Advancing original research, student engagement, and public humanities scholarship by connecting faculty, students, staff, and Baltimore-Washington DC communities to the Sheridan Libraries’ rare books, manuscripts, and archives.
The Tabb Center is a public-facing arm of Sheridan Libraries Special Collections, which houses a vast collection of rare books, oral histories, historic documents, and other materials. Highlights include the Roland Park Company Papers, the Baltimore Queer Oral History collection, and over sixteen thousand images in our University Photograph Collection.
Learn more about Special Collections
The Tabb Center, established by President Ronald J. Daniels and Johns Hopkins University’s board of trustees, is named in honor of Winston Tabb for his enduring support of original scholarship.
Fellowship Opportunities
News & Announcements
Tabb Center Producing Ballroom VR Film to be screened in Fall 2024
Tabb Center Director Joseph Plaster and filmmaker Jason Gray, Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs, are creating a short virtual reality film based on the Tabb Center's 2023 Peabody Ball. The film will be screened for the public in fall 2024.
Learn about the 2023 Peabody BallRegister for Edible Book Festival by March 28, 2024
Enter your book-inspired dessert by 12 noon on March 28 to compete for fabulous prizes in our annual edible book bake-off.
Register at this linkTrans Cultural Production Speaker Series Announced
The Tabb Center’s spring 2024 speaker series highlights cultural production by trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming artists, writers, historians, poets, and musicians.
Read more about the seriesThe HUB profiles Tabb Center teaching, public humanities
The HUB profiled Tabb Center director Joseph Plaster's public humanities teaching, research, and fellowships. An emerging field, the public humanities is raising awareness about social justice issues and leading to meaningful collaborations between Johns Hopkins University and local communities.
Read the HUB articlePublic Humanities Fellow Launches “Belonging” Installation
"Be(longing): Unveiling the Imprint of Black Women Hidden in Plain Sight" is an installation by Baltimore-based artist and Public Humanities Fellow Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown, inspired by her explorations with archival materials related to Ethel Ennis, Billie Holiday, African American real photo postcards.
Read the BMoreArt storyEdible Book Festival Registration Open Until March 29, 2023
The Sheridan Libraries Edible Book Festival began in 2014 and is now a highly-anticipated Johns Hopkins tradition. It is one of many such festivals that take place around the world on or around April 1 to celebrate books, art, food, and culture.
Register and learn more at this linkThe Peabody Ballroom Experience Wins The 2023 NCPH Outstanding Public History Award
Joseph Plaster, director of the Tabb Center, has been named 2023's Small Institution Award Winner by the National Council on Public History for the Peabody Ballroom Experience, an arts and humanities collaboration between JHU and Baltimore's ballroom community.
Read more on the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute websiteSpring 2023 Curating Archives Event Series Announced
The Curating Archives event series explores the politics of historical memory and creative approaches to archival collections. Speakers include Jules Gill-Peterson, Chase Joynt, SHAN Wallace, Sandra Eder, and Jeanne Vaccaro.
Read more about the event seriesTabb Center Hosts Trans Oral History Workshop and Public Talk
On December 3, 2022, the Tabb Center hosted Andrea Jenkins and Myrl Beam from the Minneapolis-based Tretter Transgender Oral History Project. Jenkins and Beam held a public workshop, "Doing Trans Oral History," and a public talk, “Building Power Through Documenting Trans Oral Histories.”
Read more at the Johns Hopkins News-LetterTabb Center 2022/23 Public Humanities Fellows Announced
The Tabb Center is pleased to announce its inaugural 2022/23 Public Humanities Fellows: Hoesy Corona and Nicoletta Darita de la Brown. Fellows are non-institutionally affiliated organizers, artists, cultural workers, and knowledge-creators who mobilize and creatively interpret materials from the Sheridan Libraries’ rare book, manuscript, and archival collections over the course of a yearlong residency.
Read about the fellows on the Sheridan Libraries Blog