Accessible knowledge opens the door to education. Open access collections on JSTOR break down barriers to scholarship by empowering educators, students, and researchers with the materials they need to deepen their understanding of academic and cultural contributions.

Visual literacy–the ability to understand and analyze visual information–is especially necessary in the digital age. By evaluating images and connecting them to broader contextual frameworks, researchers can form well-rounded ideas on even the least expected subjects.

JSTOR’s open access imagery provides a trove of artwork, photographs, sculpture, and other visual materials that invite exploration across disciplines. This blog aims to introduce a few of the many rich collections available to explore this year.

Reveal Digital: Preserving and sharing underrepresented stories

An image featuring a cover from a publication or flyer. The title "An Introduction" is displayed prominently, with bold text. In the upper right corner, there is an illustration of a raised fist symbolizing resistance or solidarity. Below the title, a circular image captures a scene of a protest or rally. A group of people are actively demonstrating, with visible energy and determination, one holding a sign that reads "Our struggle is just commencing." Along the right-hand side, large vertical text spells out "SDS," likely referring to the Students for a Democratic Society.

Political Flyers and Handbills, 1969–1980, Item 05. Queens College, CUNY.

Widen your perspective with Reveal Digital’s several open access collections, each highlighting primary sources from 20th century voices of dissent. These collections include Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movements, Black Periodicals: From the Great Migration through Black Power, American Prison Newspapers, Student Activism, HIV, AIDS & the Arts, and Independent Voices. By amplifying marginalized and grassroots perspectives, these archives provide a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, and political movements that shaped modern history.

Explore Reveal Digital’s open collections.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Global art history at your fingertips

A fragment of limestone featuring an ancient Egyptian painting of a hippopotamus. The image shows the hippopotamus painted in black with red and brown details, standing on a pale background. The artwork is from ca. 1479–1425 B.C. and is part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. The rough edges of the limestone piece emphasize its age and historical context.

Artist’s Painting of a Hippopotamus, ca. 1479–1425 B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There is no need to head to New York City to see all that the Met has to offer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s open access collection on JSTOR brings more than 400,000 images right to your screen. Spanning 5,000 years of world culture, this collection showcases art across media.

Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s open collection.

Statens Museum for Kunst: Danish art enclosed

An oil painting by Viggo Johansen titled An Evening Party in the Artist’s Home (1899). The artwork depicts an intimate indoor gathering with elegantly dressed men and women in a warmly lit room. Guests are seated in small groups, engaged in conversation and listening to a man standing while speaking. The room is illuminated by chandeliers and table lamps, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere. The scene reflects a sense of refinement and social interaction typical of the time period.

Viggo Johansen. An Evening Party in the Artist’s Home, 1899. Oil on canvas, 1270 x 1890 mm. Statens Museum for Kunst.

The National Gallery of Denmark, Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), has made nearly 29,000 images available through Open Artstor. This collection includes Danish art from the Renaissance to early modernism, including works by artists like Melchior Lorck and Christen Købke. SMK’s commitment to “setting art free” makes it a leader in digital accessibility, offering a comprehensive survey of Denmark’s artistic heritage.

Preview the Statens Museum for Kunst’s open collection.

The Cleveland Museum of Art: Art through the centuries

An intricately designed Brisé Fan from the 1800s, featuring carved and pierced ivory sticks adorned with floral patterns. The fan includes three painted medallions in a European style, depicting elegant scenes of figures in classical attire. The medallions are framed with gilded details, and the sticks are held together by a delicate white silk ribbon, with an iron pin at the pivot point. The craftsmanship reflects the decorative art style of the time, showcasing both artistic and functional beauty.

Brisé Fan, 1800s. Carved ivory with painted medallions, held by a silk ribbon. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Cleveland Museum of Art‘s open access collection brings centuries of art to the digital forefront. Highlights include paintings by Nicolas Poussin and Mary Cassatt, intricate Chinese jewels and scrolls, Japanese screens and kimonos, African and Native American ritual attire, pre-Columbian gold, and a remarkable range of photography.

See the Cleveland Museum of Art’s open collection.

Wellcome Collection: Where science meets culture

An intricate black-and-white engraving titled De Respiratione. The image features a collection of scientific apparatus and tools used for studying respiration, including glass vessels, tubes, and bellows, arranged with precision. A dissected animal is depicted in the lower section, illustrating experimental procedures. The artwork includes detailed decorative elements and Latin inscriptions, reflecting the scientific and artistic sensibilities of the period. The engraving demonstrates a historical approach to respiratory studies.

“De Respiratione”, Showing Apparatus Etc. n.d. Wellcome Collection.

The Wellcome Collection focuses on health, medicine, and human culture, bringing unique interdisciplinary resources to JSTOR. The collection includes imagery from anatomical drawings to vintage public health campaigns, demonstrating the power of visuals in shaping our understanding of science and society.

Look at the Wellcome Collection’s open materials.

Te Papa Tongarewa: Highlighting New Zealand’s heritage

A vintage New Zealand postcard from the early 1900s. The left side contains handwritten correspondence expressing heartfelt wishes for a happy Christmas season and a prosperous new year. The right side is addressed to "The Rev. J. J. Pinfold, Methodist Parsonage, Rangiora, N. Canterbury." A green postage stamp from New Zealand is affixed in the top-right corner, postmarked with a clear date. The postcard is issued by Muir & Moodie, Dunedin, N.Z., as part of their copyright series of views.

Muir & Moodie studio. A Fresh Breeze, Lake Wakatipu, 1900–1903. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Discover New Zealand’s heritage through the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collection on JSTOR. Founded in 1992, Te Papa—“container of treasures” in Māori—represents a collaboration between Tangata Whenua (Māori) and Tangata Tiriti (non-Māori). This collection features the arts, culture, history, and natural world of Tangata Tiriti, with Māori taonga available directly on Te Papa’s site to honor their cultural significance.

View the Museum of New Zealand’s open collection.

Shared collections from libraries and archives

Libraries and archives worldwide are digitizing their special collections and sharing them freely on JSTOR. These contributions include illustrations, letters, postcards, literary documents, newspapers, magazines, photographs, oral histories, and more, covering a wide range of topics.

Highlights

Capturing the Civil War

A patriotic illustration titled Loyal to the Union, representing the state of New Hampshire. The design features a female figure draped in a star-spangled banner, symbolizing liberty and unity. She holds a pole topped with a banner labeled "Liberty." Below her, a circular vignette depicts a ship docked at a port with people gathered, emphasizing New Hampshire's maritime heritage. The bold word "UNION" appears on the right, styled with stars and stripes, reinforcing the theme of loyalty to the United States during the Civil War era.

New Hampshire. Loyal to the Union. Grand Valley State University, Special Collections & University Archives, n.d.

The images, diaries, and ephemera in Grand Valley State University’s Civil War and Slavery Collection reveal the stark realities of Abraham Lincoln’s world.

Maps, Power, and Identity

A historical hand-drawn map titled 山西平陸縣輿圖 (Shanxi Pinglu County Map), dated between 1644–1912. The map features detailed illustrations of mountainous terrain, rivers, and labeled structures in traditional Chinese calligraphy. Red markers highlight specific locations or landmarks, while black outlines depict walled areas or fortifications. The artwork provides a rich depiction of the geographic and administrative layout of Shanxi Pinglu County during the Qing Dynasty era.

山西平陸縣輿圖. 1644–1912. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library.

The Ancient East Asian Maps Collection at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology showcases the influence and narratives crafted by mapmakers.

Eastern Kentucky University American Slavery Collection

A historical document dated June 9, 1810, handwritten in cursive on aged, yellowed paper. The text records a bill of sale for an enslaved boy named Charles, approximately fifteen years old, sold by Wm. Todd to John Love for $500. The document includes phrases guaranteeing the boy's health and status as enslaved for life, with all claims settled. It reflects the language and practices of the time, providing a stark reminder of the institution of slavery in American history.

William Todd to John Love, for “a negro boy named Charles about fifteen years of age.” via Eastern Kentucky University.

The Eastern Kentucky University American Slavery Collection features sixteen documents, such as slave bills of sale, that recount the harrowing lives of enslaved individuals as recorded in ledgers.

We hope these collections inspire new discoveries, spark meaningful conversations, and support your teaching, learning, and research. Use these materials to see how open access can transform the way you engage with the world’s knowledge.

About the author

Maria Papadouris is a Content and Community Engagement Manager at ITHAKA, where she works on bringing the JSTOR community together under the common goal of championing access to knowledge (and having a fun time doing it!). A first-generation Greek American and first-generation college student, Maria is a master’s student in English Literature and previously studied political science and creative writing–bringing an interdisciplinary approach to issues in the humanities.