The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) is an independent research
library
founded in 1812 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The library's collections
document the life of America's people from the colonial era through the
Civil War and Reconstruction. Collections include books, pamphlets,
newspapers, periodicals, broadsides, manuscripts, music, graphic arts, and
local histories.
Online Exhibition
Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints
Most of the prints in this exhibit were designed simply to please the eye, but they are also useful to historians who would like to understand how 19th century Americans thought about the world in which they lived. Explored are artistic depictions of the standard of beauty, ideal beauty, women as objects, variations on the standard, true womanhood, women at home, American slavery, women in public life, women as performers, use of women as advertising strategies and more.
Recent Acquisition
Exhibition of the Sutton Methodist Sunday School! Worcester: Charles Hamilton, 1856. AAS member Warren C. Lane donated a group of programs for popular entertainments and theater programs.
more ...
Alliance for AAS
Make your gift today
and become a member of
the Alliance for
the American Antiquarian Society
Free public tours of Antiquarian
Hall, the Society's library building,
are given every Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock. The tour lasts about
one
hour.
Friday, July 3 : The library will be closed in observation of Independence Day
Please note: The library is again open until 8 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. Reading room hours
For a complete listing of upcoming events at AAS, please view our online calendar of events. The library is closed on legal holidays.
Teachers' Institutes
July 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 : Defining Freedom
is a collaborative professional development project for teachers
more information
CHAViC Conference
October 16-17 : Destined for Men:
Visual Materials for Male Audiences, 1750 - 1880
more information
June 23, 2009
Application instructions for 2010 Fellowships for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers are now available
June 8, 2009
View the illustrated Daguerreotype Collection Inventory now online
May 27, 2009
The list of current fellows and their projects has been announced
May 18, 2009
The latest issue of Almanac is now available
online.
April 28, 2009
Illustrated collection descriptions of AAS's calling cards and
sentiment cards have been added to the library collections online guide.
April 6, 2009
The latest issue of Common-place is now available
online.
Adopt-a-Book
April 1 : It is not too late to make a selection
from the second annual Adopt-A-Book
catalog
February 19, 2009
The AAS Drawings Collection
Inventory is now online. The collection
consists of over 550 drawings in graphite, pen, ink and wash, chalk,
watercolor and charcoal.
January 22, 2009
AAS announces its
History Workshops for K-12 Educators
AAS has a Facebook page. To become a Facebook "fan" of AAS,
visit the
AAS page and click the "become a fan" link in the upper right-hand
corner.

