History and Travel
Manager
1: Ellen
Simmons
Email: esimmons@detroit.lib.mi.us
Phone: (313) 833.1445
Description
The History Collection
includes materials on all civilizations and countries of the world.
All eras of history are covered from ancient times to modern.
The collection has an adult reading level that ranges from the
popular to the scholarly. The collection is particularly strong
in American history, European history, Native American history
and culture, World War II, and the American Civil War. There is
a growing collection of materials relating to African history.
The History Collection also has a large number of books dealing
with Michigan and Detroit history. The circulating collection
is complemented by an extensive reference collection to aid customers
in historical research. In addition, most of the major historical
periodicals are taken.
Biography
There are over 50,000 volumes in
the Biography Collection of the History and Travel Department.
They cover noteworthy figures from all periods of time and all
walks of life. Fascinating people come alive in these pages, from
Egyptian Pharaohs to Western outlaws, from Nelson Rockefeller
to Nelson Mandela. The circulating collection is enhanced by an
extensive reference collection that includes almost every edition
of the major who's who, a wide variety of biographical dictionaries
and encyclopedias, and 48 drawers of newspaper clippings that
cover thousands of personages. Worthy of special note is the Edgar
de Witt Jones Collection of materials on the life and career of
Abraham Lincoln. The Biography Collection also contains an extensive
collection of books on personal names and their meanings.
African
American Biography
The History and Travel
Department has a large and growing collection of African American
Biographies. From intriguing studies of historical figures such
as Frederick Douglass to books on Detroit's own Rosa Parks, the
reader can find them all here. A special effort has been made
to collect material on African American scientists and inventors.
The circulating collection is amply supplemented by an extensive
collection of reference materials. The Black Periodical Index
and Contemporary Black Biography are just two of the outstanding
tools available. NOTE: Most materials other
than biographies on African American history are located in the
Sociology and Economics Department.
Travel
Whether you're a traveler or a
tourist ("Tourists have destinations, travelers just go"
-- Paul Theroux), whether you're planning a trip to Afghanistan
or Port Huron, begin your journey in the History and Travel Department
of the Detroit Public Library. From standard travel guides like
Europe On $50 a Day (remember when it was $5 a day!) to
The World's Most Dangerous Places, the department houses
one of the most extensive travel collections in the Midwest. The
latest editions of most of the standard travel series by Frommer,
Fodor, Let's Go, Insight, Lonely Planet are added yearly. In addition
to these contemporary sources the library has an outstanding collection
of travel narratives going back to the 18th century. Of great
interest are contemporary and historical travel guides for African
Americans. The collection subscribes to all of the leading travel
periodicals.
Services/Special
Collections
Map Collection
A
major source of geographic and cartographic information, the Map
Collection contains well over 150,000 sheet maps and thousands
of thematic and national atlases, making it the second largest
map collection in a public library in the United States.
go
to Map Collection>
Related
E-Sources
For
internet links or databases related to this collection/subject
view resources>