm welcome. "I was met by friendly people at the welcome and information desks...the librarian who gave me my Reader's Card commented, 'Happy Researching!'"

Madelyn, who majors in Music Education and History, shares her research experience and a few tips for navigating the Newberry. "The archivist placed three music-related items on book cradles in front of me: a handwritten manual from 1519 and two printed treatises, one from 1480 and the other from 1595."

Among the items she surveyed were the "Grammatica Brevis" (Inc. 4498 1480), the first book that printed music notation via movable type, and the massive "Camaldolese Gradual" (Vault oversize Case MS 74 1395), which was used by choral singers who needed to read the notes at a distance.

Read Madelyn's blog here: https://www.holdinghistory.org/post/newberry

Thank you to WGN's Spotlight Chicago for previewing Saturday's World Poetry Slam Day at the Newberry. Slam founder Marc Kelly Smith and performance poet Cin Salach joined hosts Sarah Jindra and Ji Suk Yi, and Cin performed her poem, “How my attic keeps me from being Buddhist.” Join us on Saturday at 2pm for our World Poetry Slam Day celebration, taking place in Chicago and eight other countries: France, Belgium, Brazil, Togo, Portugal, Serbia, and Canada.

Now it can be told! The Newberry was transformed into a Hollywood set for the filming of an episode of the Apple TV series “Dark Matter” in early 2025. Now that Season 2 has made its debut, we can share details of a thrilling experience that included a visit by Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly and Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton.

The show's producers were looking for a location that would mimic an analog world where humans hadn’t walked on the moon and computer technology never existed. It turns out the third floor reading room was just the site they needed. A production crew prepared a microfilm machine for a scene involving the Dessen Family looking up information in this unfamiliar world. The scene appears early in the second episode of the new season.

Join Us for the First World Poetry Slam Day Featuring Performances and Slam History.

Register Using the Link in Our Bio!

On Saturday, we were pleased to recognize authors Dominic Pacyga and Gayle Wald as part of our Writing Chicago program. Dominic received The Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award for his book, Clout City: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Political Machine, and Gayle was the shortlist recipient for This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement. Both participated in a panel discussion with Timothy Mennel of University of Chicago Press.

Visit the Mini Used Book Sale on Saturday, September 19, for a special half-price sale. Held in Rettinger Hall from 10am-3pm, the sale features a curated selection of used books across a variety of categories, and everything is 50% off! All proceeds will benefit the library’s collections and programs.

Are you curious about the role South Side religious communities had in social activism in 1960s Chicago? Then you should sign up for our "Sacred Ground, Contested City" free bus tour through the Woodlawn and Hyde Park neighborhoods. Visit historic churches and synagogues, hear stories of grassroots organizing and Black religious leadership, and consider the very different visions of social change that emerged from the same rapidly transforming neighborhoods. Along the way, enjoy a West African lunch and join conversations about the risks, responsibilities, and possibilities of putting faith into action. Click the link to register: https://www.newberry.org/calendar/beyond-belief-sacred-ground-contested-city

With Election Day on the horizon, we're throwing it back to 1909 with this postcard, which imagines a dystopian future where women can vote — and men are forced to care for their own children. A woman wearing a “District Captainess” sash heads out for Election Day while her overwhelmed husband is left behind with two crying children.

It’s one of the collection items, including letters, diaries, postcards, and a handkerchief (!), featured in "Suffragette City: Private Voices in the Long Fight for Women’s Suffrage," a new Digital Collections timeline tracing everyday reactions to the suffrage movement from 1867 to 1931.

See the postcard in context — and explore the full Suffragette City timeline — here: https://digital.newberry.org/suffragette-city

Postcard: "Election Day" (Modern MS Bossier NL112UNL) 1909.

Why did eighteenth-century colonial Brazil really move its capital from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro?

What sets 1970s Chicago experimental dance apart from other avant-garde dance movements?

How did sixty years of invasive federal policing of Indigenous peoples lead to the modern US carceral system?

These are just some of the research questions our new 2026-27 long-term fellows, Jade E. Bird, Antonina Woodsum, Jeffery Sklansky, Michael Kramer, and Moreno Pacheco (pictured above) are seeking to answer during their fellowships at the Newberry. To learn more about our new fellows and their exciting research projects, follow the link: https://www.newberry.org/blog/2026-27-fellows