Bluebirds Visit for March

Our trip through the thirteen original colonies by way of their state birds continues this month with the bluebird (Audubon plate 113). The Eastern Bluebird was established as the New York State Bird in 1970. Shown in this print is the vibrant male soaring above, and the female below, feeding a young bluebird.

Highlighting the bluebird in March serves double-duty. March is Women's History Month, and a few years ago we featured Audubon's print 393, the Townsend Warbler, Arctic Blue-bird, and Western Blue-bird, to bring attention to the fact that in 1915, suffragettes in Massachusetts used the bluebird as a symbol of their movement. Read more about bluebirds for suffrage in our previous blog post.

We're excited for the chance to share a different bluebird print from Birds of America both for suffrage and as part of our state bird series. Visit us from March 10 through April 7 to see this vibrant print on display. And catch up on all featured state birds on our blog.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Women’s History Month at the State Library

Women’s History Month, observed each March, is a time to recognize and celebrate the achievements, contributions, and lasting impact of women throughout history. It offers an opportunity to reflect on the progress women have made while also acknowledging the challenges they have faced, and still face, across different eras and fields. To celebrate Women’s History Month, the State Library of Massachusetts is sharing a selection of materials from our collections that highlight women’s lives, achievements, and lasting influence.

Woman, Her Position, Influence, and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World: Her Biography, Her History, from the Garden of Eden to the Twentieth Century by William C. King, 1901

While shelving one day, I came across this book and I immediately had to take it off the shelf. Its spine looked gorgeous and when I saw the cover, it quickly became one of my favorite books in our collections. Published in 1901, this book covers the advancement of women from the ancient world up through the end of the 19th century. Through biographies and illustrations, this book tells the story of the social conditions of the times. You can view this book freely via Internet Archive and HathiTrust.

Women and Children First: The Trailblazing Life of Susan Dimock, M.D. by Susan Wilson, 2023

Women and Children First is a biography of Dr. Susan Dimock (1847–1875), a pioneering figure in American medicine. The book highlights Dimock’s role as one of the first female physicians and surgeons in the United States, particularly known for advancing medical care for women. It traces her early life in North Carolina, her move to Boston during the Civil War, and her medical training at the New England Hospital for Women and Children and the University of Zurich, emphasizing her lasting impact on women’s health and the medical profession. Author Susan Wilson joined us last March for an Author Talk about this book, so be sure to check out the recording on our YouTube channel to learn more!

From Suffrage to the Senate: America’s Political Women: an Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues by Suzanne O’Dea, 2006 (2 vols)

This two-volume work is a comprehensive reference guide that chronicles American women's path to political power and social equality. It contains over 900 in-depth biographies of women politicians, activists, journalists, and lawyers, covering significant movements, organizations, court cases, and legislation. These volumes trace women’s history from the abolition and suffrage movements to modern issues.

Historic Women Trailblazers of Massachusetts

This booklet, put together by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism in 2020, was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. It features more than 70 women “Trailblazers” who have contributed to the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world. The women featured in this book have strong ties to Massachusetts and represent suffragists, abolitionists, teachers, politicians, scientists, athletes, artists, and so much more. This book also contains a map marking important historic sites across Massachusetts. View and download the book and the map here. 

These books and others will be on display in the Library throughout the month of March. Stop in to see them Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

If you’d like to learn more about Women’s History Month, be sure to take a look at some of our other blog posts we’ve published on this topic:

• The Influence of Women in Harper's Weekly, 1862 
• Bluebirds for Suffrage 
• “The Nonsense of It: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Woman Suffrage” and the 1917 edition of The Woman Suffrage Year Book 

Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

State Library Newsletter - March Issue

Our March newsletter is out now! In it, you'll find all the information about our 200th events in one place, along with features for Women's History Month, new items on display, 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.

(Curious about the motif that has bene used as the background for many of our 200th anniversary promotional items? It's a zoomed-in shot of the beautiful and colorful stained glass in the fanlights in our reading room!)

The State Library Turns 200: A New Exhibit and Collection Spotlight

We are excited to announce the opening of our new exhibit The State of Our Library: 200 Years of Serving the Commonwealth coinciding with our 200th birthday this month! As we celebrate this milestone, the exhibit showcases both the Library's impressive history and its current offerings. Using published documents, historical photographs and artifacts, and archival materials from the Library’s institutional records, the exhibit highlights our various services, resources, and technologies, as well as the changes and expansions to its physical space that have occurred over the last 200 years. 

Complementing our new exhibit is the 1856 edition of Ballou's Pictorial and a copy of Library Journal from March 1926, both on display this month in our Collection Spotlight case. Ballou’s Pictorial was a weekly periodical published in Boston from 1851 through 1859 (though up until 1855 it was published as Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion). We’ve written about this periodical in a previous blog post, but in a nutshell, it was full of interesting information to read or discuss, along with illustrations to examine. One of those illustrations is this full-page print of the “Interior View of the Massachusetts State Library” found in the May 31, 1856 issue. 

Illustration of the interior of the State Library
from Ballou's Pictorial, May 31, 1856

This image shows the Library, which at the time was only thirty years old, in its second location within the State House. Only one year prior, an addition to the building was completed that moved the Library to a central location and included two floors – a reading room and a balcony, as depicted in this image. The Library remained in this space for forty years, until another addition was completed in 1895 that moved the Library to its current location.

The same image was reproduced in the March 1, 1926 issue of Library Journal, a publication founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey (of Dewey Decimal fame) and still in existence today. Included in this issue is a feature on the State Library as it celebrated its 100th birthday. The article, titled “A Century of the Massachusetts State Library” gives information about the founding and a synopsis of the State Librarians up to 1926. The article ends with a note on the collections, stating “its collection of statute law is said to be unsurpassed except by that of the Library of Congress. Perhaps its most interesting original manuscript is that of Governor William Bradford’s “History of Plimoth Plantation,” otherwise known as “The Log of the Mayflower.” One hundred years after the publishing of this article, the Of Plimoth Plantation remains one of the treasures of our collection and we are excited to share that it will be on display during our upcoming Open House on March 25.

While Ballou’s Pictorial and Library Journal will only be on display in our Collection Spotlight case from March 2 through March 31, The State of Our Library is on view in the display cases outside of the Library through 2026. If these items piqued your interest in the State Library's history, there is even more to be found in the full exhibit, so be sure to visit us Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 to check it out, or click here to see the online version!

Elizabeth Roscio, Preservation Librarian

Exhibits Working Group

POSTPONED - Special Speaker Event: Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (Retired)

• 
  Thursday, March 12, 2026. 12pm - 1:00pm - POSTPONED
• Due to unforeseen circumstances, the talk with Justice Breyer will be rescheduled for a later date. Stay tuned for updates. Thank you!
• In-person and Virtual event
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream on YouTube

Celebrate the library’s 200th birthday by joining us for this special speaker event! We have events scheduled throughout the month to celebrate this milestone. The Author Talks Series is excited to host former Justice Stephen Breyer in honor of the library serving the Commonwealth for 200 years.

This is an in-person and virtual event. The livestream available on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services. Tune in at noon!

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.

About Stephen Breyer: The Honorable Stephen Breyer is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Born in San Francisco in 1938, he is a graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He taught law for many years as a professor at Harvard Law School and at the Kennedy School of Government. He has also worked as a Supreme Court law clerk (for Justice Arthur Goldberg), a Justice Department lawyer (antitrust division), an Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, and Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1980, he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit by President Carter, becoming Chief Judge in 1990. In 1994, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton. He has written books and articles about a range of legal topics, including administrative law, economic regulation, and the U.S. Constitution. His books include Active Liberty (2005), Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View (2010), The Court and the World (2015), The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics (2021), and Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024). His wife, Joanna, was born in Great Britain and is a retired clinical psychologist. They have three children—Chloe, Nell, and Michael—and six grandchildren.

State employees can use their State Library Cards to check out any of the following books by Stephen Breyer:

• Reading the Constitution: Why I chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism
• The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics
• Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
• Economic Reasoning and Judicial Review
• The Legal Profession and Public Service
• More books by Breyer; browse here.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. 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. If you cannot make it to the event in person, the recording will be made available on our YouTube channel; watch previous author talks here!

April Pascucci
On behalf of the Author Talks Working Group

A Closer Look at the Freedom Trail Tapestry

The State Library boasts many art pieces that decorate its reading room and balcony level. One piece we get asked about frequently is the Freedom Trail Tapestry.

Freedom Trail Tapestry, 1976

Fifty years ago, the U.S. celebrated its bicentennial. In honor of this occasion, the members of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild constructed a tapestry commemorating points of historic significance to Massachusetts and our nation.

As the tapestry’s name suggests, these scenes derive inspiration from popular stops on the Freedom Trail which runs throughout the city of Boston.

The historic scenes depicted are:

• Old North Church
• King’s Chapel
• Old State House
• The Boston Tea Party
• Bunker Hill Monument
• Faneuil Hall
• Old South Meeting House
• State House
• Corner Bookstore
• Paul Revere House
• U.S.S. Constitution

The Guild permanently loaned this tapestry to the State Library where it is on display in our conference room. The tapestry was designed by N. Philip Strause III and made by 28 stitchers! Their names are commemorated on a plaque which is displayed next to the tapestry.

More information on the Freedom Trail can be found on the National Parks website: Walk the Freedom Trail (U.S. National Park Service).

More information on the American Needlepoint Guild and its chapters can be found on their website: American Needlepoint Guild, Inc.

You can also read our past blog post about the Freedom Trail Tapestry!

Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents Librarian

Our Northern Neighbor on Display: The New Hampshire State Bird

Our celebration of state birds continues with the Purple Finch, the official state bird of our northern neighbor, New Hampshire. In this print (Audubon plate 4), the more subdued female is shown with two males, both with vibrant red-purple plumage. Their color palette is fitting for display in February, with the Valentine's Day holiday! The Audubon Society writes that Purple Finches are common in the north and east, and will readily come to birdfeeders, so you might see one outside your window.

The Purple Finch became New Hampshire's state bird on April 25, 1957. Its proposal had the backing of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Federation of Garden Clubs, and the State Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Visit the library from February 10 through March 10 to see the Purple Finch on display. And if you missed last month's display of Massachusetts' Black-capped chickadee, you can check it out here.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian