James Ford Bell Library was founded in 1953

Ellen George

This year the James Ford Bell Library celebrates its 60th anniversary of preserving and documenting the history of trade around the world.

The Bell Library was established at the University of Minnesota in 1953 through an agreement between the Board of Regents and James Ford Bell, a local industrialist and philanthropist and also a member of the Board of Regents from 1939 until shortly before his death in 1961.

"James Ford Bell was an avid collector," said Ellen George, President of the Associates of the James Ford Bell Library. "And what he wanted was to share his collection with the public."

Originally focused on what was known as the Age of Exploration, roughly 1400 to 1800, the Bell has expanded its collecting focus to encompass all pre-modern materials that preserve and document the history of trade and its impact. The collection, currently, consists of more than 30,000 items, ranging from handwritten invoices for goods dated as early as the 5th century to early 19th century accounts of expeditions into the North American wilderness.

The James Ford Bell Library is a key resource for undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, and the public, said William Phillips, professor emeritus of history at the University of Minnesota.

Supporting education

William Phillips

"[Undergraduates] come into the Bell Library not believing that they can touch materials that are 500 years old," Phillips said. "And they find that they can and it sparks something in their imagination."

Phillips and others say that access to primary sources is critically important for students and researchers.

"Nothing really replaces an encounter with original sources," said Kathryn Reyerson, professor of history at the University of Minnesota. "To hold a document is something that can make a lasting impact."

"You should be able to look at what people were thinking during the actual time [in history]," said Zoe Hill, an alumna of the University of Minnesota and a member of the Associates of the James Ford Bell Library. "It helps you to weed out biases ... And it gives you an opportunity to form your own opinions."

Carla Rahn Phillips, professor emeriti of history, said that the Bell is an important asset for recruiting graduate students to the University of Minnesota. "Graduate students often choose to come to an institution, such as the University of Minnesota, because of the research opportunities that that institution has," she said. "The Bell Library is one of our greatest drawing cards."

Supporting research

Nabil Matar

Nabil Matar, a professor of English, said without the Bell Library he would not have been able to conduct his research.

"The fact that a particular book is here helps me very much in terms of finding material that somebody else at a different university, which doesn't have the book, would not find with the same ease," Matar said.

Carla Phillips said the book she most enjoyed writing was inspired by a packet of materials at the Bell Library. "This was a book called 'Six Galleons for the King of Spain,' and the Bell Library, in fact, had the delivery documents for those six galleons," Phillips said.

Supporting community

Ford Bell

It's important for a research library like the Bell to be housed at the University of Minnesota, a major research institution,