Lawrence University has four named special collections that constitute approximately 7,200 titles with particular strength in Americana of the nineteenth century, including the American Civil War, the Wisconsin Territory and the state of Wisconsin.
See the Collections and Reading Rooms page for information on the contents of these collections and the rooms in which they are housed.
Access to items in the Milwaukee Downer Collection or the Civil War Collection is available when a librarian is at the Reference Desk: Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. : Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. : Sunday 1 p.m. – 9 p.m. or by appointment. The Wisconsin and Kruse Collections are open collections.
Users of Special Collections material must first come to the Reference Desk to fill out a registration form. Lawrence students, faculty and staff are requested to bring their LU ID; community users are asked to show a current driver’s license or state ID. Lawrence University faculty and staff complete one form per year. Lawrence students complete one form per term. Community users complete one form per use.
Items you have requested will be retrieved for use under the supervision of a librarian. We will check these items out to you and request that you return them to the Reference Desk when you are finished. If you would like the library to hold this item for you to look at later, inform the Reference Librarian and it will be locked in a hold cabinet for your future use. When you come back to look at the item, let the Reference Librarian know we have held it for you.
If you have any questions about locating materials in the catalog, please contact the Reference Desk.
