State Library Newsletter - October Issue

Hello October! Catch up on all State Library happenings in this month's newsletter. Read about our upcoming events, displayed items, new horror books on our shelves, 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.

250 Years Ago This Month: The Convening of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress

In September, the Commonwealth kicked off Massachusetts 250, an initiative to commemorate the state's revolutionary history in the lead-up to the country's semi-quincentennial. We are joining in on the celebration by displaying a revolutionary-period broadside that was issued in October 1774 – 250 years ago this month. The broadside was distributed by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress soon after it was established.

To put this broadside in historical context, we need to go a little further back in time and provide an abridged run-down of what was happening in Boston and throughout Massachusetts in 1773 and 1774. The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773 and in the months following, British Parliament enacted four acts, knowns as the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, that were meant to punish residents of Massachusetts for the destruction of the tea. The Acts revoked the Massachusetts Charter and with that, changed the nature of the Governor’s Council, the governing body which had previously been elected by assembly and would now be appointed by the King. The Acts also closed the port of Boston, allowed for the quartering of British soldiers, and allowed royal officials who had been accused of crimes to have their trials moved to Great Britain if they felt they could not receive a fair trial in Massachusetts. Throughout 1774, the Intolerable Acts created a heightened sense of tension between the colonists and Great Britain, as colonists felt they had lost their right to self-government. On October 5 through 7, representatives of the now disbanded General Court met in Salem and organized as the Provincial Congress, with John Hancock as its chair, and became the de facto government, with authority to govern the area (including collecting taxes and raising a militia). The Provincial Congress met again in Concord from October 11 through the 14, where they focused on organizing committees to bring order to their cause during this time of revolt and political crisis, and it was during this meeting that Committees of Safety were established. The Provincial Congress met again in Cambridge on October 26, and the broadside in our collection was published following that meeting.

The primary resolution established at the October 26 meeting was to urge towns to establish their militias, the “minutemen” that we so often hear about in Revolutionary history. The text printed on the broadside begins by describing the current state of British troops stationed in Boston, stating “Whereas in Consequence of the present unhappy Disputes between Great-Britain and the Colonies, a formidable Body of Troops with warlike Preparations of every Sort are already arrived at, and others destined for the Metropolis of this Province, and the expressed Design of their being sent is to execute Acts of the British Parliament.” The text goes on to describe a situation where the colonists would not antagonize the British, but as a measure of protecting themselves, that militias throughout Massachusetts should be organized. Militias should ensure that a slate of officers are be appointed and elected, and furthermore, individuals should equip themselves with arms and perfect their military skill to safeguard their “lives, liberties, and properties.” It is noted at the bottom of the broadside that this is “A true Extract from the Minutes” and handwritten on the back of our copy is the town name Rutland, so we know where this broadside was sent after it was issued. You can see a copy of this broadside in our digital repository, and a version with a transcription is available on the Library of Congress’s website. 

The Provincial Congress continued to meet throughout the fall, during which time they issued a number of grievances against Royal Governor Thomas Gage. They adjourned in December, but convened again as the Second Provincial Congress in February 1775.  

The convening of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was a pivotal moment in Massachusetts and American history, as colonists established their own governing structure in response to escalating frustrations with the King and  British Parliament. We are thrilled to have a broadside from one of these early meetings as part of our holdings, and we hope that you will mark the 250th anniversary of the first convening of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress by visiting us from October 1 through the 29th to see it on display in our reading room. A number of broadsides from our collection that date to the 1760s-1780s have recently been conserved by the Northeast Document Conservation Center, and we are excited to share more of them as the Commonwealth celebrates Massachusetts 250. To read more about Massachusetts 250 check out their website and Governor Healey’s press release.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Compiling a Legislative History

A common research request that our reference librarians receive involves tracking down legislative histories of specific laws. If you have ever reached out for assistance with that task, then you have definitely been directed to the Library's Guide to Compiling a Massachusetts Legislative History. 

Last spring, our Government Documents & Reference Librarian supplemented that tutorial by writing two detailed blog posts where she used the the steps and advice in the guide to compile a legislative history for M.G.L. ch.6 §39B. Both of those links are conveniently presented here:

Compiling a Legislative History: M.G.L. ch.6 §39B (Part 1)

Compiling a Legislative History: M.G.L. ch.6 §39B (Part 2)

Be sure to reference these posts the next time you're compiling a legislative history, and happy researching!

Our First Archives Crawl

The Special Collections Department hosted its first Archives Crawl in collaboration with our colleagues from other area institutions on Wednesday, September 11, with an inaugural theme of Boston’s education history. We had so much fun chatting with colleagues, folks from other agencies, and public patrons who stopped in for a visit!

On display in the reading room were collection materials spanning over 200 years of Massachusetts history:

• An 1800 grammar school primer
• Early 19th century broadsides of school rules and regulations
• 1851 image and description of the Abiel Smith School, the first school in the nation founded for Black students (which you can still visit at the Museum of African American History!)
• Photographs and scrapbooks from the Community Music Center of Boston Collection
• A Massachusetts education timeline created by Jessica Shrey, State Library Legal Research Reference Librarian
• And more!

Pictured to the right is the title page of one of the displayed items -  A Short but Comprehensive Grammar, published in Charlestown, 1800.

Thank you to everyone who came in for our first Archives Crawl open house - we hope to make it an annual event with changing themes, so stay tuned! While some of the other institutions’ open house events have passed, be sure to check out the ongoing exhibits on the Archives Crawl flyer below!

 
Alyssa Persson
Special Collections Processing Archivist

The Canada Jay Swoops into the Library!

Head north this September with our displayed Audubon print! The Canada Jay (Audubon plate 107) is the unofficial bird of Canada, designated as such from a poll conducted by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Canadians picked this bird because it is known for its friendliness and resilience. Like the Blue Jay, the Canada Jay is part of the corvid family, which are known to be highly intelligent. Keeping with September's educational theme, we figured this was a good bird to display as inspiration to students in the Commonwealth as they head back to school!

According to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, the Canada Jay is also highly curious and intrepid - two other qualities that are good for students to keep in mind as they head back to the classroom. Read more about the Canada Jay on Cornell's "All about Birds" website, where you can also hear a recording of its bird call. And be sure to visit us from September 10 to October 8 to see the the print on display in our reading room.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Blog Post Roundup: Back to School Edition

It’s September, the weather will be cooling down soon (hopefully), and yellow school buses are back on the roads which can only mean one thing: it’s back to school season in the Commonwealth! It’s also the start of a new legislative session, which brings renewed energy and excitement to the State House!

Today though, we've put together a collection of blog posts and exhibits done at the State Library over the years highlighting the important role Massachusetts has played in the history of education in our country. We were the home to the first school in the colonies after all! We also established the Common School, which is today’s version of a public school, and Massachusetts is home to the first school for the blind.

Click on the links below to learn more about education in the Commonwealth through our blog posts and digital exhibits!

Back to school in the Commonwealth
This blog post features items in our collections that help tell the story of the history of education in Massachusetts. You’ll see an image of the first Latin School, learn about the development of what is now called the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and discover the precursor to Braille. There are also links to reports, manuals, and newsletters published by the Executive Office of Education.

Back to School: a Retrospective View of Education in Massachusetts
This blog post links to a digital exhibit put together by State Library staff in 2016. As the blog says, it “traces the history of education in the Commonwealth, starting with the first school-related legislation in 1642 through the Boston busing crisis of the early 1970s.” Get ready to take a deep dive into the history of education in Massachusetts as told through the State Library’s collections, spanning centuries!

Massachusetts Textile Schools
While many people tend to think of education in the traditional public school and university sense, we wanted to highlight another type of education. Did you know that at one time, Massachusetts was the home to three textile schools where students learned about cotton manufacturing, chemistry and dyeing, and knitting? This blog post tells the story of three textile institutes that were opened in New Bedford, Lowell, and Fall River at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century.

Questions? Want to see some of the items referenced in these blog posts up close? Email us or call us at 617-727-2590. We also have display cases in the reading room filled with education-related resources from our collections, so be sure to stop in the library in room 341 of the State House before the end of the month!


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

Author Talk with Stephanie Schorow

• A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal of 1891
• Wednesday, September 25, 2024. 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/user/mastatelibrary

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series returns from summer break on September 25th! We have an exciting line-up of authors, speakers, leaders, and professionals from different fields scheduled for the coming months and 2025! 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.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 25th, at noon, in our historic reading room for an author talk with Stephanie Schorow - author of A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal of 1891 (2023).

The event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services - tune in at noon!

About the book: In July 1891, four women from Lowell, Massachusetts set out on a journey to one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Seeking to escape their traditional roles as wives, mothers, and daughters, the group set out for an adventure. A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure recounts the seventeen-day journey of the “Merrie Trippers” through snippets of their journal, photographs, and illustrations.

About the author: Stephanie Schorow is a Boston-based freelance writer and journalism instructor. Schorow holds a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in Latin America Studies from New York University. Her career in journalism has spanned the country; in 1989 she began at the Associated Press and for twelve years was a lifestyles editor and writer at the Boston Herald. Schorow has written, co-authored, and edited nine books on Boston history including: Drinking Boston: A History of the City and its Spirits and East of Boston: Notes from the Harbor Island. For more on Schorow and her work, please visit her website.

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 as well as purchase a copy of the book (cash, credit, check, Venmo, and PayPal will be accepted). 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.

Author Talks Working Group

State Library Newsletter - September Issue

Welcome September! Catch up on all State Library happenings in this month's newsletter. Read about our upcoming events, our education-themed displays, new books on our shelves, 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.

On Display in the State Library - Back to School!

Whether students are excited to begin a new year or are lamenting the end of summer (or maybe a combination of both), September is synonymous with going back to school! At the State Library, we’re marking the start of a new school year by sharing three historical textbooks in our Collection Spotlight case. On display are A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1775), Pestallozzian Primer (1827), and National Spelling Book and Pronouncing Tutor (1828). Technically, these books are primers, which are the early learning books that are used to teach the foundations of reading and writing.

Clockwise from top left: Pestallozzian Primer (1827), National Spelling Book and

Pronouncing Tutor (1828), A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1775)

Massachusetts has played a strong role in the advancement of education and educational resources over the years and is the home of many educational “firsts.” More about the history of education in the Commonwealth can be found in our 2023 online exhibit. One of the “firsts” noted in that exhibit is the 1687 publishing of The New England Primer, which was the first textbook published for children in the colonies. Though we do not have any early printings of this source in our collection, we do have later editions of The New England Primer - it was in production and used in schools all the way into the 1900s!

One of the oldest primers in our collection is A Short Introduction to English Grammar: With Critical Notes, which was published in 1775 in Philadelphia. It was compiled by the Right Reverend Robert Lowth the Lord Bishop of Oxford, who noted an absence in teaching textbooks for grammar and strove to correct that by producing a grammar primer. Originally published in 1762, this text is considered one of the most influential sources on English grammar. It is interesting to note that when it was originally published, it was not intended for children, but within a few years it was adapted to serve as a primer, and it was used in schools through the twentieth-century.

The title page of Pestallozzian Primer, or, First Step in Teaching Children the Art of Reading and Thinking includes the quote, “Teach a child to think, and give him the words by which he may retain and communicate his thoughts, and you will have more than half completed his intellectual education.” This primer was published in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1827 and the lessons follow the work of  Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), a Swiss education reformer. As stated in the preface, the lessons focus on creating a “habit of thinking and of understanding what is read.” Rather than the straight grammar and spelling lessons found in other primers, this approach encourages the student to think beyond rules. For example, when learning to read and spell the word “apple” the student is also asked questions like, “Where does the apple grow? Name the parts of the apple? How may it taste?” Notice in the picture that the thinking lessons include a notation that reads, "these lessons will very much relieve the fatigue of mere spelling and reading business." We're sure that students enjoyed the break from rote memorization!

Of the three displayed books, only the National Spelling Book and Pronouncing Tutor was published here in Boston, or more specifically, not too far from the State House at 133 Washington Street. It was printed in 1828 and compiled by B.D. Emerson, who was the principal of the Adams Grammar School, also in Boston. According to the title page, the primer is designed for use in schools throughout the United States and follows Walker’s principles of grammar. This refers to the work of lexicographer John Walker (English, 1732 – 1807) who also taught elocution. This primer explains how to pronounce each syllable of certain words (or groups of words), and also provides spelling lessons.

For the past few years, the State Library has marked the beginning of the school year by displaying some historical education resources from our collection. Revisit our 2023 display, where we shared “Rules and Regulations to be observed by the Teachers of the Public Schools in Dorchester” (1810) and “Order of Exercises at the Dedication of the Building and Installation of the Teacher of the High School” (Dorchester, 1852), and our 2022 display, where we shared an 1835 Quincy School Committee circular with advice for teachers and parents as the school year began. Be sure to visit us from September 5 to October 1 to see this year’s display!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Reexamining the Legend of the Nantucket Merman

Massachusetts derives many of its resources from the Atlantic Ocean. From agencies dedicated to marine life, such as the Division of Marine Fisheries, to symbols of prosperity (I’m looking at you, Sacred Cod), the sea has always been important to the Commonwealth. With such strong ties to the ocean, I reasoned, surely there should be plenty of sea lore – more specifically stories about mermaids – connected with Massachusetts. With this assumption, I started poking around sources on Massachusetts and New England folklore.

Detail image of cartouche showing merpeople from A South East View of ye Great
Town of Boston in New England in America (Map Mass. Boston 1743f-1)

Peter Muise’s blog New England Folklore led me to this resource: Legends of the New England Coast by Edward Snow. Although not in our immediate collection, it is within the larger CW MARS network’s collection. Shout out to the State Library’s awesome Interlibrary Loan Department for helping me get this book! His blog also led me to his own book – Legends and Lore of the North Shore which is in our collection! I was a little disappointed to discover that there aren’t as many mermaid or merfolk related legends specific to Massachusetts as I expected (there have been sightings in other parts of New England and Nova Scotia, cf. Snow, 1957, p. 108ff.). According to Snow, in Massachusetts, the merfolk sightings have been around the Gloucester and Nantucket areas. For this week’s blog post, I was determined to examine the origins of these stories (spoiler alert, I only had time to investigate one).

Of these stories, the only one with a specific date was recorded by a person named Valentyn on May 1, 1714. The incident allegedly occurred near Great Point in Nantucket (according to Snow, 1957, pp. 109-110). I figured I would start with this one because it seemed the most straightforward (yet another inaccurate assumption on my part!). Snow details Valentyn’s encounter and claims to quote directly from him (Snow, 1957, pp. 109-110), however, he does not provide a citation to the source he was using.

Librarian public services announcement: citing sources is important!

Snow only describes Valentyn as “a traveler and writer” (p. 109) and doesn’t provide a first name. I went back to Peter Muise’s blog post on the Nantucket merman; he describes Valentyn as a “minister.” The episode is also referenced in Nathaniel Philbrick's  Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People but there too he is only described as a traveler and no first name is indicated (Philbrick, 2011, p. 76).

After some flailing around on the internet, Googling combinations of “Valentyn,” “May 1714,” and “mermaid,” I wound up on Wikipedia (gasp!) reading an entry for one François Valentyn, who was a Dutch Calvinist minister who also wrote about seeing mermaids on his travels. According to Wikipedia, the text in which he wrote about his merfolk encounter was Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën which translates to “Old and New East Indies.” That title (along with other information from Wikipedia) didn’t seem like it was going to have much to do with New England, much less Massachusetts. Portions of this text are available on Internet Archive; however, if you investigate a little, you will realize that this work is massive .... and it’s written in Dutch, which unfortunately I cannot read.

Additional flailing led me to this essay on Valentyn’s work which gave me some clues as to where to find his discussion of mermaids within the multiple volumes that comprise Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën. Valentyn discusses merfolk (as well as the specific encounter we’re investigating) on page 330 of volume 3, linked here.

Inserted between pages 330 and 331 in volume 3 of Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën

Pressed for time, I did exactly what language teachers tell their students to refrain from doing ... I turned to Google Translate. Behold the hasty transcription that I fed Google Translate:

Alle deze voorbeelden, van zoo veel geloofweerdige lieden konnen my te gemakkelyker overhaalen, en doen gelooven een zaak, waar van ik zelf ten grooten deele het gezicht gehad heb, daar in bestaande, dat ik Ao. 1714 op de t'Huisreize, en nu tot de 12 Graden 38 min: Zuider breedte gevorderd, op den eerste May 's morgens ontrent elf uuren, nevens onzen Schipper, Boek-houder, de Stierman van de wagt, en een groot getal andre van ons Scheeps-Volk, ontrent drie Scheeps-lengten van ons, by dood-stil weder (zynde de Zee als Olie) zeer klaar en onderscheiden boven op de oppervlakte van de Zee, ontrent met 't halve boven-lyf als op de Zee, en met de rug na my toe zittende, vernomen heb een Zee-gedrogt, van couleur even eens, als de huid van een Kabbeljauw, of andre Visch, uit den gryzen of graeuwen zynde.

Uiterlyk aan te zien geleek het een Matroos, of een Mensch, die ergens op zat, en dat te meer, alzoo hy scheen een Engelsche Muts van die zelve gryze verwe op te hebben.

Hy zat wat kort in een gedrongen, en wy zagen hem zyn hoofd meer dan vyf en twintig malen al ginsch en weder draejen, weshalven wy hem allevooreen Schip-breukeling hielden.

Ik verzogt daar op de Schipper, na dat wy dit nu al eenigen tyd zoo gezien hadden, dat de Stierman 'er wat na toe houden mogt, alzoo hy zich wat na de Stier-boords-zyde vertoonde, op dat wy hem te beter van na by onderkennen mogten. De Stierman stevende daar op wat na Stierboord toe, zoo dat wy 'er toen maar een Scheeps-lengte van daan waren; dog door een schielyk geraas van ons Volk op de Bak buitelde dit Zee-gedroght 't onderste boven, en was ten eersten ons ontdoken; dog de Man, die boven aan de Steng op de wagt zat, getuigde, dat dit Gedrogt een vreezelyke lange start, en dat hy dat zeer klaar nog wel tweehonderd tellens lang gezien had.

And now behold what Google Translate spat out (in parentheses I have supplied what I think the translation should be, otherwise question marks indicate that I have no idea – your guess is as good as mine!):

All these examples, from so many religious people, could persuade me more easily and make me believe a thing of which I myself have largely witnessed, consisting in the fact that in 1714 on the Home Journey, and now until the 12 Degrees 38 min: South latitude advanced, on the first of May at about eleven o'clock in the morning, next to our Skipper, Accountant, the Bullman of the Watch (???), and a large number of other members of our Ship's People, about three Ships' lengths from us, in deathly still weather – the Sea is like Oil – very clear and distinct on top of the surface of the Sea, with half the upper body as on the Sea, and with the back behind me while sitting there, I heard a sea-dry (???), of color just like the skin of a cod, or other fish, from the gray or gray.

Outwardly it appeared to be a sailor or a man sitting on something, and even more so as he seemed to be wearing an English cap of that same gray color. He was sitting rather close together (???), and we saw him jerk his head back and forth more than five and twenty times, so we all took him for a shipwrecked man.

I asked the Skipper, after we had seen it like this for some time now, that the Taurus (captain?) could take some time, if he showed himself a little after the Taurus side (starboard?), so that we could better understand him. were allowed to recognize after by (???).

The Taurus (captain?) headed towards it a little after Taurus(???), so that we were only a ship's length away at the time; Only due to a sudden noise from our people on the barge, this sea monster fell upside down and evaded us in the first place; dog de Man (???), who was sitting on the watch at the top of the stem (mast?), testified that this Drug (???) had a terribly long start (tail?), and that he had seen it very clearly for about two hundred seconds. (pp. 334-335)

I have no doubt that Google translate is missing a lot of the language’s nuance, plus I’m pretty sure it isn’t programmed for 18th-century Dutch. In the margin of page 335 there is the following text: Een zeldzaam geval, den Schryvner zelf, Ao. 1714. Voorgekomen. Google translate renders this as: “A rare case, den Schryvner himself, Ao. 1714. occurred.” I’m guessing that the “den Schryvner” that Google couldn’t figure out is 18th-century Dutch for “door de schrijver” ~ “(witnessed) by the writer” or something like that. As for Taurus man, I'm guessing “Stierman” might be a version of “stuurman” which means “steer-man” i.e. a person who steers something such as a ship which could mean “Stierman” = “captain.” Again, these are just guesses.

Unfortunately, the crucial part, which in my opinion is the description of the merperson, is where things really start to devolve. The English translation Snow has on page 110 of his book paints a much more coherent picture than what I was able to accomplish.

Aside from that issue, there is the fact that Valentyn’s book is about his time working for the Dutch East India company and the flora and fauna he observed there. His writings primarily concern the region of Indonesia, not New England. He makes mention of the ship’s coordinates at the time of the sighting: “12 Degrees 38 min: South latitude” and it’s en route to Holland because he mentions that the ship is on its “home-journey.”

After even more flailing around on the internet in an attempt to understand 18th-century Dutch trade routes and coordinate systems, I found these two articles:

• Why longitude mattered in 1714 | Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk)

• Dutch East India Company, Trade Network, 18th Century | The Geography of Transport Systems (transportgeography.org)

I’m not sure what happened and how Valentyn’s experience got linked to Great Point. I guess it's possible that his ship stopped near Massachusetts on its way back to Holland from Indonesia, but Nantucket isn’t exactly on the trade route described in the articles above. I have no idea what “en nu tot de 12 Graden 38 min: Zuider breedte gevorderd” would actually mean in terms of today’s GPS coordinates (plus my understanding of coordinates and naval navigation is on par with my grasp of Dutch – 18th-century and modern!); however, I strongly suspect that the place he is referencing is nowhere near Massachusetts. If anyone has a better explanation, please share! Maybe in a future blog post I’ll investigate the other Massachusetts mermaid legends but for now, I’m going to call it quits with this one!

There are legends and folklore about mermaids and merpeople that originate from all over the world. If you are interested in learning more, a book worth exploring is the Penguin Book of Mermaids. If you have a State Library card, you can request a copy from the CW MARS libraries through our catalog.

Happy reading!

Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents & Reference Librarian

Reference Tip: Decisions of the Supervisor of Public Records

Example of a decision from 1978

Looking for an old decision from the Supervisor of Public Records? The State Library can help! A common request we receive is for older decisions ranging from the late 1970s - 2000s. Decisions of the Supervisor usually include details of a public records request appeal, notification to an agency that they must comply with public records regulations, or details why a specific request can or cannot be fulfilled. Citations to a decision in a report or treatise may look like: See for example, Supervisor of Public Records, No. 321 (Oct. 16, 1978). More recent decisions may also be cited as SPR##/####. When looking for a specific decision, please provide us with the year and decision number. 

The library’s holding can be found here. Please note that the library only holds print copies of these decisions. The Secretary of State does provide electronic access to decisions back to 2014. You can search by case number, case type, case year and more. As an example, to search by case number, a decision cited as SPR14/1234, would be case number 20141234 (year followed by case number). For more information on Massachusetts Public Records Law and the process for decisions, see here.

Please contact the Reference Department for research assistance by email, telephone (617) 727-2590, or chat with us!

April Pascucci
Legislative Reference Librarian

Massachusetts Political Almanac: A State Library Go-To Source

We last wrote about the Massachusetts Political Almanac in 2014 and while this is still a “treasured reference book in the State Library,” a lot has changed about it over the past 10 years. Mainly, it is not in print anymore and instead is available online through the State House News Service. The last physical issue was printed in 2017. Despite these volumes no longer being in print, our librarians use the print volumes all the time to answer reference questions.

The Massachusetts Political Almanac is a great resource to consult if you need information about members of the Massachusetts Legislature (also known as the Massachusetts General Court). Volumes of the Political Almanac contain biographical information about legislators, a photograph, committee assignments, office locations, staffing lists, information about the legislator’s district, election results, and more. Since this is such a valuable resource, the State Library owns two sets: one in our Reference collection (with easy access from the Information Desk) and another set in our general stacks. Our print collection starts in 1974 and goes to 2017, the last year this title was printed. While these volumes do not circulate, you can always use them in the library.

Governor Maura Healey’s record in the Massachusetts Political Almanac online

If you need information from the Political Almanac post-2017, come into the library and use one of our Public Access Computers (PACs). Once on a PAC, a librarian will log you into State House News Service’s online version of the Political Almanac.

Questions? Reach out to us by email or visit us Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm!


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

Flamingos in the Library!

Flamingos have popped up in the news this summer by making an unexpected appearance on Cape Cod and now they are making an appearance in our reading room, too! Visit us from August 8 through September 5 to see the American Flamingo (plate 431) on display in our Audubon case.

Flamingos are not known to travel as far north as New England, and the one depicted by Audubon was from the Florida Keys. His field notes indicated that they are found in Cuba, Florida's western coast, and "accidental as far as South Carolina." Read more in the Birds of North America Field Guide.

Shown in this print is the "old male" red flamingo in the foreground, with a few other flamingos in the background, in their shoreline habitat. It's true that flamingos attribute their pink color to eating algae and shrimp that contain carotenoid pigments, so the deep pink color of this flamingo means it must have eaten a lot of shrimp and algae in its lifetime! One addition to this print that is not found in all Birds of America depictions is that it also includes nine intricate sketches of the flamingo's bill, tongue, mandible (lower jaw bone), and webbed foot. These sketches remind us that while we often think of Birds of America as an artistic achievement, it is also a scientific work that is instrumental to ornithological study.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

On Display at the State Library - Hawaiian Language Bible

This month, Hawaii celebrates the 65th anniversary of its statehood. In honor of that occasion, we’re sharing an original copy of the first translation of the Bible in the Hawaiian language in our Collection Spotlight case. Titled “Ka palapala hemolele a Iehova ko kakou akua,” which translates from Hawaiian to English as “The scriptures of Jehovah our God,” this translation was published by the Mission Press in Oahu in 1838-39, and has been part of our collection since 1841. It will be on display in our reading room through August 30.

 Affixed to the inside cover of the Bible is a copy of 1841 Senate Bill No. 47, “Communication And Report Regarding A Bible In The Language Of The Sandwich Islands.” This bill explains that in 1812, the legislature incorporated the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which was initially created in 1810 by a group of recent graduates from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. With a goal of spreading Christianity, missionaries decamped to locations around the globe, including the Hawaiian islands (then referred to as the Sandwich Islands). The first missionaries to arrive in Hawaii were all from Massachusetts, and they departed Boston Harbor in October 1819 and landed on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua‘I in April 1820. You can read more about the fourteen individuals in this group, known as the Pioneer Company, in an article by the Punahou School.

Missionaries believed that an integral aspect of their work spreading Christianity was to have a translation of the Bible completed in the language of the individuals they were converting. Prior to the arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiian was a spoken language, but the missionaries worked to devise a written alphabet. Over the course of a few years, missionaries worked with Hawaiian scholars to development a standardized written language.  The culmination of that work was the Hawaiian language Bible displayed here. When Senate Bill No. 47 was issued on March 4, 1841, it was done on the occasion of the recent receipt of the Hawaiian language Bible from Oahu. The next day, March 5, the Joint Committee on the Library received the Bible into the collection, where it has remained ever since. You can read the bill in its entirety in our digital repository. You can also read more about the development of the written Hawaiian language and early printing in an article on the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation's website, and check out a few previous blog posts where we’ve written more about Hawaii’s history and resources found in the library’s collection.

 

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

State Library Newsletter - August Issue

Hello August! From summer reading, to ice cream, to flamingos, it's still summer at the State Library! Read about all of these topics and more in our monthly newsletter.

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

Design of Town Reports

The State Library has a lot of very cool headlining collections but this post is written to support the more mundane. Earlier this spring we posted some well written blog posts by our Government Documents Librarian about M.G.L. ch.6 §39B. This law mandates that all state agencies submit copies of their published materials to the library. But what do those published materials look like? Luckily for you, I, an intern here at the State Library, conducted a thorough inventory of the annual reports of every town. These reports, held in the town room in the library stacks, often span from the 1800s to the current year. (Per law, we’re supposed to have physical copies of every report from every town from every year.)

For the most part, towns send in their annual reports with little to minimal prompting. What happens to these reports once they’re in the town room? They get inventoried by enterprising young interns like myself. The reports don’t move unless someone wants to look at them and there isn’t a digital version available in our online digital collection. Is this a sad fate for the annual reports that end up here? It doesn’t have to be, especially when you are surprised by an interesting and thoughtful report design. When I was working through the ‘S’ section I came across a period in the 1970s when someone with a passion for graphic design made the Springfield Public Health Department annual reports. Some of my favorite include:

Left: Springfield Health Department 91st Annual Report 1972.
Right: 1978 Springfield Health Department 97th Annual Report. If the smaller circles are difficult to read: From 12 O’Clock and going clockwise: “Child Hygiene,” “Tuberculosis Division,” “Communicable Disease Control,” “Environmental Sanitation,” “Immunization,” “Dental Clinic,” “Health Education,” “Food & Milk Division”

Left: Part 1 of the cover for my favorite issue. Open to reveal... 

Right: Part 2 of my favorite cover. Not what I was expecting! Reads: ‘LOOK’ 86th Annual Report Springfield Health Department 1967

Nowhere, in any of these reports, could I find an indication of who designed the cover. But they’re admirable – unique, colorful, thoughtful, and even funny at times. The designs stand out in a room that is literally full of reports just like them.

Other town report designs include drawings by children (some of which are indicated to have won a town design contest), photographs and engravings of key aspects of towns (gates, buildings, natural landmarks), images of community in the town, and even images of standout town members in memoriam.

Nahant Annual Report for the Year Ending
December 31, 2012. Below the image:
A true Nahanter Robert F. Cormier | 1928-2012

The challenge all of these town reports face is how to be memorable in a room full of reports just like it. And the truth is that these reports can’t be memorable, not just by the cover. As fun as I find the covers to be, the best way for a report to make a lasting impact is for it to be seen by people who aren’t library staff. Researchers come in to the library to study town reports for a variety of reasons (academic, legal, personal interest) - we had a researcher come in regularly over the past year to study town reports in an effort to gather data about municipalities and working women. You can find out a lot about your town (or other towns) in these town reports: how many people registered for a dog license, how your public schools are doing, what services were accomplished with your tax dollars. Civic literacy extends from the highest levels of the federal government to the most local levels of the state government, and unlike the federal government, these documents have more unique cover art.

There is a saying that is widely hated, at least from my observations as a student in library and archives school, that something was “found” in the archives. You can generally be sure that if something is in a library or archive then that item is not lost. It has been documented, it and its location is in the official record, and it is kept in a safe environment. It may be lost to your memory, and maybe you never even knew it existed, but it is not lost to us. If these reports are lost to you, though, you can rediscover them in our reading room or from the comfort of wherever you are with our online repository. Go forth and discover!

Emily Buff

Government Documents Intern

Reference Tip: Locating Historic Attorney General Opinions

In 1832 the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office began issuing formal opinions on legal and constitutional matters. These opinions can be found in the AG’s Annual Reports (Public Document No. 12) which the State Library has in print and digitized in our digital repository.

• In addition to the Annual Reports, historic opinions can also be found in a set of numbered volumes entitled, Official Opinions of the Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Volumes 1 - 8, 1891 through 1929. You may come across citations to these volumes in Westlaw or Lexis. As an example, 5 Mass. Op. Att'y Gen. 670, 672 is a citation to Volume 5 (1917-1920). The full volume is in our digital repository here. The opinion begins on page 670 and ends on page 672; the opinion is from 1920. These volumes contain a subject index and table of statutes cited. Once you have the year, you could also locate this opinion in the 1921 Annual Report, Report of the attorney general for the year ending January 19, 1921. In addition, it is important to note that beginning in 1967, opinions were issued chronologically and numbered.

For more information on Attorney General Opinions, see our previous blog post. It goes over AG Opinions in Shepard’s Citations. 

If you need assistance locating Attorney General Opinions, please feel free to contact the Reference Department. 

April Pascucci
Legislative Reference Librarian

John Davis Long and Theodore Roosevelt

One of the State Library’s most popular attractions is the bronze bust of past President Theodore Roosevelt, which stands immediately to the left of our Reference Desk. Aside from depicting a major figure of U.S. history, the bust is an object of curiosity because its sculptor was the man who would later sculpt the Mount Rushmore Monument, John Gutzon Borglum. TR isn’t the only major historical figure represented in bust form at the State Library. We also have busts of Cicero, Arthur Buckminster Fuller, George Frisbie Hoar, Caleb Tillinghast, and John Davis Long on display in our Reading Room. These figures are significant in some way to Massachusetts history, State Library history, or (in the case of Cicero) American political philosophy. 

While reading up on these historical figures, I found an interesting connection between two of them: Theodore Roosevelt and John Davis Long. Long served as Secretary of the Navy while Roosevelt was the Assistant Secretary. Unfortunately, the two men did not get along (Thomas, 1997, p. 32). For example, they disagreed over events leading up to the Spanish war, with Long suggesting that Roosevelt wanted to launch a naval assault before war had been declared. You can read Roosevelt’s response to this accusation in his letter to Long (digitized version available here).

I can’t help but wonder if the person responsible for the arrangement of these busts knew the history these men shared. Maybe it’s coincidence that they are positioned on opposite sides of the reading room, avoiding each other’s gaze; however, I like to think that the arrangement was intentional and that the room designer thought it best to keep the two men as far apart from one another as possible.

More information on the State Library’s art and architecture can be found here.

Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents & Reference Librarian

Sources:

• Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Davis Long. Theodore Roosevelt Papers. Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record?libID=o186176. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.

• Thomas, Richard F. 1997. Virgil, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Davis Long Neighbors in the Widener stacks. Harvard Library Bulletin NS 8(1): 31-48. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4727677

Parrots Land in the Library!

Welcome the summer with the bright and colorful Carolina Parrot (Audubon Plate 26)! The Carolina parrot, also referred to as the Carolina parakeet, has been officially listed as extinct since 1939 but you can visit us from July 11 to August 8 to see it on display in our library. When this print was made in the 1830s, the Carolina Parrot made its home all the way from southern New York and Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. It was the only parrot species native to the eastern United States, and one of only three species native to the entire country. The closest living relative of the Carolina parrot is the sun parakeet, which is now endangered. You can read more about the factors that lead to the parrot's extinction in this article by the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove.

This print shows the adult male and female, along with a young parrot, which is identified with green head feathers instead of yellow. They are all shown among the branches of the Xanthium strumarium plant, also known as the rough cocklebur. It's appropriate to show the parrot among the cocklebur, as it was one of its food sources. The cocklebur is a poisonous plant, so farmers liked having the Carolina parrot around as a way of clearing this dangerous plant from their land. 

Parrots are extremely intelligent birds, and with their curved beaks, the parrots in this print look like they are smiling at the viewer! We're grateful for the opportunity to share such a detailed and beautiful depiction of a now extinct bird with our visitors, so be sure to stop by throughout the month to see it on display. 

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Service Spotlight: Interlibrary Loan for State Employees

State employees: is there an article you need, but we don’t have a subscription to that journal? Is there a book you’d like to consult to help with a project you’re working on, but you don’t see it listed in our catalog? We’re here to remind you that full-time, permanent state employees can take advantage of the State Library’s Interlibrary Loan program at no cost to you!

You can fill out a form to request a journal article or book chapter and you can also fill out a form to request a book. Alternatively, you can email your request to interlibrary.loan@mass.gov. The more citation information you can provide on your request form or in your email, the better. This will allow staff to be sure they are requesting the correct material for you and you’ll receive your material faster.

The State Library is part of the Boston Library Consortium and we can borrow materials from other libraries via OCLC WorldCat. You can also request materials from other Massachusetts libraries through Commonwealth Catalog, or ComCat, with a valid Massachusetts public library card.

To learn more about interlibrary loan at the State Library, please see our previous blog post and our webpage. Feel free to reach out to us by email with questions as well


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

State Library Newsletter - July Issue

Swing into summer with the State Library's newsletter! Catch up on our past Author Talk season, our displayed items, and a special highlight of a recently completed intern project. 

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.

On Display at the State Library

The upcoming July 4th holiday celebrates America’s birthday, the date in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Here in the State Library, we’re marking the occasion by sharing our copy of the Declaration. We have previously written about and displayed a version printed in The New-England Chronical by Edward Powers and Nathaniel Willis, but now we are excited to share our broadside copy, which was printed by Ezekiel Russell in Salem on July 17, 1776. Visit us throughout the month to see it displayed in our reading room.

After the Second Continental Congress signed off on the final wording of the Declaration, the text was sent to Philadelphia printer John Dunlap, who printed two hundred copies as broadsides. The text was then distributed to the thirteen colonies, where it was printed in newspapers and as broadsides. The version authorized and distributed to printers throughout Massachusetts included the following instructions for further dissemination (for ease of reading, in this transcription the “long s” which is printed as an “f” has been written as an “s”):

“In Council, July 17, 1776. Ordered, That the Declaration of Independence be printed; and a Copy sent to the Ministers of each Parish, of every Denomination, within this State; and that they severally be required to read the same to their respective Congregations, as soon as divine Service is ended, in the afternoon, on the first Lord’s-Day after they shall have received it: --- And after such Publication thereof, to deliver the said Declaration to the Clerks of their several Towns, or Districts; who are hereby required to record the same in their respective Town, or District Books, there to remain as a perpetual Memorial thereof.”

Note that the Council approved this order on July 17, 1776 and that it was sent to Massachusetts printers almost a full two weeks after the Declaration was first ratified. Though we all know that news in the colonial period was not instantaneous like it is today, this lag time emphasizes the duration that it would take for news to spread throughout the colonies. Once printers received it, it was then printed in their own newspapers and as broadsides that were sent to ministers to share with their congregants at the next Sunday service, as described above. In Boston, it was also read from the balcony of the Old State House to crowds gathered below on July 18.

The printer of the displayed broadside, Ezekiel Russell, lived in Salem during a portion of the Revolutionary War and was a prolific publisher. In addition to this broadside, he was also the printer of The American Gazette or The Constitutional Journal. Following the instructions from the broadside, Russell was authorized to print the Declaration at his shop and distribute it to ministers throughout the North Shore. Written in iron gall ink on the back of the broadside is the notation “To the Rev. Mr. Holyoke, Boxford” so we know which congregation received this specific version.

In December 2016, this broadside received conservation treatment at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC). The broadside was cleaned, tape was removed, and paper tears and losses were filled in with Japanese paper and wheat paste. The result is the beautifully mended and stabilized broadside that we can now safely display. And for those who can’t visit us in person, once the broadside was conserved, NEDCC’s Imaging Services Department provided us with a high-quality digital version which we can share in our digital repository. During the 1700s, broadsides were meant to be printed and distributed quickly to disseminate important information and keeping them intact to save for future generations was not necessarily the objective. We’re lucky to have such a well-preserved version in our collection and hope that you’ll be able to visit us this month to see this inspiring document in person.


By Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian