THE ADDISON

VIRTUAL PEDAGOGY MUSEUM OF RARE BOOKS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADDISON FOUNDATION

Hello historians! Welcome to The Addison Virtual Pedagogy Museum of Rare Books and Bibliography. Through this webpage, meticulously curated exhibits and lesson plans detailing the intricacies and wonders of the rare book world are right at your fingertips! Immerse yourself in various intriguing historical topics and see how books made hundreds of years ago can still provide useful social commentary today. Additionally, this resource is made to appeal to everyone! Our goal at The Addison Museum is to make sure we can provide an engaging experience to all of our visitors, regardless of their age, interests, and abilities. No matter who you are, we have something here for you! Have fun exploring!

The Addison Virtual Museum was founded in 2024 by Addison McDowell. Though she was an undergraduate student at Kennesaw State University at the time, Addi knew exactly what she intended to do with her career: study rare books! Having already been a collector of books and typewriters for several years, she began formulating plans to use them in educational settings and provide access to her collections to as many people as possible. Thanks to Dr. Kurt Milberger of KSU, Addi was able to physically create this platform as her Senior Seminar assignment. She named the foundation in honor of her grandfather and namesake, Charles Addison Davis.

Addi currently has over 2000 books in her collection, about 500 of which would be considered "rare" or "old." Due to the financial limits of acquiring rare texts, the exhibits you will find here were curated with the help of various different collections and museums across the world.

The Addison Museum is not an official corporation. We have no copyright claim over the name "Addison."

We are currently working on curating an exhibit specifically about the family behind the founding of this museum!

More information coming soon!

Access

Many universities and institutions across the world have rare book repositories, but they remain largely inaccessible to K-12 educators. Our rare book resources are specifically designed to adhere to state standards and build skills that all students in all classes can benefit from. As long as you have internet access, you have access!

Universality

We wish to prove that rare book resources are not only beneficial in an English or History classroom, but that every field of study can be better understood through examining and researching primary sources. We encourage STEAM teachers to use our resources, too!

Methodology

Many K-12 classrooms lack the hands-on experiences that students need to be engaged all day, especially in history classrooms. Curriculum is packed with content, content, content... but we want to help your students build the skills they need by actually doing history! Rare books are an excellent way to promote research skills, question development, and enthusiasm for learning.

Mindset

We strive to combat the idea that rare books are an exclusive resource meant only for professionals. Every person, regardless of skill, interest, age, ability, and IQ, is capable of learning through rare books. The fluidity of these learning tools provides us ample opportunity to accommodate everyone and modify resources.

At this time, all of this contact information will lead you to Addi McDowell, the creator of this website and curator of most of the exhibits.