Book Display: Catholicism in the United States

Posted on 22 May 2025 by Xanthe Malcolm

Following the news of the appointment of the first American pope, the Vere Harmsworth Library has selected a number of books on the theme of Catholicism in the United States for our latest book display.

For those seeking a broad overview of the history and features of Catholicism in the US, The Cambridge companion to American Catholicism is a good place to start, while titles such as Catholicism at a Crossroads : The Present and Future of America’s Largest Church and Catholics in America : a social portrait serve as guides to American Catholicism today. Other books on display examine the intersection between Catholicism and race, such as Authentically Black and truly Catholic : the rise of Black Catholicism in the Great Migration, Native American Catholic studies reader : history and theology and Desegregating dixie : the Catholic church in the South and desegregation,1945-1992.

For those interested in the role Catholicism plays in American politics, we have selected titles such as In Rome we trust : the rise of Catholics in American political life, Catholic social activism : progressive movements in the United States and Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right. Narrowing the focus to the faith of two different Catholic presidents, we also have The making of a Catholic president : Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960 and Joe Biden’s Policies on Abortion and Immigration : The Challenges of a Catholic President.

Looking beyond our own collection here at the Vere Harmsworth Library, the display highlights some digital resources which may be of interest to those undertaking further research into the topic. American Catholic studies is a journal which can be accessed online via SOLO, and a wide range of digital collections are available to all through the American Catholic Historical Society Digital Library, the Marquette University e-Archives and the Catholic University of America Digital Collections.

The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.

To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

Important Update: Library Closed 19th May 2025 (Update: Library re-opened 20th May)

Posted on 19 May 2025 by Bethan Davies

[UPDATE: 20TH MAY 2025: The VHL has re-opened at 9am today (20th May) and will remain open for it’s previously advertised term time hours. There remains some barricades and signage outside, but access to the library is available via the main building foyer. Many thanks to our readers for their patience. – Bethan Davies, Vere Harmsworth Librarian]

The Vere Harmsworth Library and RAI Building will be closed today (19th May 2025). We will aim to reopen tomorrow, pending assessment.

Due to access issues in the RAI Building foyer, the RAI Building will be closed until proper barricades and signage are in place. We aim for this to be done for tomorrow (20th May), pending proper risk assessments have been completed and safe access can be assured. Reduced opening hours may be in place.

In the meantime, readers are requested to use alternative library space for today.

If readers need urgent access to lending library books, please email vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk in the first instance.

All books on Hold or on the Self-Collect due for today have been renewed for tomorrow.

Scan requests can be placed as standard via Bodleian Scan and Deliver Services.

We apologies for any inconvenience.

Trials: Planning for the Post-World War II World & Revolutionary War and Early America (ended 7th June 2025)

Posted on 9 May 2025 by Bethan Davies

[UPDATE: This trial has now ended]

I am pleased to report that the Vere Harmsworth Library has organised trial access to two ProQuest History Vault databases for Bodleian Readers: Planning for the Post-World War II World, State Department Records of Harley A. Notter and Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society. The trial for both databases runs from the 8th May-7th June, 2025.

Find out more about both databases below:

Planning for the Post-World War II World

Planning for the Post World War II World: State Department Records of Harley A. Notter, 1939-1945 chronicles U.S. planning for postwar peace and spans nearly 300,000 pages. Declassified in 1974, the Notter File contains virtually all extant records of the State Department’s intensive wartime planning, as well as those of several bodies (notably the Policy Committee and the Committee on Postwar Programs) where actual policies were developed and implemented.

Many scholars regard the State Department files assembled by Dr. Harley A. Notter-a key State Department official during the war years-as one of the most important primary sources on postwar planning. The documents in the Notter records detail the foundations on which much of post-1945 U.S. foreign policy was built. The Notter collection includes research reports, official policy papers, memoranda, meeting minutes, State Department organization charts, and many other internal documents.

You can access Planning for the Post World War II World: State Department Records of Harley A. Notter, 1939-1945 using your Single Sign On here.

Revolutionary War and Early America

This module on one of the most-studied periods in American history consists of 26 collections from the holdings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first North American historical society and the first library to devote its primary attention to collecting Americana. The collections digitized by ProQuest from the holdings of the Massachusetts Historical Society focus on the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary War and the Early National Period, with some collections extending into the Civil War era.

The collections include:

Papers of key individuals such as Benjamin Lincoln, Artemas Ward and Samuel Cabot.
Papers of key families spanning generations, such as the Revere and Hancock Family Papers.
Military records such as Orderly Books for French & Indian War and Revolutionary War, recording day to day activities of specific units.
275 individual Pre-Revolutionary Era Diaries (1635-1774), written by more than 109 individuals from a range of working backgrounds and professions.
Organisation papers of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society Papers, one of the earliest American philanthropic organisations of it’s type. This includes petitions from those who had lost property from fire, and sometimes included detailed inventories of property and furniture.

You can access Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society using your Single Sign On here.

You may also be interested in our currently ongoing trial of American History: 1493-1945. Find out more via our blogpost.

Please send any feedback you have regarding this resource to bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Trial: American History 1493-1945 (ended 25th May 2025)

Posted on 7 May 2025 by Bethan Davies

[UPDATE: This trial has now ended]

I am pleased to report that the Vere Harmsworth Library has organised trial access to American History 1493-1945 for Bodleian Readers. This trial runs from the 27th April-25th May, 2025.

This unique collection documents American History from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century. It is sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the finest archives available for the study of American History.

Main features include:

Over 60,000 primary source documents split across two modules, including correspondence, diaries, government documents, business records, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, photographs, artwork and maps
Majority of the collection is unique manuscript
Extensive cataloguing to aid search
Translations and transcriptions for many manuscripts
Secondary resources include chronology, essays, video lectures and interactive features
Features from partner organizations Mount Vernon and the Gettysburg Foundation

You can access the American History, 1493-1945 using your Single Sign On here.