Y2K: Crisis Averted

Many remember Y2K (or the year 2000 problem) as the disaster that never was. But Y2K was a real issue that the world faced, and the reason that we never experienced the predicted massive fallout was thanks to the efforts of many people behind the scenes. That includes information technologists and programmers in private businesses, the federal government, and here in Massachusetts’ government, too.

So, what was the issue that caused all this panic at the turn of the century? Programmers in the late 1900s were trying to be efficient. Since memory was expensive, programmers would format years with only two digits instead of four. So, the year 1999 would be represented as “99.” But as the year 2000 approached, more and more people realized that this discrepancy could cause issues with their computers. When the year 2000 came around and was inevitably notated as “00,” computers would assume it represented the year 1900. Though this may not seem like a big issue, many computer systems used dates to perform important calculations. The wrong date would lead to incorrect results, which could lead to computer crashes. And if those computers had important operating functions like, for example, monitoring nuclear plant operations, the failure of those computers could have huge consequences.

In 1998, the Massachusetts Department of the State Auditor released a report on the preparedness of Massachusetts to address Y2K. In that report, A. Joseph DeNucci, the State Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, described the potential consequences of Y2K in Massachusetts:

“The dimensions of the year 2000 problem for the Commonwealth are enormous. Practically every single automated system and its related technology, regardless of size, is impacted. Given our heavy reliance on computer systems, their failure to operate properly could mean anything from minor inconveniences to major problems. Virtually all citizens and businesses in the Commonwealth would be affected should state systems supporting our ability to collect revenue, pay bills, provide benefits, and support health, safety, and educational services be adversely impacted by the year 2000 problem.” (Department of the State Auditor, 1998)

The Department of the State Auditor’s report surveyed the Commonwealth’s preparedness for Y2K in order to promote awareness of the issue and address areas of deficiencies. The survey found that many entities in the Commonwealth had not established adequate plans for Y2K preparation. By October 10, 1997, only 3% of agencies has plans for Y2K, 3% of agency systems were compliant with year 2000 preparedness, and a whopping 95% were not compliant and had no plans (Department of the State Auditor, 1998, p. 12). This lack of preparedness was largely due to the widespread confusion surrounding the event. Some weren’t aware of the potential consequences, some were holding out for an easy fix to be developed, some didn’t realize it was their responsibility to address the problem, and many were intimidated by the scale of the problem.

The report discusses measures that had already been taken to ensure Y2K compliance. The Commonwealth’s primary accounting system was retrofitted at a cost of $2 million and its personnel and payroll system cost $5 million to overhaul (Department of the State Auditor, 1998, p. 11). And, though the numbers were not precise when the report came out, cost estimates for the Commonwealth’s most important systems totaled between $50 and $70 million (Department of the State Auditor, 1998, p. 24). From these numbers, it is easy to sympathize with those who were intimidated by Y2K compliance.

To help raise awareness and support planning for Y2K issues, the Administration and Finance Department’s Information and Technology Division (ITD) stepped into a role of responsibility. At the time of the report, ITD had “established a Year 2000 Program Management Office, formed a state-wide year 2000 users group, hosted awareness programs, established a year 2000 web page, and conducted seminars and workshops to promote best practices for addressing year 2000 compliance” (Department of the State Auditor, 1998, p. 12).

Though this report is only the beginning of Massachusetts’ fight to prevent a Y2K disaster, it provides valuable and intriguing insight into the government processes that eventually saved us from widespread technical failure. If you want to learn more, there are many more government documents in our collection that go into further detail about how Massachusetts tackled the Y2K issue.


Emily Colson
Government Documents Intern


Sources:

• Chandrasekaran, R. (1999, March 6). "Big glitch at nuclear plant shows perils of Y2K tests." The Washington Post. 
• Department of the State Auditor. 1998. Report on the preparedness of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to address the year 2000 computer date issue. 

State Library Newsletter - April Issue

Our April newsletter is out now, and full of information about our upcoming events, exhibited items, and more. If you're looking to read about Lexington and Concord, the Boston Marathon, and our Digital Repository, then you're in the right place!

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.

Lexington and Concord - Read All About It!

You can find a variety of historical newspapers in our Special Collections holdings, including some that date to the 1700s. We are lucky that amongst those is a bound volume of The Essex Gazette from 1775. This was a pivotal year in American history, full of events that culminated in the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. The Essex Gazette was published weekly, and this month in our Collection Spotlight case, we are displaying the issue that covered news from April 18 to April 25. As you may guess based on those dates, that issue included a write-up of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which occurred on April 19, 1775 – 250 years ago this month.

Lexington and Concord were the first military battles of the Revolutionary War. British troops were ordered to make their way to Concord to destroy military supplies that colonists had stored there. However, colonial intelligence knew that this attack was in the works, and preparations were made beforehand to hide the supplies and track the route of the British troops after they left Boston. Many are familiar with the line “one if by land, two if by sea” from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem "Paul Revere’s Ride." This refers to the lanterns that were placed in Old North Church on the night of April 18, 1775, notifying the Sons of Liberty if the British were making their way to Concord by land or by sea (really, by water, aka the Charles River). Upon seeing two lanterns, the colonists knew that the British were departing Boston by taking the Charles. Paul Revere set off from Boston to head to Lexington (where patriots John Hancock and Samuel Adams were stationed) warning townspeople of the British’s eminent arrival as he moved through Somerville, Arlington, and Medford. A full account of Paul Revere’s ride can be found on the Paul Revere House’s website. Revere’s alarm had roused militiamen in towns throughout the route; a group met the British in Lexington, and more militiamen gathered in Concord. Minuteman National Park is located throughout Lincoln, Lexington, and Concord, and its website provides comprehensive information about the battles that occurred on April 19. 

A List of Those Killed or Wounded,
as printed in The Essex Gazette

Since the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements with the British, news of this significant event needed to be disseminated throughout the colonies. One of the ways that this was achieved was through newspapers, like the article from The Essex Gazette that we are displaying this month. From the article “The Newspaper Coverage of Lexington and Concord” by Frank Luther Mott and published in the December 1944 issue of The New England Quarterly, we learned that in April 1775 there were 37 newspapers in publication throughout the colonies. Newspapers largely shared information, sometimes reprinting articles verbatim as news moved geographically. The Essex Gazette was published on April 25, 1775, less than a week after the battle. It wasn’t the first newspaper to publish an account, but it was among the first and was published within close proximity of Lexington and Concord, two factors that lead to its publisher to having the time and means to compile a significant amount of information regarding the battles. Mott’s article states that, “it is rather commonly regarded as the most satisfactory early account of the battles.” You can click on the newspaper image above to see the text in full (it is in the middle and right hand column), and we have transcribed some of the opening text here:

On Tuesday Evening a detachment from the Army, consisting, it is said, of 8 or 900 men, commanded by Lieut. Col. Smith, embarked at the Bottom of the Common in Boston, on board a number of Boats, and landed at Phip’s Farm, a little Way up Charles River, from whence they proceeded with Silence and Expedition, on their Way to Concord, about 18 Miles from Boston. The people were soon alarmed, and began to assemble, in several Towns, before Day-Light, in order to watch the Motion of the Troops. At Lexington, 6 Miles below Concord, a Company of Militia, of about 100 men, mustered near the Meeting House; the Troops came in Sight of them just before Sun-rise; and running within a few Rods of them, the Commanding Officer accosted the Militia in Words to this Effect: – “Disperse you Rebels – Damn you, throw down your Arms and disperse:” Upon which the Troops buzz'd, and immediately one or two Officers discharged their pistols, which where instantaneously followed by the firing of 4 or 5 of the soldiers, and then there seemed to be a general Discharge from the whole Body: Eight of our Men were killed, and nine wounded. In a few Minutes after this action, the Enemy renewed their March for Concord; at which place they destroyed several Carriages, Carriage Wheels, and about 20 Barrels of Flour, all belonging to the Province.

The article then goes on to describe the action in Concord, the British’s retreat to Charlestown, and a list of individuals killed, wounded, and missing. It concludes with these stirring words, “the Public must sincerely sympathize with the Friends and Relations of our deceased Brethren, who gloriously sacrificed their Lives in fighting for the Liberties of their Country. By their noble, intrepid Conduct, in helping to defeat the Forces of an ungrateful Tyrant, they have endeared their Memories to the present Generation, who will transmit their Names to Posterity with the highest Honour.” An image of the list of those killed or wounded is included above.

But who was the individual behind the publication of this early account of the battles? Printer and publisher Samuel Hall established the patriot-leaning Essex Gazette in 1768, making it the first newspaper to be published out of Salem. His brother Ebenezer was brought on board in 1771. The paper’s masthead reads “Containing the freshest advices, both foreign and domestic,” which is reflected in its content shown here. The weekly newspaper isn’t very long, only four pages, but is packed with news from Boston and Massachusetts, elsewhere in the colonies and abroad, and advertisements. Interestingly, news of Lexington and Concord isn’t found on the first page, but rather on the third. This is because news from England was most often published on the first page. Shortly after the publication of this issue, Samuel and Ebenezer moved the printing operation to Cambridge and the name changed to The New England Chronicle. Ebenezer died in 1776, but Samuel continued printing The New England Chronicle until 1781. Though our holdings of this newspaper, throughout its various name changes, are not comprehensive (December 1774 through September 1776), we are lucky that the issues that we do have provide a primary source account from such a significant period in American history.

Mark the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord by visiting us to see The Essex Gazette on display in our reading room and take the opportunity to read a contemporary account of the battles that started the Revolutionary War. The newspaper will be on display from April 1 through April 29, and we are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 with the exception of Monday, April 20, when we will be closed for Patriots Day.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Author Talk with Josh S. Cutler

• Under the Golden Dome: Historic Talks & Tales from the Massachusetts State House Vol.1 (2024)
• Wednesday, April 9, 2025. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream on YouTube

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series presents Josh Cutler as our April speaker!

Please join us at noon in our historic reading room or tune in virtually; the event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services.

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the book: The Massachusetts State House takes center stage in Under the Golden Dome. Author Josh Cutler recounts significant moments in the Commonwealth’s history all taking place atop Beacon Hill. The book includes stories of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his address to the Legislature, the infamous theft of the Sacred Cod, and the visit of Amelia Earhart to the State House. The book is full of great photos from an Abraham Lincoln impersonator on the front steps in 1928 to Governor Hurley smiling and waving goodbye at the Bulfinch Front at the end of his term in 1939. Fans of Massachusetts political history will love Under the Golden Dome!

About the author: Josh Cutler is an attorney, author, and former state legislator, serving as State Representative for the Sixth Plymouth District for eleven years. Cutler holds degrees from Skidmore College, Suffolk Law School, and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Cutler is also the author of Mobtown Massacre: Alexander Hanson and the Baltimore Newspaper War of 1812 (2019) and The Boston Gentlemen's Mob: Maria Chapman and the Abolition Riot of 1835 (2021); both available at the State Library!

Watch Cutler’s 2023 discussion of The Boston Gentlemen's Mob on our YouTube channel!

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the author. Copies of Under the Golden Dome will be available for purchase.

Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov.

For more information on the State Library Author talks series, please visit our site.


Author Talks Working Group

The Abiel Smith School: Landmark in the Fight for Equal Education

From Sketches of Boston, Past and Present published in 1851.

The Abiel Smith School, opened in 1835, was the first building constructed in the United States for the sole purpose of educating Black students. While the opening of the Smith School on what was once Belknap Street in Beacon Hill marked a historic moment in access to education for Black Americans, it must also be noted that this was a segregated school and remained as such until 1855. Today, the Abiel Smith School is the first building patrons enter while visiting the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill.

During the 1780s and 1790s, Black Bostonians advocated for their children’s access to education through petitions to the state legislature; then, in 1798, they organized the African School, which first met in the home of Primus Hall and then moved to the first floor of the African Meeting House in 1808. Black children enrolled in Boston public schools moved to the African School at this time, fully segregating Black students from their white peers. The Boston School Commission received many complaints from the community about the African School’s deteriorating conditions and overcrowding, and a study by the Commission confirmed the school’s inadequacies.

In 1815, a white businessman named Abiel Smith died and bequeathed $4,000 for the education of African American children in Boston. The school committee used a portion of Smith's funds to construct the Abiel Smith School, which then opened on March 3, 1835. The conditions in the Smith School proved inferior to those of the white schools in Boston, and Black Bostonians continued the fight for equal education. Boston’s population, including the city’s Black community, grew rapidly in the 1830s and 1840s. The Smith School quickly overcrowded. Just three years after the Smith School opened, Primus Hall and others petitioned unsuccessfully to add an additional story to the building; by 1845, a report found the school to be in “deplorable condition.”

Slate and pencils from the Abiel Smith School. Image courtesy of Smith Court Stories 

Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Bostonians in the Equal Schools movement led petition drives, protests, and eventually a boycott of the Smith School. One activist named Benjamin Roberts filed suit on behalf of his daughter Sarah against the Boston School Committee in 1849, as he wanted his daughter to be able to attend the school closest to their home rather than the Smith School. When they lost the lawsuit, the Equal Schools movement took the fight to the state legislature; as a result, public school segregation in Massachusetts was outlawed in 1855. The Abiel Smith School briefly closed, later reopening as an integrated primary school while also serving as a city storage facility. The Smith School building later housed a Grand Army of the Republic chapter and the James E. Welch Post #56 of the American Legion before becoming what it is today – an integral part of the Museum of African American History.

The Abiel Smith School has been featured in some of our past exhibits, including Massachusetts Architectural Styles and Education in the Commonwealth: A Timeline.

Alyssa Persson

Processing Archivist

Sources:

• Boston African American National Historic Site, NPS
• Smith Court Stories
• The Museum of African American History

Video Spotlight: Creating and Using Your State Library Account

State employees, do you have a library card? If not, do you know how to request one? Our video tutorial walks you through the process of signing up for a library card from the State Library. We also show you how to search the catalog, find a book owned by our library, and how to request a book owned by other libraries.

The video walks you through this process, but just so you have the links handy, you can request a library card on our website. Once you have a card, go to our catalog and log in to get started. There you can look at Your Account where you can see what books you have checked out, manage your holds, and more. You are then ready to start searching for and requesting books.

As you’re searching, if you find a book we don't own, you’ll be able to request it from another library. The State Library is part of the CWMARS consortium, so our catalog will display books owned by our library and by other CWMARS libraries. We’ll learn more about the CWMARS consortium in a future blog post, so stay tuned!

Turning back to searching our catalog, let’s walk through an example. Take this keyword search for “William Bradford.” You’ll see that CWMARS libraries own 409 items total about William Bradford, while the State Library owns 156. You can click on those four tabs along the top to limit your search results. If the State Library doesn’t own a book you’re looking for, you won’t see a tab for our library in your search results.

If you do find a book you’re interested in and we don’t own it, log into your library account, find it in our catalog, click on “Place Hold,” and fill out the very brief request form. That’s it! The book will then be delivered right to the State Library and you’ll get an email letting you know when it has arrived. You can pick up requested books during our open hours (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).

This video makes learning how to use your library card quick and easy, but if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Reference.Department@mass.gov or 617-727-2590.


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

Genevieve Estelle Jones and the Baltimore Oriole

We're in Massachusetts, so why is Maryland's state bird, the Baltimore Oriole (plate 12), on display in our Audubon case? The answer is that we are using it to promote the work of Genevieve Estelle Jones, who is sometimes referred to as the "other Audubon," for Women's History Month. Not to mention that the blooms of the tulip tree, where the orioles are perched, is a welcome reminder that spring is on its way.

Genevieve Estelle Jones was born in 1847 in Circleville, Ohio.  Her interest in ornithology started as a young child, when she was drawn to identifying the nests and eggs associated with different birds, and it was seeing the nest of the Baltimore oriole that first caught her attention. As a adult, Jones saw a display of Audubon prints when she visited Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and noted that the prints did not usually include a depiction of nests or eggs. [Interestingly, the Baltimore Oriole is an exception to this, as the unusual hanging pouch-like nest is featured prominently in this print.] After identifying this omission, Jones was inspired to produce drawings of nests and eggs, which was ultimately published as Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, and can be seen as a companion piece to Audubon's Birds of America. Sadly, Jones only completed five of the drawings before she succumbed to Typhoid fever and died in 1879. Her parents and her brother continued the project after her death, and the two-volume set was completed in 1886. Like Birds of America, it was published by subscription

Genevieve Estelle Jones is not as well-known an artist or ornithologist as John James Audubon, but we're glad for the opportunity to use the print of Baltimore Oriole to tell a little bit of her story. We don't have a copy of Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio in our collection, but you can view it in its entirety through the Internet Archive.

Be sure to visit us from March 11 through April 8 to see the Baltimore Oriole on display. And revisit our Audubon from last March's Women's History Month display, when we shared the blue bird and explained its significance to the Massachusetts Women Suffrage Association.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Adventures in Early Legal Citations

If you’re not used to working with legal citations, encountering them for the first time can be a less-than-pleasant experience. This is doubly true when it comes to tracking down older cases. In this blog post, I’ll use one of our past research questions to point out useful resources and hopefully demystify some of the process of tracking down old cases.

A few months ago, my colleagues and I received a request for help with locating cases from the first half of the 19th century. Initially, the patron just gave us the names of the parties and the dates of the cases, e.g., Paul Moody vs. Johnathan Fiske et.al., 1820. Ideally, we would have the title of the reporter, its volume number, and the page number on which the case was printed. We reached out to the patron and asked if they could send us any more info (this reference question was being asked via email, which caused a bit of a time delay).

In the meantime, we started reading through the guide our friends at the Trial Court Libraries compiled: Historical Massachusetts Cases. This source is invaluable when researching old cases (especially ones that occurred pre-statehood). In ye olden times, cases were published in reporters named after whichever judge was the “Reporter of Decisions” at the time. The various titles Allen, Cushing, Grey, Metcalf, and Pickering correspond to the following: Charles Allen (1861-1867); Luther Stearns Cushing (1848-1853); Horace Grey (1854-1860); Theron Metcalf (1840-1847); and Octavius Pickering (1822-1839). Eventually, these got reprinted in Massachusetts Reports (you use this guide to figure out which volumes here); however, older works will sometimes cite to these “nominative” reporters rather than Massachusetts Reports (Mass. Reports). Eventually the patron got back to us with more details: Paul Moody vs. Johnathan Fiske et.al., October 1820, U.S. Circuit Court, Massachusetts District. Plot twist: this isn’t a Massachusetts case – it’s a federal one. Your clue is “U.S. Circuit Court.” You can learn more about the federal court system here. Without getting too deep into the details, the basic points are that within the federal system, each state is its own District, multiple Districts make up a Circuit, and a Circuit shares the same Court of Appeals. Massachusetts, along with Maine, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island make up the First Circuit and thus share the First Circuit’s Court of Appeals. The image below shows what states belong to which Circuits:

Map of how the federal courts are split into twelve regional circuits and one Federal Circuit

You can learn more about the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts here. [Side note: the Court for the District of Massachusetts shouldn’t be confused with the District Courts which are part of the Massachusetts Trial Court system. These courts are all over Massachusetts in every judicial district. You can also search district courts (and other trial courts) by county.] Long story short, the patron is trying to find a federal case. Depending on the resources you have available, there’s a relatively simple way of doing this and there’s a more convoluted way, guess which one we chose to use!

Starting with the simpler rout, if you have access to Westlaw, you can enter the beginning of the case title into the search Moody v. Fiske and select the one that has the matching date info. Ta-da!

 If you don’t have access to a proprietary legal database (or if you’re a glutton for punishment), you will need to find out which reporter published this case. Federal cases decided in courts lower than the Supreme Court are published in the Federal Reporter (Supreme Court cases are printed in the US Reports – that’s a whole other thing that I’m not going to get into in this post). Because the Federal Reporter didn’t start publishing cases until 1880, and because our case is from 1820, we need to look at the Digest of Decisions of the United States Circuit and District Courts, from 1789 to 1880, As Contained in the Thirty Volumes of The Federal Cases. Luckily, this is fully digitized on HathiTrust:

Use the text search feature to search “Moody v. Fiske” (in quotes). You’ll get a couple of hits, the one you want is the full citation that tells you where this was originally published.

The scan isn't that great, but it says: MOODY v. FISKE [9,745], 2 Mason, 112; 1 Robb, Pat. Cas. 312. The number in brackets is the case number which you can look up in The Federal Cases (also available on HathiTrust) – number 9,745 is on page 655 in volume 17. This is the print version of what you would find on Westlaw:

If you want to go the extra mile and see what this case looked like before it was reprinted here, go past [9,745] to where the citation reads 2 Mason, 112. This means that the case was originally published in volume 2 of the US Circuit Court Reports when it was overseen by William P. Mason, sometimes called Mason's United State Circuit Court Reports. (Learn more about reporting early Federal Court decisions here.) The formal title you’ll want to search is: Reports of cases argued and determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the First Circuit : containing the cases determined in the districts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

Once again, HathiTrust comes through for us and has these volumes online. We’ve established that we need volume 2, so we select that one:

Once we’re in volume 2, we then scroll down to page 112 and find the case:

There you have it. If you made it all the way to the end of this blog post without defenestrating the device with which you are reading said blog post, I commend you!


Maryellen Larkin,
Government Documents & Reference Librarian

Sources:

• https://www.mass.gov/person/charles-allen
• https://www.mass.gov/person/luther-stearns-cushing
• https://www.mass.gov/person/horace-gray-jr
• https://www.mass.gov/person/theron-metcalf
• https://www.mass.gov/person/octavius-pickering
• https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/court-role-and-structure
• https://www.mad.uscourts.gov/
• https://guides.loc.gov/case-law/federal-courts
• https://www.fjc.gov/history/spotlight-judicial-history/reporting-decisions

On Display: The Influence of Woman

Happy Women’s History Month! In March, we try to find an item to share in our Collection Spotlight case to highlight Women’s History, and this year we are excited to display a two-page print entitled The Influence of Woman, as printed in Harper’s Weekly in 1862. Harper’s Weekly was a weekly periodical with a masthead that proclaimed it as a “journal of civilization” covering national and international news and politics, art and sciences, literature, wit, and fashion. It was published in New York from 1857 through 1916, and our Special Collections holdings include a full run of the print publication. Harper’s Weekly was especially popular during the Civil War, when this print was published, and often featured prints of battlefield engravings by Winslow Homer and photographs by Mathew Brady.

The original engraving of The Influence of Woman is attributed to Winslow Homer, and it depicts the many pivotal ways that women contributed to the wartime effort during the Civil War. The image was printed on the entirety of two pages in the September 6, 1862 edition of Harper’s, and a column of text on the next page provided further explanation of the image. Under the heading “Our Women and the War” was the following text:

Our artist has entitled the large picture which we publish on pages 568 and 569 “The Influence of Woman.” It illustrates, in effect, what women may do toward relieving the sorrows and pains of the soldier. In one corner will be seen that exquisite type of angelic womanhood, the Sister of Charity, watching at the bedside of a dying soldier, ever ready to relieve his wants and minister to his desires. On the other side a lady-nurse is writing, at the dictation of a poor wounded fellow, a letter to the friends far away, which shall relieve their terrible anxiety. Above, a group of young ladies are busily engaged, with needle and sewing-machine, in making clothing for the troops, and especially those comfortable garments which even our prodigal Government does not deem it necessary to supply. One can almost see the fairy fingers fly along the work. Last of all, honest Biddy, who has probably got a lover or a husband or a brother at the war, is doing her part in helping the soldiers by washing for them. The moral of the picture is sufficiently obvious; there is no woman who can not in some way do something to help the army.

In the Crimean War glory and fame awaited the charitable efforts of Florence Nightingale and her noble band of lady-nurses. This war of ours has developed scores of Florence Nightingales, whose names no one knows, but whose reward, in the soldier’s gratitude and Heaven’s approval, is the highest guerdon woman can ever win.

"Miss Clara Barton -
Photographed by [Mathew] Brady,
Washington, D.C."

The actions shown in the print are not a comprehensive representation of the ways that women supported soldiers during the Civil War, but it does highlight several actions that women took to contribute. The text also refers to Florence Nightingale and her work training nurses during the Crimean War, but had this print been published a little later in the Civil War, it might have instead mentioned the work of Clara Barton. Throughout the Civil War, Barton solicited and delivered supplies to battlefields and tended to wounded soldiers; she was often referred to as the “angel of the battlefield.” Though she began providing aid to soldiers as early as 1861, her work expanded as the war progressed, and in 1864, she was named the head nurse for General Benjamin Butler’s units (sidenote: Benjamin Butler later served as Massachusetts Governor, 1883-1884). Massachusetts can claim a connection to Barton, as she was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts in 1821, and one of the ways that she received much needed supplies for nursing was by placing advertisements in Massachusetts newspapers. You can read more about Clara Barton, including her founding of the American Red Cross and her role in women's suffrage, on the National Women’s History Museum website. Shown here is her portrait, published in the July 21, 1866 issue of  Harper’s Weekly.

The Influence of Woman is on display in our reading room from March 4 through April 1, so stop by to take a look. If you’d like to read about a few of our previous Women’s History displays, check out the links below:

“The Nonsense of It: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Woman Suffrage” (1870) and the 1917 edition of The Woman Suffrage Year Book

Why Women Should Vote, published by the National American Woman Suffrage Association 

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

State Library Newsletter - March Issue

Happy March! In this month's newsletter, read about the various Women's History Month displays found in our library, along with information about our upcoming Author Talk (complemented by a special loaned item), and our new wildflower exhibit!

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.

Welcome Home Big George

This month the State Library is thrilled to announce that in honor of author Jeffrey Boutwell’s visit to discuss his new book, Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy, we have partnered with the State House Art Commission to bring Governor George Sewall Boutwell’s bust into the reading room so it can be on display throughout the month of March.

Boutwell served as governor of Massachusetts from 1851 to 1853. His illustrious career in government includes; First Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service 1862-1863, U.S. Representative 1863-1869, Secretary of the Treasury 1869-1873, and U.S. Senator 1873-1877.

The large solid marble Boutwell bust (28 x 26 x 13”) was created by sculptor Martin Milmore in 1869/1870. While doing some research about this sculpture, it turns out that the first home for this piece of art was the State Library! In 1871 the Massachusetts legislature accepted the bust donation from Isaac Rich with the intention that it be placed in the State Library.

Further investigation shows that about 27 years later, according the Saturday, January 29, 1898 edition of the The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts), the bust was placed in the State House’s Senate chamber to commemorate Governor Boutwell’s 80th birthday and where he started his legislative career. 

Excerpt from The Daily Item 

The sculpture lived in the Senate chamber for about 119 years, until another Senate chamber renovation in 2017. The Boutwell bust was taken out of the chamber and sent out to be cleaned, and then remained in storage until it made this trip back to the State Library. It has been over a century’s journey for this beautiful work of art, and the State Library is happy to have the radiant Governor Boutwell bust back on display.

Martin Milmore (1844-1883), the artist that created this sculpture, is known for his Civil War sculptures and for his classical statuary and busts of notable men throughout New England. Milmore’s most important work of art was the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common. Other notable sculptures by Milmore included the statue of Revolutionary War hero John Glover (1875) on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston, the bust of Senator Charles Sumner (1875) at the U.S. Senate Chamber in Washington, and the American Sphinx Monument (1872) and Copenhagen Monument (1874), both at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

Discovering the history of the Boutwell bust and its journey in the State House has made finding space in the reading room extra special, so we endearingly nicknamed the sculpture Big George. Please come visit the State Library throughout March to see Big George and attend Jeffrey Boutwell’s author talk on March 5 at noon to learn more about this radical Republican and champion of democracy.

Dava Davainis
Assistant Director/Head of Reference and Information Services

Author Talk with Jeffrey Boutwell

• Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy (2025)
• Wednesday, March 5th, 2025. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream on YouTube

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series presents Jeffrey Boutwell as our March speaker!

Please join us at noon in our historic reading room or tune in virtually; the event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services.

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the book: Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy (2025) is the first major biography of statesman and key political figure George S. Boutwell. Serving as the Governor of Massachusetts from 1851-1853, Boutwell had a longstanding political career shaping America’s politics and economy. Boutwell worked closely with both President Lincoln and President Grant during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras - serving as Revenue Commissioner for Lincoln and Treasury Secretary for Grant. He helped write the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and later served in the U.S. Senate. George Boutwell died in 1905 in Groton, Massachusetts.

Read the Wall Street Journal book review! ‘Boutwell’ Review: A Man Ahead of His Times.

About the author: Jeffrey Boutwell is a writer, historian, and public policy specialist whose forty-year career spanned journalism, government, and international scientific research and cooperation. He has written widely on issues relating to nuclear weapons arms control, European politics, Middle East security issues, and environmental degradation and civil conflict. He has a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.A. in history from Yale University, and he worked for many years at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass. Jeffrey grew up in Winchester and Concord, Mass., and now lives with his wife, Buthaina Shukri, in Columbia, Maryland. He and George Boutwell share a common ancestor, the indentured servant James Boutwell, who emigrated from England to Salem, Mass. in 1632.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the author. Books available to purchase; cash, check, Venmo and Zelle accepted.

Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov.

For more information on the State Library Author talks series, please visit our site.



Author Talks Working Group

New Exhibit at the State Library: Wildflowers, Weeds, and Everything in Between!

We are happy to announce that we have recently installed a new exhibit in the cases outside of the Library's entrance (room 341 of the State House). If winter's grey days and bare trees have you yearning for spring, then stop by to see Wildflowers, Weeds, and Everything in Between: Wildlife and Pollinator Friendly Plants Native to New England. The exhibit will be on display through the spring and summer months.

There are hundreds of native and beneficial plants found throughout Massachusetts and New England. Native plants support pollinators such as hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, which in turn help ecosystems thrive by supporting plant fertilization. This exhibit is an ode to all of the beautiful, life-giving flora in the area and the pollinators that keep the system going!

Featuring explanatory panels, vibrant images, and books from our collection, this exhibit highlights six different categories: floral plants, shrubs, plants fruit eating birds love, plants seed eating birds love, plants hummingbirds love, and butterfly larval host plants. View the exhibit during our open hours, Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00.

If you are in the mood to check out exhibits virtually, be sure to visit the exhibits section of the Library's Flickr account to see all of our past exhibits. 

Exhibits Working Group

A Pair of Lovebirds in the Library

Love is in the air in February and in the library, too! On display in our reading room are Audubon's Zenaida Doves (plate 162). In this print, the female is shown in flight, while the male is perched below on the branches of the purple-flowered anona.

A pair of doves are often a symbol of love, loyalty, and devotion, due in part to their proclivity to mate for life. And in Greek mythology, they are associated with Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. In keeping with the love theme, the Zenaida Dove was introduced in 1838 by French botanist Charles Lucien Bonaparte and named in honor of his wife Zénaïde.

In the 1830s, Audubon found the Zenaida doves nesting in the Florida Keys, but you would have a more difficult time finding them there now. The doves are more readily found in the Caribbean and are only rare visitors to Florida. Read more about them, and hear their birdcall, on Cornell University's Ornithology Lab's webpage. And visit us from February 11 through March 11 to see the print on display - maybe make it a date with your Valentine or Galentine!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

New Year! New Public Access Computers in the State Library!

Computers in our reading room,
3rd floor of the State House, Rm 341

Forget your laptop at home? Wifi not cooperating? Just visiting Boston? No worries! If you are in the neighborhood, please come to the State Library in the State House as we are excited to announce the arrival of brand new public access computers! These state-of-the-art machines are now available for use and offer a range of features to enhance your in-State Library experience, including:

Internet access: surf the web and check your email

Microsoft Office: use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Access to e-resources: explore our online catalog, e-book collections, journals, and databases, including Westlaw, Lexis, and VitalLaw and more! Check out our extensive list of offerings on our dedicated in-library webpage: State Library of Massachusetts Onsite Database Links | Mass.gov

Printing: need a hard copy? No problem! We offer printing from our public terminals. To print onsite, State Library patrons will need to make a one-time purchase of a copy card for $1.00 and add funds to print. This card is yours to keep and reuse. Printing prices are the same whether you use the library’s computers or your own device: $0.20 per page for black and white and $0.50 per page for color prints.

Saving for later: Bring your own flash drive or USB compatible portable storage device and save documents to read later at home or office

Headphones: bring yours to watch the House and Senate sessions, news videos, or past Author Talks our own State Library YouTube channel.

Computers in our 4th floor balcony,

Rm 442

How to use our Public Access Computers

State employees are eligible for library cards, just ask for one at the Reference Desk. Other visitors can receive guest passes that will allow them to use public access computers and databases while in the State Library. To best serve all our patrons and visitors, the library limits use to 2 hours per day. Any questions? Need help? No problem! Our Reference Librarians are happy to assist you with logging on and using our public access computers.

Feel free to stop by the State Library anytime and experience the upgrade firsthand!

Technical Services Department

State Library Newsletter - February Issue

February is a short month, but our February newsletter isn't short on content! This month, read about our upcoming Author Talk, multiple displays in our library, recent donations, and more! 

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.

Author Talk with Raphael E. Rogers

• Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books
• Wednesday, February 19, 2025. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkx-i2Nbp14

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series is hosting author and professor Raphael Rogers on February 19th. Rogers will be discussing his latest book, Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books. This new release (February 2025) is available to pre-order and will be coming to the State Library’s collection later this month.

Please join us at noon in our historic reading room or tune in virtually; the event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services.

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the book: Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books is a tool for educators to bring discussions of race and racism to the classroom. Recent trends in children’s literature have seen a rise in books authored by Black women who are breaking negative stereotypes and writing to celebrate the magic and joy of Black girls. Raphael Rogers compiles the perspectives of over two dozen Black women writers to expound on the importance of this genre in children’s literature and in the classroom.

About the author: Dr. Raphael Rogers is a Professor of Practice in Education at Clark University. Teaching since 2012, Rogers courses include Multicultural Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Racism and Educational Inequality in the Lives of Youth in Urban Schools, Graphic Novels in the Classroom, and more. Rogers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Clark University, a master's in curriculum and instruction from Northeastern University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is also the author of The Representation of Slavery in Children’s Picture Books: Teaching and Learning About Slavery in K-12 Classrooms (2018). Dr. Rogers is an active collaborator with the Massachusetts Department of Education. For more on Rogers and his work visit his Clark University profile.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the authors. Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov.

For more information on the State Library Author talks series, please visit our site.

Author Talks Working Group

Soldiers of the 54th and 55th Regiments on Display

The five portraits ready for exhibit,
individual images are included below

In honor of Black History Month, we are displaying a selection of carte de visites and tintypes that depict soldiers from the Massachusetts 54th and 55th Volunteer Infantry Regiments in our Collection Spotlight case. As part of the Alfred S. Hartwell Collection, these images serve as important documentation of Black Civil War soldiers. The 54th and 55th Regiments are significant because they were the first two regiments comprised of Black soldiers from the North to serve in the Civil War. A monument commemorating the soldiers of the 54th is located on Beacon Street at the edge of Boston Common, directly across from the State House.

A quick explanation of what these items are, since early photographic formats are not necessarily in use today. Carte de visites are small photographs, similar in size to a formal calling card, that were introduced in the United States in 1859 and rose in popularity during the Civil War. They were traded among friends and sometimes collected in albums. As per their name, tintypes were photographs made on tin that was coated with a dark lacquer or enamel to support the emulsion. They were used for portraiture and were prevalent in the United Stats from the 1860s to the 1870s. They were affordable to produce, which added to their popularity. In total, there are forty-four carte de visites and tintypes in the Hartwell collection, but these five are the only ones that depict Black soldiers.

Three of the five images include some identifying information on the reverse. Pictured below are two carte de visites, the inscriptions on the back identify them as Sergeant Andrew Jackson Smith on the left and Segt. Jackson / 55 Regiment on the right.

An image of “Joe” provides the most information in the inscription. He is identified as “Joe / Headquarters / Camp Meigs / Readville, Mass. / Oct 1862.” Camp Meigs was a training camp used from 1862 through 1865. It is in the Readville neighborhood (part of Hyde Park) of Boston, and the 54th and 55th regiments both trained there.

 The following two images are tintypes and include no identifying information:

On January 26, 1863, Massachusetts governor John Andrew received permission from the U.S. War Department to raise a Black regiment as part of the Union Army. Enlistment began in February, and those who joined became the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. There was not a large enough Black population in Massachusetts to support a full regiment, so recruitment efforts were focused not just in Massachusetts and New England, but also throughout the country and even into Canada and the West Indies. The result was that there were so many volunteers that the 55^th Regiment was also formed. The regiments both trained outside of Boston at Camp Meigs (as referenced in the “Joe” inscription) and the 54th departed for the south in late May 1863, with the 55^th departing in July 1863. The National Park Service has articles with information about both the 54^th and the 55^th regiments on their website. 

During the Civil War, Hartwell served as Captain of the 54th Regiment and then as Lieutenant Colonel of the 55th Regiment. Because of his experience with Black regiments, after the war, he spearheaded an investigation into abuses in the recruiting of Black soldiers in the south. The images displayed here are mementos from Hartwell’s time serving with members of the 54th and 55th Regiments, but the collection also includes materials that document his investigation. The collection has been fully digitized and is available in our digital repository. You can also read more about Hartwell in this previous blog post.

Our Collection Spotlight case has features that mitigate the amount of light that exhibited items are exposed to, but due to the sensitive nature of photographs, we are still mindful of the frequency with which they are displayed. Visit us from February 4 through March 4 to take advantage of the rare opportunity to see these images in person.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian