Massachusetts State Employees: We’re Here for You!

If you are a current, permanent state employee working anywhere within Massachusetts, we are at your service! You are eligible for borrowing privileges (and much more!) from the State Library.

We invite you to visit the State Library to see the resources available for you to access in person. Stop by our historic reading room, located in Room 341 at the rear of the Massachusetts State House, where our reference librarians can help you sign up for a library card, assist you with your research (including legislative histories), and check out circulating library materials to your account. 

As a state employee, you can also reserve our conference room. The conference room is available during the State Library’s regular hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. It consists of a table with 10 permanent chairs and can accommodate up to a maximum of 10 people. For more information on how to reserve the conference room, please see this page and/or email Library.Reservations@mass.gov. 

If you’re unable to visit us in person, don’t worry—many of our resources and services are available online! Check out the list below for everything you can do remotely:

• Sign up for a State Library card – You’ll need a State Library card to access several of our other services, so visit our website to sign up for your card. Once you get your card, you can log into your account here.
• Access our online databases – Once you have your library card, you can search our online databases and download newspaper and journal articles. Some of the databases we subscribe to include: 
  
      -LexisNexis -Westlaw     -Digital Sanborn Maps   -Hein Online
       -MassTrac         -JSTOR       -Historical Boston Globe

Remote access to our databases requires a password in addition to your library card number, so if you need help with your password, please call the Reference Desk at 617-727-2590 or email us at reference.department@mass.gov

• Request books and journal articles via interlibrary loan – If you need books or journal articles not held by the State Library, you can make an interlibrary loan request, and we will work to acquire the resources you need from our network of local academic libraries. To make a request, fill out the form on our website or email us the citation for the book or article that you need at interlibrary.loan@mass.gov
• Borrow ebooks – We’re not all business at the State Library; we also offer popular fiction and nonfiction ebooks for you to read in your down time! Visit OverDrive to check out ebooks and magazines, many of which are available to borrow immediately.
• Place a hold on books from libraries across the Commonwealth – Visit the Commonwealth Catalog to search through millions of items that are available for you to request using your State Library account.

In addition to these services, you can also access the following resources and services remotely, without a State Library card:

• View and download online state government publications – The State Library’s online repository houses thousands of publications from Massachusetts government agencies, as well as historical materials that have been digitized. Also included are Massachusetts Acts & Resolves and the House and Senate Journals.
• Get expert research assistance from our reference librarians – The reference librarians in our main library and in our Special Collections Department are here to help you with your research needs! You can get in touch by calling 617-727-2590, by emailing reference.department@mass.gov, or by chatting with us online.
• Follow us on social media – We love sharing interesting facts about the Commonwealth and highlighting our resources on social media! You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Flickr. You can also keep up with the State Library's news and announcements by signing up for our newsletter!

Have other questions? Contact us!

State Library of Massachusetts
State House, Room 341
24 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02133

Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month! This designated month celebrates and honors the history, cultures, and contributions of Native Americans to the United States. The idea for a day to recognize and honor the American Indian was first promoted around 1911 by Dr. Arthur C. Parker. Parker, of Seneca descent, was director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences and once President of the Society of American Indians, worked to educate the public on Native American history. As part of his efforts, Parker suggested the Boy Scouts of America adopt a “First Americans” day. Then, beginning in 1916, many states enacted an “American Indian Day” as the result of campaigns by the American Indian Association. In 1990, under President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. officially proclaimed November as Native American History Month.  

To celebrate, the State Library is highlighting a few titles in our collection that enhance the historical narrative of the nation’s indigenous populations. These engaging, informative titles shed light on the often-untold events and experiences of Native Americans.  

Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip's War (2018) by Lisa Brooks - Centered on the events of King Philip’s War (1675-76), or the First Indian War, which was primarily waged in southern New England between chief Metacom (also known by the English name Philip) of the Wampanoag Tribe and the English colonists of Plymouth Colony. Brooks crafts a compelling narrative of the war told through two different perspectives, one from Weetamoo, a female leader of the Wampanoag, and the other through James Printer, a writer and scribe of the Nipmuc Tribe. Lisa Brooks, a writer and historian of Abenaki descent, is an Associate Professor at Amherst College.  

Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory (2020) by Claudio Saunt - Described as “masterful and unsettling,” Saunt’s Unworthy Republic details the U.S. government's extreme efforts for ‘Indian Removal’ during the 1830s. This title provides an important and well researched retelling of the violence, betrayal, and political schemes to displace Native Americans from their lands and homes to benefit the expanding country. Saunt is a historian, author, and Professor in American History at the University of Georgia.  

Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America (2021) by Nicole Eustace - A gripping account of the 1722 murder of an indigenous man in the woods of Pennsylvania by two white colonists. Eustace relays the crime and the subsequent criminal investigation, while at the same time exploring the disparities between Native American forms of justice and the colonists’ ideas of British law. Eustace is a Professor of History at New York University.  

To learn more about Native American Heritage Month, including information on the exhibitions and webinars available for you to view this month, visit NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov. And for more information on the titles listed above, contact the State Library’s Reference Department by emailing reference.department@mass.gov, by calling 617-727-2590, or by chatting with us. 

April Pascucci
Reference Librarian

Food of the Wampanoag, Pilgrims, and Beyond

With the end of the calendar year approaching, it’s common for family and friend gatherings to take place in celebration of various holidays. In anticipation of lots of meals with loved ones, we wanted to highlight some of the cookbooks in our collection, plus books about the history of food and cooking in New England. Whether you have a sweet tooth or prefer something more savory, we’ve got a story or a recipe for everyone.

Let’s start by highlighting some food popular among the Wampanoags. The Wampanoags were the Indigenous people who settled the modern-day Plymouth area before the Pilgrims arrived in 1620. They were here long before Europeans arrived in North America and in the 1600s had around 40,000 people that made up the 67 villages of the Wampanoag Nation. Plimoth Patuxet Museums provides some information on the kinds of foods these Indigenous people consumed and cooked. Wampanoag families were assigned a plot of land on which they could garden, though there was food sharing amongst the community.They grew corn, beans, squash, and melons. Land shared among the community was where hunting, gathering, and fishing took place. Meat only made up about 20% of the Wampanoag diet since it wasn’t as readily available, while the foods they farmed made up the majority of their diet. They gathered berries, roots, and other plants to supplement their food supply as well. Today there are between 4,000 and 5,000 Wampanoag still living in New England and they continue to honor their ancestors and appreciate their way of life.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums also put together recipes based on primary sources and research done by their experts. You’ll find traditional Wampanoag dishes of the Indigenous people of Patuxet on their website, as well as some English versions of dishes.

Once the Pilgrims arrived in the Plymouth area, food developed further. Here are a few recipes from the book Plimoth Plantation: 1627 Autumn Recipes, which contains recipes similar to those of the Pilgrims’. Keep in mind that their food was influenced by the Wampanoag and was made according to what was available on the land where they just arrived rather than on the food they made while living in England. Many recipes needed to be adjusted based on what they had on hand, which you can read more about in the excerpt below along with a recipe for “pudding of native corn with dried blueberries.”

You can find more recent recipes based on the traditions of the Wampanoag in this cookbook, written by the former chief of the Mashpee Wampanoags and owner of The Flume restaurant in Mashpee, MA, Earl Mills Sr.  

The Flume is now closed, but over the 20+ years it was open, it was a warm, welcoming place abuzz with customers. Mills Sr. filled his menu (and this book) with recipes inspired by the traditions of his people and of his family growing up, as well as recipes that his customers shared with him.

We of course cannot talk about food in New England without talking about the chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate chip cookie was designated the state cookie of Massachusetts on July 9, 1997, but its history with our state started well before then. This now-classic cookie was born thanks to Ruth Wakefield, baker and owner of the Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Mass., during the Great Depression. You can see the original recipe below and find more of Ruth’s recipes in her book titled Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House Tried and True Recipes. Be sure to also take a look at one of our previous blog posts for more information.

Moving forward in time, let’s take a look at recipes that some of our Massachusetts elected officials liked to make in 1987. Yes, it’s true: we have a cookbook titled What's Cooking under the Dome?: The Massachusetts State Elected Official's Cookbook. This book was compiled by Rep. Thomas Finneran and published in 1987 to benefit the Boston Center for Blind Children. It contains recipes for appetizers, soups, main dishes, and desserts, all from elected officials in the Commonwealth, including Governor Michael Dukakis.  

There are even helpful hints at the back of the book. For example: according to this book, did you know that if you’re baking, you’ll get better results if you preheat your cookie sheet, muffin tin, or cake pans? 

For more books related to cooking and food in New England, take a look at these titles below. You can read these books in person by visiting the Library (Monday-Friday, 9-5pm) or you can request them via interlibrary loan through your local public library.

• The baking powder controversy, 1904 (This item is not loanable via ILL.)
• Bakers and baking in Massachusetts : including the flour, baking supply and kindred interests, from 1620 to 1909, 1909 (This item is not loanable via ILL.)
• A collation of cakes yesterday and today : in which is included a true and accurate notation of early English and colonial America receipts, showing the beginning and progress of the gentle art of cake making to the present time, 1923 (This item is held in Special Collections. An advance appointment must be made to view this book in person and it is not loanable via ILL.)
• A century of candy making, 1847-1947 : the story of the origin and growth of New England Confectionery Company, which parallels that of the candy industry in America, 1947
• Fluff : the sticky sweet story of an American icon, 2017
• Women in the kitchen : twelve essential cookbook writers who defined the way we eat, from 1661 to today, 2020

Jessica Shrey
Reference Librarian

Audubon’s Wild Turkey arrives in the Library!

The Wild Turkey (plate 6) has made its way to the library! It will be on display in the main reading room through December 6. Depicted in the print is the female turkey, surrounded by nine young turkeys. 

This is the second wild turkey print included in Birds of America, its companion is the male wild turkey (plate 1). Audubon writes that starting in October the males and females separate, and the females "are seen either advancing singly, each with its brood of young, then about two-thirds grown, or in connexion (sp) with other families, forming parties often amounting to seventy or eighty individuals." Read more of Audubon's account of the wild turkey here, and stop by this month to see this print in person.

On Display in the State Library

Election Day is tomorrow, November 8! With that occasion in mind, this month's displayed item is a
broadside of a resolution passed by the Massachusetts State Senate on November 19, 1788 stating that the Commonwealth would be divided into eight districts “for the purpose of choosing eight persons to represent the people thereof in the Congress of the United States.” The resolution further stated that selectmen should call town meetings on December 18 so that those qualified to vote should gather to cast their ballot for their respective representative.  The broadside in our collection was sent to the selectmen in the town of Manchester.

The Massachusetts state legislature was formed and a state Constitution ratified in 1780, but it would be nearly a decade later that the early republic would ratify the United States Constitution, form the federal government, and elect officials. The eight individuals elected from the districts announced in this resolution would serve in the very first session of the United States House of Representatives. 

The eight districts in the resolution are as follows:

• The County of Suffolk, be one district
• The County of Essex, one district
• The Count of Middlesex, one district
• The Counties of Hampshire and Berkshire, one district
• The Counties of Plymouth and Barnstable, one district
• The Counties of York, Cumberland and Lincoln, one district
• The Counties of Bristol, Duke’s County and Nantucket, one district
• The County of Worcester, one district

This looks different from today’s Congressional districts - there are currently nine districts, and they aren’t cleanly divided by county (for example, cities/towns from Worcester County can be found in five different Congressional districts). Also of note is the district that included the counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln - you may not recognize those as Massachusetts counties because they are in Maine! It wasn’t until 1820 that Maine was granted its statehood and separated from Massachusetts.

The voting process was also different in 1788 than it is today. This resolution instructs town selectmen to call for those eligible to vote to gather on December 18 to vote for a representative from their town. Specific candidates were not listed on a ballot – basically everyone was a write-in candidate. The town selectmen shall then “sort and count the votes, and form a list of the persons voted for, with the number of votes for each person.” Those results were announced at the town meeting and then the tabulation of votes for that town were sealed and sent to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, with a submission deadline of the first Monday of January 1789. The Secretary would then present all the town votes to the governor, who at the time was John Hancock, and the Governor’s Council. Several towns made up each district, so whichever candidate received the most votes within each district would receive a certificate from the governor announcing their election. If there was not a majority within a district, then the governor would issue a certificate with the names of the two individuals who received the highest number of votes to all of the towns within the district. The selectmen in those towns would then call a second town meeting for those eligible to vote to decide between those two candidates. As it turned out, of the eight districts, four of them did not have a majority in the first vote and went on to hold a second. More information about this election can be found in A Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. 

This resolution was issued during a formative time in American history, as members of Congress were elected for the first time, and just before George Washington was elected as the first president. But it’s important to note that in many states it was only white landowning men who were eligible to vote. When you head to the polls this week, think about the changes and expansions that have occurred in the 234 years that have ensued since this resolution was issued, and if you’re in the area stop by through November 30 to see it on display in our main library reading room.

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

State Library Newsletter – November Issue

November is here and with it is a new issue of our newsletter!  Pictured here is a preview, but the full issue can be accessed by clicking here. And you can also sign up for our mailing list to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox.