Archivist as Detective: “My Dear Cousin … Yours Sarah”

by Susan Martin, Senior Processing Archivist

I’ve written many times at the Beehive about how much I enjoy, as a processing archivist, solving the mysteries in our collections. Not long ago, I cataloged a letter that gave me a chance to flex my investigatory muscles again.

Color photograph of two pages of a letter written in black ink and headed “New Braintree March 1st / My dear Cousin.” The ink is faded, and the paper is discolored in places.
Letter from Sarah to her cousin, March 1

The letter was written by someone named Sarah in New Braintree, Massachusetts, to her “dear Cousin.” The only date given is March 1, but from the paper and the writing, I guessed it was written in the mid-1800s.

There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering in the letter. Sarah mostly shares family news and complains about the weather, “household cares,” and all the sewing she’s done lately, presumably for income. She writes, “I have cut about fifty dresses the past year and a good part of them I have made.”

But obviously our researchers are better served when we can be as specific as possible about who wrote what, when, and where. Thankfully, Sarah name-drops several people like bread crumbs for me (creative spelling and punctuation hers).

Father had quite an ill turn while Jesse was at Worcester […] Lucious Prouty is going to move to this town he has bought the Pepper place, her fathers […] Miss Wood, Dwights lady has been teaching here this winter […] Hattie Prouty has been up here, and she says Dwight is going to fix up their house […] Lizzie Whipple has closed her school […] Frank is at Poughkeepsie hopes to recieve his diploma about the first of April […] Grandpa Whipple has been quite feeble all winter

It’s a little embarrassing to admit how often these investigations come down to random internet searches. It’s a question of forming specific enough queries. I usually start with the most unusual names, sometimes paired with a place or date. Searching for Lucius Prouty and New Braintree quickly got me to a genealogical website that lists him and his wife Mary Ann Pepper.

As I gather information, I refine my searches with more names and look for definitive sources. It wasn’t long before I found a digitized copy of a printed Prouty genealogy, and it seemed like I was on the right track. Not only would the dates be about right, but several of the names Sarah mentions can be found in Lucius’s branch of the family. (Lucius even had a sister named Sarah, but I decided she couldn’t be our correspondent because she was married. Our Sarah apparently wasn’t, writing forlornly, “It has been a hard winter for old people, and old maids.”)

The clincher was Lucius’s brother Dwight, who married a Miss Maria Wood in 1874. Not only did this confirm for me that I had the right family, but I also suspected it gave me the date of Sarah’s letter. What better reason to fix up a house than an upcoming marriage?

So these were clearly the people Sarah was talking about, but who was she? Stay tuned to the Beehive to find out.

Posted in From Our Collections

Student and Teacher Summer Fellowships at the MHS: Applications Open!

by Kate Melchior, Associate Director for Educator Engagement and Outreach 

Are you a K-12 student or teacher who has always wanted a chance to get hands on with history? Is there a subject in history you’ve always wanted time to explore? Apply for one of our student or teacher fellowships to explore our world-renowned collections this summer!

  • K-12 educators: Fellowships for archival research and curriculum development come with stipends ranging from $3,000-$6,000. One fellowship is prioritized for an applicant in their first five years of teaching.
  • High school students: A fellowship for a two-month project includes a stipend of $1,000, plus $1,000 for a teacher mentor.

Applications are due Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. Please visit our website to learn more and apply!

Hear from our 2024 teacher fellows about their experiences:

“When I first applied for [the Kass] fellowship, I wasn’t new to archival research[…], but I hadn’t fully experienced the feeling of awe and wonder when it came to reading about locations that I often frequented once being a hotbed of Latine activity in Boston; it was exhilarating.”

“The MHS collections on the exploited disabled Latine, the rebellious revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar, the theatrical Club de Boston, and the inclusionary Pan-American Society paints a clearer picture of how Latine navigated and pushed against white supremacy and US intervention over the course of the 20th century.”

“[M]y hope is that students can feel the way I do when diving into it — a source of pride and joy in seeing how Latine has been a part of the fabric that makes Boston a true city upon the hill for everyone.”

-Miriam Villanueva, Phillips Academy

“I have been in education since 2008 and have always had a passion for ensuring materials are accessible for all learners.”

“I loved the opportunity to come into MHS, which is beautiful, historic, and welcoming. Working in the resource center and handling primary source artifacts from the 17th and 18th centuries was amazing. […] Since I focused on slavery in Massachusetts from 1700 to the end of the Civil War, MHS had countless resources that were both useful and accessible for all students.”

-Briana Henderson, Stoneham High School

“The Swensrud Fellowship provided a focused opportunity to immerse myself in primary documents from the early 20th century. Through letters, diaries, and other personal writings, I became keenly aware of a shared thread that tied these sources together: a sense of isolation. Even in busy or tumultuous moments, letter writing itself felt like a solitary act—a quiet attempt to bridge emotional distance in a time of crisis. I realized that this desire for connection, whether in wartime or during a pandemic, spoke as powerfully to me as any military narrative.”

“I hope to pass these lessons on to my students, helping them see that history is not only a record of battles and dates, but a tapestry of human connections that span time and place. By engaging with these voices, both past and present, we keep history vibrant, authentic, and profoundly relevant.”

-Anthony Costello, Marblehead High

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged

“Plenty of good Timber”: Lumbering, Violence, and the Environment in Colonial New Hampshire

By Vincent Calvagno, Adelphi University Honors College

In colonial New Hampshire, violence was a way of life. During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the battles and raids of the Anglo-Wabanaki wars devastated the New England frontier, imperiling both the viability of English colonialism and the sovereignty of Indigenous groups. But while humans fought one another with guns and blades, an equally violent struggle pitted humans against the world around them. Even in times of peace, colonists scarred the environment by clearing fields, building roads, and damming rivers.

The relations of Jabez Fitch, a Portsmouth minister and self-styled historian, provide insight into the way these two types of violence—human and environmental—may have been connected. In his handwritten volume “A brief narrative of several things respecting the Province of New Hampshire” (ca. 1728-29), Fitch chronicled the history of his home province and describes its lifestyle. While Fitch extolled New Hampshire’s natural abundance, he lamented the incessant strife that he believed hindered its development.

Initially, colonists had settled in New Hampshire because of “The Commodiousness of the Harbour, the Convenience for Fishery, the Fertility of the Soil and the Plenty of good Timber.” Soon, however, the environment bore signs of overexploitation. In Exeter, “a Cluster of Saw-mills and Grist-mills” rose upon the town’s falls. Although Fitch hailed these mills as “a pleasant Sight,” they were part of a tremendously destructive process. By the late 1720s, Exeter’s residents had already begun to abandon logging because the local “Timber” had been “much glean’d.” Along the Piscataqua River, loggers were forced “to go several Miles into the Woods” for lumber because “the Trees that grew near” were “cut down.”

During the Anglo-Wabanaki wars, Indigenous warriors frustrated colonial logging operations by attacking lumber workers and burning mills. In 1707, at Oyster River, or present-day Durham, “while some were at work about Timber, and others driving the Team, a number of Indians fir’d on them.” According to Fitch, “they kill’d seven, and mortally wounded another.” In 1709, near Exeter, “A Party… surpriz’d several, as they were going to a Saw-mill” and took them prisoner. And in 1712, three miles above Oyster River, Indigenous raiders “burnt a Saw-mill, with a great many thousand of Boards.”

Fitch’s cursive handwriting appears in faded black ink on browned paper. Events are organized chronologically down the page, with key figures, places, and dates underlined for emphasis.
Page from Jabez Fitch, “A brief narrative of several things respecting the Province of New Hampshire,” circa 1728-29. Fitch describes raids during the Third Anglo-Wabanaki War (1703-13), the declaration of peace in 1713, and the renewal of war in 1722.

Recently, Lisa Brooks and Zachary Bennett have suggested that Wabanaki groups targeted mills in times of war due to the havoc they wrought on the environment. Fitch’s account of the Anglo-Wabanaki wars supports this conclusion. It took colonists just decades to raze ancient forests, but Indigenous resistance prevented them from destroying frontier ecosystems on an even greater scale. One wonders whether settlers lost more than they gained in the “Timber Trade.” “Indeed,” Fitch remarks, “where the Husbandry is neglected for the carrying on the Lumber Trade, whatever Profit others may reap by their Labours, the Persons themselves find no great Profit, when all accounts are cast up.”

Further Reading:

All quotations are from Jabez Fitch, “A brief narrative of several things respecting the Province of New Hampshire” (1728-29), held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Dates have been confirmed by reference to Jeremy Belknap, The History of New Hampshire, vol. 1 (1792), and extracts of the John Pike Diary (1673-1716).

For scholarly commentary on the Anglo-Wabanaki wars, see Lisa Brooks, Our Beloved Kin (2018) and Zachary Bennett, “Flowing Power” (2019).

For further scholarship on Wabanaki responses to English logging operations, see Thomas M. Wickman, Snowshoe Country (2018) and Strother E. Roberts, Colonial Ecology, Atlantic Economy (2019). 

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged

Mapping the Liquor License Petitions of the MHS

by CJ Haggard, Library Assistant

The Massachusetts Historical Society holds a remarkable set of liquor license petitions from eighteenth-century Boston. The petitioners wrote to the Boston Selectmen and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace for Suffolk County in the hope of obtaining a license to retail liquor or keep a tavern. Of the petitions, sixteen are written by men and nine by women, with each detailing the particular circumstances and requests of the petitioners. The petitioners give the reasons they must obtain a license, describe how neighbors and friends are willing to help them get started, and ask the Selectmen and the Justices to look on their situations with compassion. Most interestingly to me, however, is that most petitioners specified the location of their proposed tavern or shop, whether it was a rented venue or their own house.

While looking through these petitions, I had the idea to map each location to identify patterns and see their modern-day position. Using the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center’s digital 1769 map of Boston with a modern overlay, I successfully mapped the locations of most of the proposed liquor-selling locations in the petitions held by the MHS. You can view them on Google Maps or on the map below.

An eighteenth century print map of Boston, Massachusetts titled “A New Plan of ye Great Town of Boston in New England in America With the many Additionall Buildings &New Streets to the Year 1769” with modern digital additions. Nineteen blue dots with unique letters mark the map at specific locations. A rectangular map key sits on the left hand side of the maps, which reads: “A - Rebekah Badger, B - Moses Bennet (not located) “Opp. to John Tudor Esq.,” C - Joseph Blake (not located), D - Edward Blanchard, E - Richard Bradford, F - Samuel Breeden, G - Ann Britt, H - Jane Cazneau, I - Sarah Checkley, J - Joseph Coolidge, K - Joseph Goldthwait, L - Thomas Hubbart, M - Joseph Ingersol, N - Andrew Johonnot, O - Rachel Masters, P - Margaret More (not located), Q - Elizabeth Pittson, R - Mary Rose, S - John Stebbins, T - Jonathan Tarbox, U - Hezekiah Usher, V - William Vernon (not located) “at the Distill house lately improved by Capt. Benjamin Hommott, situated at the North port of Boston,” W - Mary Vinal (not located), X - Samuel Webb (not located) “the North part of the Town opposite John Langdons the Tallow Chandler,” Y - James J. Wheeler
A map of Boston from 1769 with the location of the petitions in the MHS collection marked.
Historic map from the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center; additions by CJ Haggard.

The map I made reveals that these institutions were spread out around colonial Boston, ranging from the North End to Boston Neck. The locations are not exact, as I often had little to go off of other than a street name or nearby landmark. A few petitions are also missing from the map, as they either did not give a location or I was not able to figure out where they were based on the directions provided. These petitions are noted as such in the key.

I also enjoy looking at the map and seeing what stands there today. For example: Joseph Goldthwait’s house, where he kept a tavern “for the Accomodation of Gentlemen from the Country,” would have been remarkably close to the modern-day location of Bova’s Bakery, a favorite of mine. Although it is unclear exactly where his house stood in 1767, he describes his situation as being “in back Street leading to Charlestown Ferry.” The end of Back Street (now Salem Street) closest to the Charlestown Ferry is exactly where Bova’s is today.

Three images of handwritten manuscript documents. One document is the petition of Joseph Goldthwait, signed on Boston Aug. 12. 1767. Another document reads "We the Subscribers recommend the within Petitioner as a person of sober Life and Conversation suitably qualified and provided for the exercise of the employment of an Inholder." It is signed by Joseph Jackson, John Hancock, Wm. Phillips, Timo. Newell, and John Rowe. The third document is a closeup of text that reads: "Jos. Goldthwaits Peto. Allow'd."
Images of the petition of Joseph Goldthwait regarding his tavern on Back Street.
Photos by CJ Haggard.

The Admiral Vernon Tavern, or the Vernon’s Head Tavern, also has a modern equivalent. Thomas Hubbart’s 1764 petition describes the tavern as being on King Street, now State Street, which led from the Old State House down to Long Wharf. In The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston, Annie Haven Thwing goes into more detail about the tavern’s location, stating it “was on the northeast corner of Merchants Row.” Merchant’s Row still exists today by Faneuil Hall. Even more excitingly, the lot at the northeast corner of Merchant’s Row is a modern-day bar called Clarke’s at Faneuil Hall, mirroring its colonial use. Although the Admiral Vernon Tavern is no more, one only needs to visit Clarke’s to walk in the footsteps of Thomas Hubbart himself.

I hope my map sparks some interest in these incredible petitions in our collection. The peek into colonial Boston they provide is fascinating, and I encourage anyone interested to visit the MHS and learn more.

Further Reading: On our library catalog ABIGAIL, you can view listings for Joseph Goldthwait’s petition and Thomas Hubbart’s petition. If you would like to view the listings for other petitions, you can click on the “Taverns (Inns) Massachusetts Boston” subject heading attached to both Goldthwait’s and Hubbart’s listings. All petitions appear in our holdings of Miscellaneous Bound Manuscripts from 1764 to 1773.

Posted in From Our Collections

Cranberries, Railroads, and an Early FAQ

by Susan Martin, Senior Processing Archivist

When Ellis Dexter Atwood died in 1950, 1,500 people attended his funeral. What made him so beloved? One reason was the Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts.

Black and white photograph of a white man with short gray hair and glasses, dressed in a suit and tie. A caption at the bottom reads: “Ellis D. Atwood.”
Picture of Ellis D. Atwood, from the Edaville Family Theme Park website

The story of Edaville began in 1941 when Atwood, one of the country’s leading cranberry growers, purchased historic railroad cars, tracks, and equipment from a defunct Maine railway. Atwood knew these narrow-gauge cars would be ideal for working his cranberry bogs. By 1947, he had transferred this equipment to his 1,800-acre estate in South Carver and built 5.5 miles of track for transporting supplies in and cranberries out. He also offered free rides to friends, and these rides soon became a popular weekend tourist attraction. Just three years later over 2,000 people a day were visiting Edaville.

Black and white photograph of a crowd of people standing outside next to a train pulling into a station. The train engine pulls several cars, and smoke billows out of its chimney. Behind the train and at the left of the picture are fields, trees, and farm buildings. At the right is a small station building and a railroad signal on a pole.
Visitors at Edaville, from The Baltimore & Ohio Magazine, November 1950

Railroad enthusiasts were, even then, fascinated by these vintage narrow-gauge railroads, which at two feet wide were less than half the standard. Three months after Edaville opened, one such enthusiast named Martin Schmidt wrote Atwood for more information, and Atwood sent him some mimeographed promotional literature on the history of narrow-gauge railroads and Edaville in particular. Those papers are here at the MHS.

This unassuming collection turned out to be a lot of fun to research. I found some terrific contemporary write-ups on Edaville in Popular Mechanics (1949) and The Baltimore & Ohio Magazine (1950).

Black and white photograph of workers in a field with a train passing behind them. In the foreground, two kneeling workers are bending over and holding onto wooden crates. Two other workers stand behind them and watch. The train in the background has smoke billowing out of its chimney and the word “Edaville” written on its side.
Cranberry harvesting at Edaville, from Popular Mechanics, June 1949

Railfans will find a lot of detail in this small collection to interest them, but my main takeaway is that Atwood was funny! I love to find humor in historical manuscripts, which can sometimes feel dry and inaccessible. The collection includes a hilarious proto FAQ written by Atwood. Among the usual questions about hours and directions, we also find these:

How can a young fellow start a cranberry bog of his own if he has no money?

Ans[wer]. Get on the good side of your rich aunt or better still, marry a wealthy girl. If you can’t do either, forget about the whole thing for the present.

Why did you name it Edaville?

Ans. Well, E.D.A. are my initials and we had to call it something.

Why don’t you run your trains according to the time table?

Ans. Well, we try to, but what do you care? The road doesn’t go anywhere and besides, the time table is a souvenir.

Why don’t you run your trains later in the day?

Ans. Well, I suppose our employees are more or less human and they get tired at the end of the day.

Why did you by [sic] this junk?

Ans. I haven’t had time to figure out a reason yet.

Sadly, Ellis D. Atwood died at the age of 61 from a boiler explosion at the Edaville screen house. While he and his wife Elthea left no children, they clearly left a lot of happy memories, and visitors reported that Edaville drivers always blew their train whistles twice when passing near the spot where he’s buried.

Posted in From Our Collections

Clara E. Currier’s Diary, February 1925

by Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights & Reproductions 

Today, we return to the transcription of Clara E. Currier’s 1925 diary. Currier was a working-class woman who lived in or near Haverhill, MA. Her diary records her daily activities—from fiber arts to paid employment to observations of the natural world—providing insight into daily life a century ago. You can find entries for January in a past blog post. 

February ushers in a series of dull days, which Clara fills with work, her fiber crafts, and entertainments with friends. She observes more cosmological and geological events and weathers a few storms. Clara starts taking home paychecks from her work and records her pay for the week on Thursdays.

pussywillows
Pussywillows. Image courtesy of Susan Drury via Wikimedia Commons.

Feb. 1, Sun. Fair and warmer, went to church and S.S, went up to Stephen’s for the afternoon, Charley and Delia came up after supper.

Feb. 2, Mon. Snow, wrote letters.

Feb. 3, Tues. Dull, went to Grange

Feb. 4, Wed. Fair, went over to see Blanche, crocheted.

Feb. 5, Thurs. [$]19 Fair, crocheted.

Feb. 6, Fri. Fair, went up town and cooked.

Feb 7, Sat. Fair and warmer, went to Haverhill about glasses and over home, had a sleighride.

Feb. 8, Sun. Fair and warm, went out skiing, saw a partial eclipse of the moon on the full, William brought me back. Wrote to Mrs. Muller.

Feb. 9, Mon. Dull with fog at night, went to class meeting, crocheted.

Feb. 10, Tues. Foggy, Blache came over.

Feb. 11, Wed. Foggy and rain, went over to Dennis’s and heard some fine music on the radio, crocheted.

Feb. 12, Thurs. [$]19. Foggy, knit and crocheted.

Feb. 13, Fri. Fair, went to the Swanee River Quartet concert (colored) at the Methodist Church with Sizzie and Blanche.

Feb. 14, Sat. Fair, washed and cooked, went uptown.

Feb. 15, Sun. Rain, went up to Delia’s for afternoon and evening with Sizzie.

Feb. 16, Mon. Fair, wrote letters and cooked.

Feb. 17, Tues. Dull, went to Grange.

Feb. 18, Wed. Fair, went to Legion play, “The Village School.[”]

Feb. 19, Thurs. [$]19 Fair, worked until six o’clock.

Feb. 20, Fri. Fair, worked until six then went up to Stephen’s.

Feb. 21, Sat. Fair, worked until 4 o’clock then went up home, Charles and Mabel came after me.

Feb. 22, Sun. Fair and springlike, went out after pussy willows, William and Mary brought me back.

Feb. 23, Mon. Dull and rainy, worked all day until six, went to class meeting.

Feb. 24, Tues. Dull, then cleared, worked until six, went up town at noon.

Feb. 25, Wed. Dull, worked until six, knit.

Feb. 26, Thurs. [$]20.90 Rain hail, snow, and cleared out at night, very cold and windy, waited on table at men’s club banquet, had Rev. Mr. Lindsay to speak.

Feb. 27, Fri. Fair and cold, worked until six, heard radio at Mrs. Dennis’s.

Feb. 28, Sat. Fair, worked until four o’clock, went up town, had an earthquake shock at 9.30 P.M shoke the house.

If you are interested in viewing the diary in person in our library or have other questions about the collection, please visit the library or contact a member of the library staff.

*Please note that this diary transcription is a rough-and-ready version, not an authoritative transcript. Researchers wishing to use the diary in the course of their own work should verify the version found here with the manuscript original.

This line-a-day blog series is inspired by and in honor of MHS reference librarian Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook (1981–2023), whose entertaining and enlightening line-a-day blog series ran from 2015 to 2019. Her generous, humane, and creative approach to both history and librarianship continues to influence the work of the MHS library.

Posted in From Our Collections Tagged ,

Women’s March Photographs and Narratives Collection now publicly available

By Nancy Heywood, Lead Archivist for Digital and Web Initiatives

In 2017, MHS undertook a collecting initiative with an open call for donations of images and accounts relating to the Women’s March for America, a series of protest marches held around the world following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.  MHS received digital files—images, narratives, and screenshots of tweets—from about a dozen donors. 

Dense crowd of people is depicted standing on Boston Common. The people in the image all face to the right as if listening to a speaker. One person holds a sign.
Boston Women’s March Participants, photograph donated by Anna Clutterbuck-Cook
Photograph primarily depicts a sign held up by a protester in a crowd of people. The sign features a woman’s symbol with an equals sign. Brick and sandstone buildings are in the background.
Boston Women’s March Participants, photograph donated by Anna Clutterbuck-Cook

Staff processed, described, and made backup copies of the digital files and donation forms, but the files and metadata remained on staff-accessible parts of the MHS network. The MHS did not have an easy way to make this entire collection accessible to researchers at the time. Today, the digital files comprising the Women’s March Photographs and Narratives collection are fully accessible to the public through the new MHS Digital Archive.  You can also find links to this collection from our library catalog.

Screenshot from the MHS Digital Archive showing Boston Women’s March participants image 06. A column of metadata is on the left. The image depicts a large crowd of people standing close to each other, two people are holding signs. A woman on the left appears to be looking at her cell phone. A woman in the middle of the photograph is looking to the left at various people and she is carrying an infant in a colorful tie-dye sling.
Boston Women’s March Participants, photograph donated by Alicia Cornwell

The ability to view the materials of the Women’s March collection is just one piece of the MHS Digital Archive. However, there is much more happening behind the scenes!

The MHS Digital Archive is the front-end access portal to MHS’s digital preservation system (Preservica).  The backend of the system allows MHS to:

  • organize and describe content
  • securely store content in the cloud with backups
  • monitor files for damage and replace them with an undamaged copy if damage is detected. (This means the system tracks the integrity of files and stores multiple copies of files. If the 0s and 1s of a file have changed, the damaged file can be replaced.)
  • ensure files are readable without needing the original application by saving them in preservation formats; for example, migrating old Word Perfect files to PDFs

MHS has been collecting, preserving and making accessible historically significant materials for over 230 years and with the rollout of the digital preservation system, we are now well-positioned to handle new accessions comprised of hybrid collections (physical and digital) or digital only. We will also be able to efficiently manage any future collecting initiative with an open call for donations of digital files and make them accessible.

Posted in From Our Collections Tagged

What’s in the MHS Digital Archive? Explore Some Examples!  

By Nancy Heywood, Lead Archivist for Digital and Web Initiatives

MHS recently launched the MHS Digital Archive, a system that preserves and provides access to born-digital files and reformatted audiovisual material. Our last blog post provides an overview of the Digital Archive and how to search its contents. This post shares some specific examples for adventurous readers to explore!

MHS’s digital preservation system is a multi-faceted tool that allows us to responsibly ingest (accept), describe, manage, migrate, monitor, and make digital files accessible.  The availability of reformatted audiovisual files via the MHS Digital Archive is especially significant because we don’t have any other way to make audio tapes; cassettes; and VHS, beta, and 16mm films accessible to researchers.   

Video about the history of Suffolk Downs

Item: This stand-alone digital video created in 2023, Suffolk Downs: Race Through Time, focuses on the history of the East Boston racetrack and legalized betting and horseracing in Massachusetts.

Example of a digital video: When MHS accepted this digital video, we knew we would be storing the file and the metadata in our digital preservation system and making it available via the MHS Digital Archive.

Explore in the MHS Digital Archive or start with the catalog record in ABIGAIL and follow the link. 

Screenshot from the MHS Digital Archive of Suffolk Downs: race through time showing metadata on the left, an embedded video player in the middle with a still image of horses on a racetrack, and a transcription of the narration on the right.
Screenshot from the MHS Digital Archive record for Suffolk Downs: Race Through Time

Spiritualist session recordings from the Leslie Shah Qualls papers

Collection: Leslie Shah Qualls (1903-1989) was a spiritualist who conducted psychic readings and mediumship.  Her papers mainly consist of her spiritual writings but also contain audio recordings of spiritualist sessions she led. 

Example of reformatted audio tapes: The original open reel audio tapes (nine audio tapes, seven with content on both sides) were converted to 16 digital files to provide access to the content. These tapes were in poor condition and required reformatting to preserve the information on them. Even if the tapes were in better condition, archival repositories don’t generally make original AV materials available in reading rooms because of the significant logistics of providing playback equipment for old formats to researchers, as well as the risk of damage or deterioration to the originals during repeated playbacks.

Explore in the MHS Digital Archive or examine the guide to the full collection and follow a link to a specific audio file.

To the left, a circular open reel audio tape. To the right, a screenshot from the MHS Digital Archive for Spiritualist session recordings, showing metadata on the top of the image with icons of speakers (signifying sound files) below the metadata. There are 9 icons because there are links to 9 sound files.
To the left, one of the original audio tapes that has been reformatted and made accessible in the MHS Digital Archive, to the right

Massachusetts Moderators Association records

Collection: The Massachusetts Moderators Association was founded in 1957 and provides resources and collaboration opportunities to town moderators.  The collection was donated in 2023 and is comprised of both physical and digital files.

Example of born-digital files: The digital materials within the Massachusetts Moderators Association were created as electronic documents in formats such as PDF and open-doc spreadsheets. These files include meeting minutes, lists, and digital files relating to various handbooks to help those leading town meeting sessions.

Explore in the MHS Digital Archive or read the guide to the full collection and follow the links to the digital files.

Two screenshots from the MHS Digital Archive relating to the Massachusetts Moderators Association records. One screenshot shows a folder grouping digital files which are represented a as a row of squares. One square incudes an arrow pointing to a second screenshot that shows the web presentation of a PDF document with metadata on the left and the page viewer on the right.
Screenshots depicting Massachusetts Moderators digital files. To the right, one folder groups multiple files, which can be opened to view the document (to the left, showing a presentation of a PDF file).

Posted in From Our Collections

Announcing the Launch of the MHS Digital Archive

By Caitlin Walker, Digital Archivist and Metadata Analyst

The MHS collects, preserves, and provides access to collections that document the history of Massachusetts and the nation up to the present day. Information is increasingly being created and communicated in a digital environment, which means many twentieth and twenty-first century collections include or consist entirely of digital files, such as PDFs and JPEGs.

MHS has been working toward preserving and providing access to this content for many years through countless meetings with staff from the Collection Services and IT departments. We are now happy to announce the official launch of the MHS Digital Archive!

Screenshot of the MHS Digital Archive homepage that includes the site logo and the following collection categories: Archive and Manuscript Collections, MHS Oral History Project, Visual Materials Collection, and Published Materials Collection.
Homepage of the MHS Digital Archive

The MHS Digital Archive provides access to born-digital content and reformatted audiovisual files. We define these files as the following:

Born-digital is a term archivists use to describe content that was created in a digital environment. The emails you send and receive, the Microsoft Word documents you create and store on your computer or cloud storage like Google Drive, and the images and videos you take on your cellphone are all “born-digital.”

Reformatted-audiovisual items refer to physical audiovisual media (such as cassette tapes, VHS tapes, vinyl records, 16 mm film etc.) that have been converted to digital files, so users can access them without needing playback equipment such as a VCR or a record player.

How to access digital and audiovisual materials

If you have researched in MHS collections in the past, you may be familiar with using ABIGAIL, the MHS library catalog, and MHS Collection Guides to access physical materials in the MHS reading room. Or perhaps you have accessed physical items that MHS has digitized and made available on our website. We have added links to born-digital and audiovisual items within ABIGAIL and the collection guides so that users will be able to find content using the same tools, regardless of format.

Users can also access individual born-digital and reformatted audiovisual items by searching or browsing the MHS Digital Archive directly, but we encourage you to start your search with the MHS Collection Guides and ABIGAIL. I like to think of catalog records and collection guides like a recipe, and individual items (whether they be physical or digital) like an ingredient list. Without the context of the recipe, you just have a bunch of ingredients.

Screenshot of MHS Collection Guide with blue links and a corresponding video in the MHS Digital Archive.
The Environmental League of Massachusetts collection guide includes links that lead to content in the MHS Digital Archive.
Screenshot of MHS Collection Guide and corresponding PDF in the MHS Digital Archive.
Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture Records collection guide and a linked document in the MHS Digital Archive.

Please Note: Born-digital and audiovisual items that have no restrictions (not under copyright, contain no private or sensitive information) will be available online through the MHS Digital Archive. Restricted collections and items can only be viewed on a provided laptop in the MHS reading room upon request via Portal1791.

Stay tuned for blog posts next week that highlight some of the collections and items in the MHS Digital Archive!

Posted in From Our Collections, MHS News Tagged

A Few of My Favorite Things

by Susan Martin, Senior Processing Archivist

This will be my eighth and final post about the Perry-Clarke additions, and in the hot seat today is Susan Cabot (Lowell) Sohier (1823-1868). Her daughter Alice married into the Clarke family, which is how Susan’s papers became part of this collection.

The oldest child of John Amory Lowell, Susan was a scion of the famous Lowell family of Boston. She and her husband, William Sohier, had six children, three of whom tragically pre-deceased them. Susan herself died of tuberculosis at the age of 45.

But I’d like to end this blog series on a fun note. Susan’s papers include a manuscript volume entitled “Preferences,” a kind of guest book filled out by her friends and family members beginning in 1862. Among the contributors were noted Unitarian clergymen Edward Everett Hale, Henry Wilder Foote, and Robert Collyer.

Rather than just sign, individuals were asked to name a preference in each of 24 categories. The categories were: poet, prose writer, occupation, amusement, vacation destination, method of travel, “time of rising,” study, language, character in history, character in fiction, living preacher, animal, musical instrument, flower, system of government, name, dish, drink, extravagance, economy, proverb or quotation, novel, and “year of life to live over if forced to – this not penitentially.” (If there were a category for favorite question, the last one would be mine.)

Color photograph of two pages of an open hardbound leather volume. The pages are blue and covered with handwriting in black ink. The left page contains four numbered paragraphs beginning with “1. You must tell the truth,” and the right page contains a list of 24 items under the heading “Preferences.” The binding of the volume is worn, stained, and separating from the spine.
“Preferences” book in the Perry-Clarke additions, 1862-1873

Rules for the game included “You must tell the truth” and “Answer as if you had unlimited power of choice, and were in no fear of criticism or punishment.” Many contributors had fun with their responses. Here’s a selection:

Method of travel: “Cars when I’m not upset”; “Driving a 2 seated vehicle with 2 agreeable companions who shall do the talking”; “Balloon”

Time of rising: “After my second morning nap”; “I heartily enjoy getting up early in summer but dont do it”; “Just before breakfast”

Study: “The faults of others”

Language: “The language I speak, Yankee”

Character in history: “I hate history & all the characters in it”

Living preacher: “Anyone who can keep me awake”

Animal: “Almost all animals at a respectful distance”

System of government: “I haven’t any choice really” (from a woman); “Absolute Monarchy myself the Queen”; “Petticoat Government”

Names: “Clarissa Jane, for a boy decidedly Hezekiah”

Extravagance: “Gas bill”

Year of life to live over: “15 years ago” (from a 15-year-old); “25 as seen from 45”; “The year I fell in love”

There were a few consistent favorites. Popular authors included Sir Walter Scott, Baron Macaulay, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Dickens, Shakespeare, and Charlotte M. Yonge. Horses, dogs, and cats topped the animal category. A few people listed the human voice as their preferred musical instrument.

This volume definitely reminds me of the early days of email and those questionnaires our friends forwarded to us. What would your answers be?

Posted in From Our Collections