Celebrating Dictionary Day 2025

The Beinecke Library and the New Haven Museum join forces again to celebrate Dictionary Day, with displays at the museum (114 Whitney Avenue) on Saturday, October 18, 12-4pm, and Beinecke Library (121 Wall Street) on Sunday, October 19, 1pm-4pm. This year, we are also joined by colleagues from the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, who will be at the Beinecke Library to share items and insights from their Webster collections.

“Dictionary Day” marks the birthday of American education and language pioneer Noah Webster (born October 16, 1758). During these drop-in display events, visitors can browse primary source materials and publications documenting the life and work of Noah Webster, the Webster family, and the times in which they lived.

Born in what is now West Hartford in 1758, Webster is best known today for his contributions to the standardization of American English through his dictionaries, the “Blue-Backed Speller” with which millions of children learned to read and spell, and other textbooks. However, Webster was a polymath, writing prolifically and influentially on topics including American independence and politics, slavery, public health, and Christianity. He also lobbied for copyright legislation in the United States and founded a number of newspapers. A graduate of Yale, Webster lived much of his life in New Haven and is buried with his wife, Rebecca Greenleaf Webster, in the Grove Street Cemetery.

On Saturday, October 18 from 12-4 PM, you are invited to visit the New Haven Museum, where a selection of the Museum’s collections on Noah Webster will be on display.

On Sunday, October 19, stop by the Beinecke Library between 1-4 PM to explore original manuscripts and publications documenting Noah Webster, the Webster family, and their networks, including family papers, records related to the groundbreaking American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), and numerous other publications by Noah Webster. Visitors may also explore the history of dictionaries themselves through a number of historic lexicographical works predating Webster’s dictionary. We will be joined by colleagues from the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, sharing items from their collections related to Noah Webster and the history of Webster’s Dictionary.

The event will be held in the reading room on the library’s courtyard level. The Beinecke Library exhibition hall (ground floor and mezzanine) is open on Sunday from 12 to 5pm.

When you arrive at the Beinecke Library, please place bags, hats, coats, and other belongings in the provided lockers before heading downstairs. No ink pens are permitted in the reading room, but visitors may use the yellow pencils available in the library. Visitors are welcome to take non-flash photographs.