“They Can’t Buy It and They Can’t Take It”: Bookish Solidarity in a Time of Institutional Crisis
Schedule
Wed, 03 Jun, 2026 at 05:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, UVA | Charlottesville, VA
𝗥𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗦𝘂𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.Rare Book School is founded on a shared commitment to “responsible stewardship of the historical record in all its richness and many forms,” a mission made more urgent by the present instability of our national institutions, from the Library of Congress to the Smithsonian to the National Endowment for the Humanities. This talk highlights a number of resourceful women in American book history, some celebrated and some whose names we’ll never know, who found ways to preserve and share aspects of the historical record outside the established institutions of their own day. Whether barred from full participation in professional fields and private clubs on account of their sex, or simply focused on historical material deemed unworthy of serious attention, these women took the work of cultural preservation into their own hands in creative and surprising ways, to our collective benefit. In 2026, what practical and strategic lessons can we draw from the communities these women built?
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝟱:𝟯𝟬 𝗽.𝗺. 𝗘𝗧 𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗩𝗔’𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹.𝗼𝗿𝗴/𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟲/𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿-𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻-𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲/
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Heather O’Donnell has been an antiquarian bookseller for more than twenty years. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Yale, and was a member of the Princeton Society of Fellows before joining the book trade. In 2011, she founded Honey & Wax Booksellers, dealing primarily in literature, with an emphasis on the material history of printing, bookselling, and collecting. A graduate of Rare Book School and member of the Grolier Club, Heather helped launch the ABAA Gender Equity Initiative and Mentorship Program, and co-founded the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize for young women collectors. She currently serves on the faculty and board of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS-Minnesota), the Council of the Bibliographical Society of America, and the Yale Library Associates Trustees. She is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, and writes about book history for the 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴.
Where is it happening?
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, UVA, 170 McCormick Rd,Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
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