If you want to travel back in time by immersing yourself in an eclectic collection of historical materials, look no further than Houghton Library.

Although Houghton may be known for famed possessions such as a Gutenberg Bible (on permanent display in Widener Library’s memorial room), original fascicles and manuscripts of Emily Dickinson, and ancient papyri dating back to the 3rd century B.C.E., the special collections library houses many more treasures. The building opened in 1942 as the first freestanding library of special collections at an American university, after the “Treasure Room” in Widener Library could no longer hold the massive extent of material Harvard was accruing. Houghton was groundbreaking for its innovative climate control technology, pioneering the best conditions for preservation with other libraries to follow.

Today, Houghton is open to the public; as Kristine Greive, the Head of Teaching and Learning at Houghton, says, “the only thing you need to use the material at Houghton is curiosity.” If you look into the library’s reading room, you can see scholars studying Houghton’s gems for the entire day. If you request an item from Hollis or spontaneously wander across the lawn from Lamont, the librarians at Houghton can bring you a rare book within fifteen minutes. What makes Houghton special, beyond the treasures it houses, is its emphasis on accessibility to all students and researchers. Quite literally, the library underwent renovations from 2019 to 2021 to increase the physical accessibility of the building, and its mission to be a “setting for hands-on learning” invites all who are curious into its exhibitions.

One can understand the variety of Houghton’s offerings as soon as they step foot into the lobby. The green-walled Edison and Newman Room, which Greive describes as the “largest exhibition space on the first floor,” housed the Animals Are Us exhibition in the fall of 2021, which explored anthropomorphism through many generations of children’s literature. This collection displayed a wide range of children’s books from different periods, from a suppressed 1865 edition of Alice in Wonderland to contemporary books. It encouraged visitors to reflect on the stories and illustrations they grew up reading and the implications of communicating to children with animals.

But not only does the exhibition on display push viewers to contemplate the highlighted art and manuscripts, but the walls of the Edison and Newman Room create an atmosphere of historical exploration. Shelved all around the room’s edges are Houghton’s “incunables,” or some of the earliest printed books in the West from the 15th century. Although the Houghton stacks are not open to the public, these historical gems give guests an idea of the sheer history housed within the library walls.

Another highlight of Houghton that draws many visitors is the extensive Emily Dickinson collection on the second floor, and it is the largest Dickinson collection in the world. As the Houghton Library website describes, the exhibit not only holds over 1,000 of Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters but also 40 of her hand-sewn manuscripts—known as fascicles—and her writing desk, among other artifacts from the Amherst, Massachusetts household. Stepping into the Dickinson Collection is like stepping into the poet’s intellectual and literary world firsthand. One can truly appreciate how Dickinson, as Greive expertly articulates, “could do something so beloved by so many people in so little space.”

So why might a Harvard student find themselves at Houghton Library? While this home of Harvard’s special collections does not have traditional study spaces like some other libraries on campus, many researchers—students and faculty alike—handle the rare books and other requested items in the Houghton Reading Room. The library also houses classrooms for some students’ classes or special events. Ultimately, the accessibility and hospitality of the Houghton exhibitions welcome all students to step in, whether during class or between classes, and handle (with care, of course) some of the world’s most precious relics of history.

Visit https://library.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton for more information.

Many thanks to Kristine Greive, Christine Jacobson, and Mitch Nakaue for the interview, tour, and photos of Houghton Library.