Photograph of Joshua Lupkin by Geoff Caron.

Joshua Lupkin

Charles Warren Librarian for American History
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Widener Library

Coming from a background that includes history museums as well as academic libraries, I am very interested in understanding the evolving role of historical collections and primary sources in university research and teaching. I am relatively new to the Boston area, but am especially attracted to the juxtaposition of emerging technology and a sense of history that one can see everywhere in the streets and houses around us. I have spent a fair amount of time myself in the archives, completing my doctoral research on the history of taxicabs in New York and Chicago in the early twentieth century and on historical conflicts about urban land use and political power in general. As part of my role here at Harvard, I advocate for the needs of the Harvard community and work to provide access to the most relevant and interesting sources pertaining to North American history and literature. This means, in practice, that I constantly evaluate the books, journals, and databases that are in our local and shared collections and those that are emerging and could be helpful. I am liaison to the fellows at the Charles Warren Center for American History, and welcome discussions with researchers who have collections ideas and feedback in this topic area. I actively seek out opportunities to talk about the distinctive collections pertaining to American Studies here at Widener, and partnerships with people at Harvard and elsewhere in support of expanding awareness and access to primary sources.

Roles

  • Collection Development

Languages

  • Spanish
  • French
  • English