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