In 1944, Hannah French, Special Collections Librarian at Wellesley College, acquired a hand press and metal type and began to teach extracurricular letterpress printing workshops in the basement of Clapp Library. In 1959, the press was moved to the upper stacks of Special Collections and christened the Red Bud Press. In 1973, the press was moved to the present Book Arts Lab location and named the Annis Press in honor of Annis Van Nuys Schweppe, class of 1903.
Marilyn Hatch began to work in Special Collections and teach printing in the Book Arts Lab in 1977, and she added papermaking, marbling, and binding to the Book Arts curriculum. In 1998, Special Collections Librarian Ruth Rogers and Marilyn Hatch began offering Arts 107, Book Arts Studio, through the Art Department for credit.
Katherine McCanless Ruffin began teaching in the Lab in 2000, and in 2002, the Book Arts Program Director Position was created.
Adapted from “A History of the Annis Press” by Ruth Rogers & Marilyn Hatch, 1994