Belonging on the Shelves: Constructing Scientific Eminence in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Though powerful, eminence and prestige are deceptively unstable categories. This article argues that science and technology-collecting repositories can benefit from deeper investigation into how evolving notions of professional eminence have shaped their collections, using the manuscript holdings of the Library of Congress as a case study. It reviews some of the Library’s efforts to document the nation’s science and technology history, explores collecting gaps left as scientific labor became increasingly professionalized, well-resourced, and politically powerful, and describes staff efforts to fill those gaps. The article concludes by offering suggestions for institutions seeking to document histories of science and technology in a more comprehensive way.