Cover story: For the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the Newberry has embarked on a project to explore the broader arc of religious change over a quarter millennium, highlighting groups of people who caused and experienced the era's social, cultural, and political transformations. Also in this issue: An American woman's engaging diary documents a diplomatic trip to Mexico, in the shadow of the Mexican-American War and the U.S. Civil War; Renaissance emblem books resemble (and prefigure) today's Internet memes; and Ann Beha Architects discuss their architectural philosophy and how they approached the Newberry's first-floor renovation.