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HMML Stories — News
Top stories from the happenings at HMML.
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HMML Board Welcomes New Members, Elects New Chair
“Five new members have joined the 29-voting member HMML Board...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart

HMML Becomes an Independent Nonprofit
“As of July 1, 2023, HMML is operating as its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. HMML began in 1965...”
- Margaret Bresnahan

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Announces Second Season of its Virtual Series, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Announces Second Season of its Virtual Series, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
- Joe Rogers

Icon Collection Finds a New Home at HMML
“This year, HMML received a large donation of Russian icons from the collection of Edmund Gronkiewicz...”
- Katherine Goertz

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Receives $5 Million Grant From Arcadia
“This five-year grant focuses on digitization, archiving and cataloging of endangered manuscript collections...”
- Joe Rogers

Prof. Getatchew Haile, FBA, 1931–2021
“With great sadness we learned that our dear friend and colleague...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart

HMML Presents Third Program in “To Listen” Series on May 20, 2021
“Inspired by the need to promote active listening in the pursuit of understanding and connection, HMML developed a...”
- Joe Rogers

HMML Presents the Second Program in the “To Listen” Series on March 18, 2021
“HMML developed a series featuring cultural preservation partners and leaders from...”
- Joe Rogers

HMML Presents New Program, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
“Inspired by the call to action in Fr. Columba Stewart’s 2019 Jefferson Lecture, this program will include interviews with...”
- Joe Rogers

The Power of a Name
NEH grant for cataloging, to create an authority file system database, and work with Library of Congress (LC) and Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Database Partnership Expands Access to West African Manuscripts
HMML is now in partnership with the West African Arabic Manuscript Database
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library names Rachel McGarry and Nick Swenson to Board of Overseers
Museum and investment executives named to Board of Overseers
- Joe Rogers

Refresh of HMML brand identity and website
“Today we move forward with that name at the center of our new brand identity.”
- Joe Rogers

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library completes digital cataloging of Khalidi Library’s manuscript collection
“The Khalidi Library in East Jerusalem and The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library announce that the complete digitized manuscript collection...”
- Joe Rogers

Advanced Imaging Data for HMML Palimpsest Project Hosted on OPenn
“The HMML palimpsest SJU Ms Frag 32 is a single parchment leaf from...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

Why Cultural Heritage Matters Program and Resources
“Why is a Cultural Heritage Matters is a TPT 30-minute program which highlights the reasons why preserving the past...”

“HMML@Home” — A New Way to Stay Connected
“HMML curators are continuing to work from home through the current global pandemic...”

HMML Launches New Series — HMML@Home
“HMML curators are continuing to work from home through the crisis...”

BBC Radio Airs Story on HMML and Fr. Columba
“BBC World Service’s Heart and Soul program aired a story featuring HMML’s work in preserving the manuscript collections of Timbuktu.”

Ancient Writing Revealed During HMML Palimpsest Imaging at Stanford's SLAC Lab
“HMML’s very own palimpsest fragment recently underwent high energy x-ray imaging at...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

HMML Fieldwork — Fr. Columba Travels to Mali, Renews Agreement
“In December, Fr. Columba traveled again to Mali to visiting HMML’s digitization sites in both...”

Governor Walz to Headline Event Honoring Minnesota's “Monument Man” of Endangered manuscripts
“Fr. Columba, executive director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) at Saint John’s University, is being honored for his work...”
- Joe Rogers

HMML Staff Make Scholarly Impact
“The staff at HMML continue to contribute broadly to the fields of history, cultural studies, and...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

Seeing the Invisible — Multispectral Imaging of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts
“This year marks twenty years since the first significant efforts were made to use multispectral imaging (MSI) to reveal hidden...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

vHMML Reading Room Surpasses Milestone
“vHMML Reading Room, HMML’s digital library, now holds over 50,000 records...”
- Joe Rogers

vHMML Museum Goes Live
“vHMML Museum, a new component of the vHMML digital platform, went live on...”
- Joe Rogers

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Mentioned in December 2018 National Geographic Magazine
“Materials curated by the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) are featured in the...”

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library's Malta Study Center Completes Digitization Project at MUŻA — Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arti
“HMML’s Malta Study Center has completed a digitization project with Heritage Malta to...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Digital copies of the Rossi, Ansaldi and Caetani Yemeni manuscript collections now available in vHMML Reading Room
Digital copies of the Rossi, Ansaldi and Caetani Yemeni manuscript collections now available in vHMML Reading Room.

HMML Featured on CBS News’ Program 60 Minutes
HMML was featured on the CBS news program “60 Minutes”

Harvard Magazine Profiles HMML's Father Columba
“Harvard features an alumni profile of Father Columba Stewart in the January-February 2018 issue of...”

Permanent gallery for The Saint John’s Bible opens at Saint John’s University
“The Saint John’s Bible has traveled the world on exhibition and inspired people of all cultures and...”

NEH funds 2018 Summer Institute in Mediterranean Studies at HMML
“HMML has a vast collection of online manuscript and resource materials on the early modern Mediterranean...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

HMML Partners with the Institute for Advanced Study to Share Threatened Manuscript Heritage from Yemen and Neighboring Countries
“HMML is collaborating with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, to provide open access to...”

Innovative Manuscript Research Tool on vHMML Now Available
“vHMML Reading Room will be a game-changing research tool for anyone interested in manuscript studies...”

Artistic Director and Scribe of The Saint John's Bible Receives Apostolic Knighthood
“Donald Jackson received one of the highest honors bestowed upon laypeople by the Vatican.”

HMML’S Malta Study Center and the James Ford Bell Library Open Exhibition on the Great Siege of Malta
“The exhibition features more than twenty original rare books and manuscripts narrating the history of the...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Father Columba Stewart Awarded 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship
“Father Columba Stewart has been awarded a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation...”

HMML’S Malta Study Center Begins Digitization Partnership with the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti
“The Malta Study Center at HMML has signed a partnership agreement with the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (FPM) to begin...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Launches vHMML
“HMML is very excited to announce the launch of vHMML (“Virtual HMML”)...”

HMML Receives Major Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
“The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library...”

HMML Digitizes Timbuktu's Historic Manuscript Collections
“HMML is creating digital records of more than 22,000 rare and historically-significant documents from a...”

HMML Urgently Working to Save Manuscripts in Iraq, Hopes for Safety of Collections in Syria
“Against a background of terrorism and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage sites, HMML...”

HMML Awarded $500,000 Grant From Henry Luce Foundation to Support Development of an Online Reading Room for vHMML
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded a $500,000 three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to support...”

Malta Study Center Partners with the Mediterranean Seminar
“The seminar’s mission is to encourage scholarly collaboration across disciplines and...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

HMML Receives International SUCCEED Award
“The ceremony will be chaired by Nobel-Prize winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, the...”

HMML Receives Grant from Prince Claus Fund to Digitize Timbuktu Manuscripts
“When Timbuktu’s ancient libraries were in danger of destruction by Islamist militias during the...”

HMML Returns to Mali to Digitize Manuscripts from Timbuktu Library
“Fr. Columba Stewart and his team have returned to Bamako, Mali, where he and...”

Council of the British Academy Bestows Edward Ullendorff Medal Upon Getatchew Haile
“The Council of the British Academy has bestowed the Edward Ullendorff Medal upon Dr. Getatchew Haile.”

HMML Awarded Grant to Develop Virtual HMML
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded a grant of $350,930 from The Institute for Museum & Library Services for...”

HMML Awarded National Medal of Honor
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service...”

HMML Begins First Manuscript Preservation Project in Jerusalem
“HMML has begun manuscript preservation work in Jerusalem...”

Researcher Identifies Second-Oldest Ethiopian Manuscript in Existence in HMML’s Archives
“Ted Erho, a doctoral student at Durham University in England, recently spent six weeks at HMML studying...”