On Display in the State Library

Happy June! Now that the summer months are upon us, Boston will become even busier with visitors. Whether you are a local playing tourist for the day, or an out-of-towner experiencing the city for the first time, our displayed item will provide some inspiration for things to do and places to see. Visit us throughout the month to see the Ernest Dudley Chase map Boston and Vicinity: A Pictorial Map on display in our main reading room.  

Ernest Dudley Chase was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1878 but lived most of his life in Winchester (which case be found at the top center of this map). He was an illustrator who was known for his greeting cards and his pictorial maps. Pictorial maps will not help you out very much if you are trying to figure out how to get from one location to another, but they will entertain you with their whimsical illustrations and depictions of an area. While many of Chase’s maps focus on New England, he did not limit himself to the region. The State Library holds several of Chase’s maps in our collection, and while not all of them have been digitized yet, you can explore a full list here. Many of Chase’s maps focus on New England, but you can see from our holdings that he did not limit himself to the region. Maps in our collection include world maps, other locations within the United States, European countries, and themed maps - like “love” and “peace.” You can also explore more of Chase’s life and work in our 2009 online exhibit Ernest Dudley Chase: A Worldview in Maps.

Our displayed map of the Boston metro area is so detailed that each time you look at it, you are bound to find something new. It is peppered with illustrations of buildings, landmarks, train routes and various modes of transportation, and bodies of water. The map extends north to Melrose, Lexington, and Concord, west to Wayland and Natick, and south to Needham, Mattapan, and Wollaston. Boston Harbor and Thompson’s Island, South Boston, East Boston, and Revere are shown to the east. Countless numbers of schools, churches, municipal buildings, and libraries are among the illustrated buildings,  along with recreational related sites like golf courses, yacht clubs, and beaches and amusement parks. For those who want a little bit of history included in their maps, Chase even included the route of Paul Revere’s midnight ride! He’s depicted on horseback leaving Old North Church, and then you can follow the horseshoe tracks all the way to Concord (the map does not address that William Dawes and Samuel Prescott were also part of this ride, and that Revere was detained and didn’t make it all the way to Concord!). 

Whether you are visiting the Boston metropolitan area for a week-long vacation or just looking for inspiration for a daytrip, you can find numerous destination suggestions in this map. And be sure to stop by one of the featured locations, the State House, to visit the State Library and see this map on display through June 27. 

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

Preservation Week at the State Library: A Conserved Item on Display!

Happy Preservation Week! April 30 through May 6 has been designated by the American Library Association as time to raise awareness of the preservation measures that are taken in libraries, archives, and museums to ensure the long-term integrity of their collections. Here at the State Library, our preservation program covers book and paper repair, reformatting, environmental monitoring and disaster preparedness, and re-housing and cleaning our collection. The physical repair of items in our collection is called conservation, and while we undertake a fair amount of that work on-site in our preservation lab, we also occasionally send out items to be treated at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC). This month, we are celebrating Preservation Week by exhibiting an item in our display case that has undergone treatment at NEDCC, along with a facsimile of it in its “before” state. Displaying these items side-by-side really emphasizes the transformation that an item undergoes when it’s conserved!

The displayed broadside is An Act to Prevent Profane Cursing and Swearing, published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1798. It was part of an NEDCC project in 2017/2018 to conserve some of the historically significant broadsides in our Special Collections holdings. When we work with NEDCC, they begin by sending us a condition assessment and proposed treatment plan. Once the item has been conserved, we receive before/after images, along with a detailed description of the item’s condition upon receipt and subsequent treatment. Having thorough documentation of condition and treatment allows us to maintain a comprehensive record of the items in our collection. In this instance, the broadside had tape and residual adhesive removed, it was humidified and cleaned, and tears were mended with toned Japanese paper. Then the back of the page was lined with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste, making it safer for handling. The result is a cleaner and sturdier broadside that looks almost as good as it would have back when it was first printed in the 18th century!

And now a note on the content of item that so much work went into to conserve! This broadside was issued in June 1798 after an act was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives that states, “if any person, who has arrived at discretion, shall profanely curse or swear, and shall be therefore convicted, such person so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than one dollar, according to the aggravation of the offense.” The act went on to state that if swearing occurred in the presence of any Sherriff, Deputy Sherriff, Coroner, Constable, Grand Juror, or Tythingman, then they should report the act to the Justice of the Peace so that the offender could be convicted and punished. Broadsides such as this were then sent to Town Clerks throughout the Commonwealth to be read aloud at town meetings, and they were also sent to public teachers of religion (or pastors) to be read to their congregations annually. So in sum, if you wanted to avoid paying a fee in the Commonwealth in the late 1700s, you better not swear in the presence of any public official!  And while seemingly not enforced, blasphemy is still on the books of Massachusetts law! 

If you have an item in your personal collection that needs professional conservation treatment, you can find a list of local conservators through the American Institute for Conservation directory. But much of the information shared by organizations during Preservation Week can be applied to your collection on your own. We will be posting preservation content on our social media channels every day this week, so we hope that you will follow along as we celebrate all things preservation! And if you are in the area, be sure to visit us through May 30 to see our conserved broadside on display in our reading room.

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display at the State Library

This month, we’re sharing a 19th century broadside from our collection that pertains to track work and commuting to and from Boston - a topic that continues to dominate local news today! Commuters taking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in and out of the city are currently experiencing a slower ride because of “slow zones” and track inspections on most of its lines. In track news of a different sort, in 1888, residents in Quincy were notified that they might soon find it easier to get into the city - the item we’re sharing is a notice that was issued calling for a Quincy town meeting to hear proposals for the laying of tracks and use of motive power of the Quincy and Boston Street Railway Company. 

Much like how the MBTA currently holds public meetings, on January 17, 1888 a notice was issued by the Selectmen of Quincy to inform the general public of an upcoming town hall meeting to discuss the petition of the Quincy and Boston Street Railway Company for the construction of a track from Neponset Bridge to the intersection of Hancock and Squantum Streets. At the town meeting, they were also scheduled to hear about the petition of the Quincy and Boston Street Railway Company to use motive power (i.e. powered by water or steam) on its tracks as authorized by the General Laws of the Commonwealth. Readers familiar with Quincy will recognize many of the street names listed on the notice: Hancock Street, Granite Street, and Willard Street, to name a few. 

But does this proposed track relate at all to the current MBTA track? The short answer is yes, the Quincy and Boston Street Railway Company is an early relative of today’s MBTA. In 1900, it was sold to the Brockton Street Railway Company, whose name was changed to the Old Colony Street Railway Company in 1901 - this is not to be confused with the Old Colony Railroad, which was a major railroad system in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Old Colony Street Railway Company then merged with the Boston and Northern Street Railway Company and formed the Bay State Street Railway Company, which operated in Boston and as far north as New Hampshire and as far south as Rhode Island. In 1919, Bay State was absorbed into the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway, which was then acquired by the MBTA in 1968. In the eighty years that passed from the issuance of this notice to the MBTA acquisition, these tracks changed ownership a number of times. 

Visit us through April 25 to see this notice on display in our main reading room. And if you attend a public MBTA meeting now, you can rest assured in the knowledge the Boston area residents have been contending with public transportation for quite some time! You can also keep up to date on all things MBTA by checking out the resources in our digital repository. Here you’ll find copies of annual reports, “week in reviews and lookaheads” for each subway line, and more.  

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

One of the earliest incidents of the Revolutionary War was the Boston Massacre, which occurred in front of the Old State House on March 5, 1770. As we approach that anniversary, we’re sharing two items from our collection related to the incident: an account published in the March 12, 1770 edition of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal and a 1970 restrike of Paul Revere’s engraving The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston, March 5, 1770, by a party of the 29th Regiment.

In the winter of 1770, tensions were high in Boston. British troops had been stationed there since 1768 to enforce Parliamentary legislation, and in late February an eleven-year-old named Christopher Seider had been killed by a British customs officer during a protest. On the night of March 5, a group of Bostonians gathered in front of the Old State House where a member of the British 29th Regiment of Foot was standing sentry. The group verbally assaulted the soldier and the incident escalated. Additional soldiers were called the scene as the number of participants grew to between 300 and 400. The crowd grew more agitated and rowdier, and shots were fired by the British soldiers. In the end, five individuals died; Crispus Attucks, Samuel Grey, and James Caldwell at the scene, and Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr from their injuries in the days that followed. The event turned public sentiment even further against King George and British rule, and in describing the day, John Adams wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid."

The March 12, 1770 edition of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal included a description of the incident. The Boston Gazette was an influential colonial newspaper published by John Gill and Benjamin Edes. Printed weekly, it shared news from abroad as well as from within the colonies, and its patriot-leaning content was critical of British rule. The State Library holds a run of the newspaper, including the March 12 edition which was the first printed account of the massacre and comprised four columns across two pages. The account covers not just the event of March 5, but also provides a description of the days that followed up to the victims’ funeral on March 8. The funeral account describes a large procession that moved through the city from Faneuil Hall to the Granary Burying Ground, and stated that “on this occasion most of the shops in town were shut, all the bells were ordered to toll a solemn peal, as were also those in the neighboring towns of Charlestown, Roxbury, etc.”

Immediately following the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere engraved a print known of as The Bloody Massacre that went on to become an iconic representation of the incident. It takes a patriotic view, by placing the victims of the massacre in the foreground and including the sign “Butchers Hall” above the British soldiers. The print was then printed by Boston Gazette publishers Edes and Gill, and garnered further support for the patriotic cause while moving public sentiment away from the crown. Only around twenty-five copies of Revere’s print are still in existence, but his original engraving copperplate is part of the collection at the Massachusetts State Archives. In 1970, the Imprint Society of Barre, Massachusetts requested that restrikes be taken from the original plate, and after consultation with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, it was determined that a limited number of restrikes could be produced without damaging the plate. The result was a beautiful publication that included the restrike as well as a reprint of the account from the Boston Gazette. A limited number of these commemorative publications are in existence, and the State Library was gifted one from the President of the Imprint Society in 1972.

Visit the library throughout March to see the Boston Gazette article exhibited alongside the 1970 restrike of Paul Revere’s Bloody Massacre print. These two items together provide a vivid contemporaneous account of a key moment in our nation’s formation. And to read more about the Boston Massacre, check out The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

This February, in recognition of Black History Month, we’re exhibiting a Bird's Eye View of the Town of Nantucket, State of Massachusetts: Looking Southwest, which was published in Boston in 1881. Beginning in the 18th century, Nantucket was home to a community of free Black individuals. By using the Museum of African American History’s Black Heritage Trail brochure, and resources available through the Nantucket Historical Association, we were able to locate and identify a few significant Black history locations on the bird’s-eye view map.

 

Bird’s-eye view maps rose in popularity from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s and served in part as a way for a city or town to promote their community, industry, and amenities. Bird’s-eye view maps are not technical wayfinding maps and won’t identify all of a town’s streets or buildings but will rather highlight the locations that would be attractive to future residents or visitors. On the Nantucket map, attention has been drawn to the town’s many hotels and churches, and it is one of the churches that we’re going to highlight first. Located to the left of the center of town and with the most prominent spire is the South (Unitarian) Church - identified on the map by number 11. The South Church is significant because its records show that Captain Absalom Boston was married there in 1814. Absalom Boston was born on Nantucket in 1785 to parents Seneca Boston, an African-American ex-slave father, and Thankful Micah, a Wampanoag Indian mother. From an early age, Absalom worked in the whaling industry and by 1822 he was named the captain of the whaling boat Industry. The Industry was the first all-black crew to embark on a whaling expedition. It returned to Nantucket six months later with the entire crew intact. You can read more about Absalom in Whaling Captains of Color by Skip Finley.

The next landmark to highlight is an area called Five Corners, which is identified on the map by five streets converging into one intersection. Five Corners was part of New Guinea, which was the area where free Black people lived and built community in the 1800s and 1900s. One notable building located at Five Corners is identified on the map as Pleasant Street Baptist (#15). From the Nantucket Historical Association, we learned that this was one of the names associated with the African Meeting House. The meeting house was constructed in 1827 and it was “a multipurpose center. It housed both the African Baptist Church (later renamed the Pleasant Street Baptist Church) and the African School, and it was used as a community center for neighborhood gatherings.” The meeting house was the space where residents of New Guinea worshipped, attended school, and gathered, and it was seen as the epicenter of the community. As it nears its 200th birthday, the meeting house is the only 19th century public building constructed and occupied by African Americans that is still in existence today. It is maintained by the Museum of African American History and is a National Trust Historic Site.

The Nantucket Atheneum, identified by number 1 on the map, also played a role in Black history on the island. In 1841, Frederick Douglass was living in New Bedford. He was asked by Nantucket resident William Coffin to speak at Nantucket’s Anti-Slavery Convention, which was held at the Atheneum. It would be the first time that Douglass would speak about his experience in slavery in front of a group of white people. The speech was well-received and proved to be a pivotal event for Douglass; abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, was in the crowd and after hearing Douglass speak, he invited him to continue speaking at abolitionist events. Douglass went on to become a member and leader of the Society and participated in its speaking circuit for a number of years.

Stop by the library from February 1 through February 28 to see this map on display in our main reading room. And for those who can’t visit us in person, a high-resolution version of the map an be accessed through our digital repository. There is much more Black history on Nantucket than we can highlight in this blog post, so we hope it serves as a jumping off point to continue your own research, by checking out the organizations linked within this post, exploring the Heritage Trail the next time you’re on Nantucket, and by finding sources at your local library.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

Happy 2023! For the past few years, we’ve started the new year by displaying some of the historical almanacs from our collection. This year, we’re going all the way back to 1815 and 1818 to display two editions of The New-England Almanack, which was compiled by Stoddard Capen, Jr. The publisher of these volumes varies over the run of years, but the ones in our collection were published and sold by Charles Callender in Boston (an appropriate name for someone selling almanacs!). The cover includes the notation that it was “calculated for the meridian of Boston, but will serve for any of the New-England states" and as such, the almanac was distributed and sold by booksellers throughout New England.

We've chosen to display the 1815 almanac (pictured here) closed, so that the front cover is visible. You likely recognize the image, as it is a variation of the Great Seal of the United States. While not identical to the official seal, the image shows a stylized version of an eagle with wings outstretched, a bundle of arrows and olive branch in its talons, and a shield with the American flag. From its beak is a scroll with the motto “E pluribus unum” which translates to “Out of many, one.” In keeping with the patriotic theme, the almanac identifies the year 1815 as “thirty-ninth of the Independence of the United States of America” which is the calculation of how many years had passed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 

Within the pages, The New-England Almanack provides much the same information as other 18th and 19th century almanacs, including lunar charts and weather predictions, and regional information like a listing of courts and lists of elected officials. However, it is the extra details found within the pages that make each of the almanacs in our collection unique and interesting, since each author selected different additional information that they thought would be useful and entertaining to their readers. To illustrate this, we’ve displayed the 1818 edition open to the page for January. The monthly chart lists moon phases interspersed with observable days like “Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin born” on January 17, 1706 and “Peter [the] Great died” on January 28, 1725. At the top of the page is a verse that describes the month, which for January reads in part as “fast falls the fleecy shower; the downy flakes, descending and with never ceasing lapse, softly alighting upon all below.” The verses continue from month to month and culminates in one long poem that describes the entire year.

On the facing page is some less typical information. This almanac lists out the vacation schedules and academic calendars for a number of colleges located throughout New England, such as Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth. In the entry for Harvard, it also lists that “the public exhibitions of the students are in the college chapel, on the third Tuesday in October, the last Tuesday in April, and the Thursday preceding commencement, beginning at 11 o’clock A.M.” From what we can ascertain, this was a chance for students to present their work to the public, almost like a dissertation. Also of note are the pages following the monthly charts, which is a section titled “useful hints.” This includes a selection of miscellaneous tips like “rubbing cheese with red pepper prevents maggots” – which notes that rubbing cheese with butter and a red pepper, “gives a very fine colour to your cheese, but it is so pungent, that no fly would touch it.” There’s a food storage tip from 1817 to kick off your new year!

Visit us from January 6 through January 31 to see The New-England Almanack on display in our main library reading room, and if you’d like to start off your year with even more almanac content, be sure to check out our previous posts. In 2022 we featured Peter Parley’s Almanac for Old and Young, in 2021 we highlighted Fleet's Pocket Almanack for the year of our Lord 1789, and in 2020 we showcased a selection of Isaiah Thomas’s New England Almanac, which can also be viewed in our digital repository. 

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

Photo credit Louis Oliveira,
Wikimedia Commons.

If you visit Boston during the holiday season and walk by the Common you can’t miss a large, brightly lit Christmas tree on display – this is the Boston Christmas Tree, Massachusetts’ official Christmas tree. In 1918 and from 1971 onward, the tree has been donated to the Commonwealth from Nova Scotia as thanks for the assistance that the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion. This month in our library display case, we’re exhibiting a selection of materials related to those relief efforts.

Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, and its largest city. The Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917 when two ships, the SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo, collided in its harbor. The Mont-Blanc was transporting munitions from New York to France, and though the damage from the collision was not too severe, the Mont-Blanc caught fire. This led to a devastating explosion and subsequent tsunami that caused a large loss of life and structural damage to the city. When news of the explosion reached Massachusetts Governor Samuel McCall, he offered the mayor of Halifax unlimited assistance. In the immediate aftermath, a train of Massachusetts doctors, nurses, and medical supplies were dispatched to Halifax. In the weeks following, the Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee raised money to assist residents of Halifax who had lost their homes and all their belongings. More information about the explosion and aftermath can be found in a previous post on our blog.

This month’s display focuses on the efforts of the Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee. The State Library’s holdings include the Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee Records, 1917-1919 (Ms. Coll. 90), which was acquired from the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety in March 1921. Through photographs, blueprints, reports, and meeting meetings, the collection documents the relief efforts undertaken by the committee to aid the residents of Halifax in the wake of the destruction caused by the explosion. The goal of the committee was to raise money for the replacement of homes and furnishings, as well as provide care for individuals who had been injured in the explosion. The Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee ultimately raised over $500,000 in donations from Massachusetts citizens.

We’ve chosen to display just two of the many pages of transcribed “thank you” notes that are part of this collection. The relief committee had determined that one of the best uses of the donated funds was to provide furniture to individuals who had lost their homes. The notes of appreciation are in response to that aid and are addressed to members of the Halifax Branch of the committee, meaning men and women who resided in Halifax and who represented Massachusetts in disbursement of the donated funds. Of note are the letters addressed to Mr. Pearson, as he was the chairman of the Halifax Branch. The notes are dated throughout 1918, showing the speed in which the funds were raised and distributed. The men and women who wrote the letters expressed extreme gratitude to the committee for replacing items lost in the explosion and helping them to feel as though they had a home again.

Also on display are two images of the Governor McCall Apartments, which were erected by the Halifax Relief Commission and are located on Massachusetts Avenue in Halifax. They are named after Massachusetts Governor McCall, as he was so quick to offer aid to Halifax immediately after the explosion. The group photograph was taken on November 8, 1918 on the occasion of Gov. McCall’s visit to Halifax – he is shown standing in the second row, second from the left. To his right is Fred Pearson, to whom many of the “thank you” notes described above were addressed. The children in the front row are all residents of the apartments. In total, the apartments housed 325 families or nearly two thousand people who had been displaced by the explosion. The full size of the apartment complex can be seen in the bird’s-eye view photograph, which shows the apartments when they were “roofed in” on January 28, 1918. Construction of the apartments began on Christmas Day 1917 and were completed in 320 working hours. Note the American, British, and French flags flying from the rooftop in recognition of the aid received. You can see many other photographs from this collection in our digital repository.

            

If you are in town to see the Christmas tree, head up Park Street to stop in and visit us and see some of the materials that shed light on the significance and meaning behind the tree. These materials are on display in our main library reading room through January 4.

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian                                

 

On Display in the State Library

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

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

The eight districts in the resolution are as follows:

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

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

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

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

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

This month, we’re displaying a broadside of a proclamation that was issued on August 29, 1780 and called for a special session of the Great and General Court or Assembly of the state of Massachusetts-Bay to convene on September 8, 1780. The General Court had been prorogued (or deferred) from July until September 13 but were called back to an earlier session because, as stated in the proclamation, “such intelligence has been received, and of such an important nature, as renders necessary that the said Court should be called together sooner than the time to which it stands prorogued.” 

There was a lot going on in Massachusetts in the fall of 1780. While the Revolutionary War continued on, Massachusetts was in the final stages of establishing its constitution. In 1779, town delegates participated in a constitutional convention, which resulted in a draft written by John Adams. The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in June of 1780 and became effective on October 25. When this proclamation was issued on August 29, the state was less than two months away from having its constitution in place. Once the constitution was effective, John Hancock was elected the first Governor of Massachusetts, and the legislative branch was formally established with a House of Representatives and Senate – 242 years ago this month!

A quick way to identify this proclamation as dating to prior to the establishment of the state constitution is that it addresses the “Great and General Court,” terminology that was changed to the Massachusetts General Court after October 25, 1780. The General Court was and is the name given to Massachusetts state legislature – with the Senate as the upper house and the House of Representatives as the lower body. But the colonial legislature in place prior to the establishment of the constitution can be a little confusing, so an abridged version follows. The Province of Massachusetts Bay had a royal governor until 1775, the last of which was Thomas Gage, who was recalled amid the rising tensions of the Revolutionary War. From that point until 1780, Massachusetts was run by a Provincial Congress, without a governor or lieutenant governor in office. This proclamation falls at the very end of that political period. It refers to the Great and General court, or Assembly, which would be the equivalent of the lower house. But it is also important to note that the proclamation was issued on order of the Council, which was a group of individuals who were elected from the General Court and served as executives in the absence of a governor. If you look closely at the proclamation, you can see that it was issued in the Council Chamber of what is now known of as the Old State House, but in 1780 it was the seat of state government, housing the Council Chamber, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the space where the Assembly met. 

And now a note on the condition of this item, since it needed a bit of preservation attention before it was ready for display. We could tell by looking at it that there were lost fibers in the bottom portion, making it thinner and a bit fragile. As such, it had previously been stabilized by housing it between two pieces of archivally sound plastic sheets that were held together with double-sided tape. Though it was securely in place, we remove this type of enclosure because if the item shifts at all, it runs the risk of coming in contact with the tape. Before going on display, it was removed from the old enclosure and once it is off of display, we will make a new enclosure for it using Mylar sheets and our encapsulator, which makes a seal using heat rather than adhesive. Once it was out of its plastic enclosure, we were able to determine that there was a fair amount of dirt on the bottom portion. Since it was weak in that spot, we very gently cleaned it without causing any tears. In the image to the left, the “before” is on the top and the “after” is on the bottom.

With a little bit of care, this 242-year-old document was ready for display! Visit us throughout the month of October to see it on display in our main reading room.

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

It’s time to head back to school! For our display this month, we’re featuring a circular distributed by the Quincy School Committee in 1835 with advice for both teachers and parents. And referenced at the bottom of the circular are a few of the textbooks that the students will be using during the school year – some of which we have in our Special Collections holdings!

The Quincy School Committee issued this circular on September 1, 1835 with the full title of “Rules and regulations for the public schools in Quincy: also, some remarks on the due observance of the rules, addressed to parents.” On the webpage for the current Quincy School Committee, their mission reads as “the purpose of the School Committee is to establish policies and make decisions on the basis of educational philosophy and goals, the most crucial of these being facilitating the optimal learning experience of the children enrolled in the Quincy Public Schools.” Comparing that with the text of this circular shows that the purpose remains relatively unchanged 187 years later.

The section for teachers covers five points, some of which fall into generalities like start and end times to the day, absences, and tardiness. The fourth point is the most lengthy, and addresses student conduct. In this section, teachers are tasked with trying to keep their students in line, with instructions as follows, “You are also requested to prevent their throwing stones or any other hard substances at each other, or into any of the enclosures about the premises you occupy . . . Allow no quarreling among the scholars at any time - nor any vulgar or profane language . . . Impress upon their minds the importance of correct manners and habits; inspire in them a strict regard for truth, honesty and amiable deportment . . .”

The list goes on! But regulations and suggestions were extended to parents and guardians, too. That section begins by informing them that success in school is dependent on the guardian's cooperation with the teacher. It also includes the following, with printed emphasis, to stress the role that teachers play “You, undoubtedly, have your patience tried with your own children, though you may have but a half dozen under your care, while the teacher has from fifty to a hundred or more perhaps: – You have only to govern them – the teacher has to govern the multitude, and advance them in their studies at the same time – You are accountable to no human power for your management – he is responsible to numberless parents and the public generally.” The circular really lays down the law for guardians, and stresses the importance of education by including that “to get an education is a great object of childhood.” Click on the above image to read the circular in full.

According to the circular, at meetings on May 7th and August 31st, the committee voted on the textbooks that would be used for the school year. We were lucky to find that some of those  are part of our collection. Accompanying the circular on display are The National Spelling-Book and Pronouncing Tutor, published in 1828, and First-Class Reader: a Selection for Exercises in Reading, published in 1834. Both books are by Benjamin Dudley Emerson, who was the principal of the Adams Grammar School in Boston, and published textbooks on spelling, reading, and arithmetic, which were widely used in schools in the 1800s.

The committee voted that a copy of the circular should be printed and a copy sent to every family in the town. On the back of our copy is a handwritten notation dated September 1835 that reads “to the School Committee, Dorchester” so it’s possible that the circular was sent to other local school committees to serve as a reference. A stamp on the back indicates that the State Library received it as a gift on August 25, 1936, though a search of the 1936 annual report did not provide any additional information about the gift.

If you’d like to mark the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year by checking out some school resources and textbooks from the 1830s, then be sure to visit us from September 1 through October 3 to see these items in person!


Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display in the State Library

You’d be hard-pressed to read the real estate pages in any major area newspaper right now and not
see something about how hard it is to buy a house! With that theme in mind, we selected an item for our August display that speaks to the housing market in 1847. Visit us this month to see “Sale of valuable house lots in South Woburn: near the railroad” - a broadside that was published in Boston by Eastburn’s Press. 

This broadside encouraged potential homebuyers to attend a land auction held in South Woburn on Thursday, May 27, 1847. And though it was written 175 years ago, the text of the broadside reads much the same as property listings today. It boasts that the lots for sale are within a three-minute walk of the train depot, with trains to and from Boston stopping at the station 18 times per day, as well as nearby churches, good schools, and a thriving village. Who wouldn’t want to live near all of these amenities! The lots were good-sized, too, ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 feet and located near Wedge Pond. There was a second auction held earlier in the day for a “modern two-story house and lot of land” - for those who don’t want to construct their own home. Unfortunately, we don’t know the results of this auction, though it would be interesting to see how much the land sold for! 

Next, we tried to find this area on a map and used the reference to Wedge Pond as our guide. On modern maps, this area is identified as part of Winchester rather than Woburn. A search on Winchester’s history led us to the Winchester Historical Society where we learned that “the thriving village [Winchester] soon began to feel the need to separate from the parent town of Woburn, and it was the South Woburn Congregational Church that initiated the move. In 1840 the South Woburn Congregational Church provided the first house of worship within the village boundaries. By 1850, the town was ready to establish its independence from Woburn.” This land auction dates to three years prior to the incorporation, so the plots eventually became part of the town of Winchester, not Woburn. We would guess that the area looks much different today than it did in 1847, but you can get a sense of what it looked like by viewing this bird’s-eye view map of Winchester from 1886, found in the collection of the Norman Leventhal Map Center. 

And returning to the broadside, we noted that the auction was led by N.A. Thompson, whose office is listed as in the Old State House. But why would an auctioneer have an office in a historic structure that is part of the Freedom Trail? That’s because the 1713 structure has served a number of purposes over the years! It was the seat of colonial and state government before the construction of the State House (and our home) on Beacon Hill, and then it served as Boston City Hall. But at the time of this auction, the Old State House was rented out for commercial use! From 1841 until 1881, various merchants had their offices in the building - including N.A. Thompson, who occupied space until at least the late 1860s. Pictured is an image from our collection of the Old State House in 1858, with business placards affixed to its exterior. 

We hope that you’ll have the opportunity to visit us this month to see this broadside on display in our main reading room. Click here to see a higher resolution version in DSpace.

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display at the State Library

This July, we’re excited to exhibit a true treasure from our collection, and an integral part of American history. Visit our main reading room throughout the month to see a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed for The New-England Chronicle by Edward E. Powers and Nathaniel Willis on July 18, 1776.  

But if the Declaration of Independence signed by delegates of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4th, then why was it printed in Boston on July 18th – almost two full weeks later? That’s because Bostonians did not hear the stirring words of the Declaration until it was read from the balcony of the Old State House on July 18. And for those who were not part of that large crowd, it was also published in Boston on the same date. Three Boston newspaper publishers--John Gill, Edward E. Powars, and Nathaniel Willis--came together to print the Declaration as a broadside and in newspapers. Similar to modern-day posters, the broadside was a large piece of paper with printing just on one side that was posted and shared throughout the city. To ensure that the news of the Declaration spread even farther, its text was printed in Gill’s Continental Journal and Powars and Willis’ The New-England Chronicle, the copy of which we have in our Special Collections holdings. These are the only two newspapers in Boston that published the Declaration of Independence, though it appeared throughout Massachusetts in newspapers in Newburyport, Watertown, Worcester, and Salem. 

In a previous blog post, we wrote more in-depth about this item. Click here to read more about how the Declaration text traveled from Philadelphia to Boston, an interesting fact about all of the “f”s that make their way into colonial printing, and a note on the items’ condition. 

This July, celebrate America’s birthday by visiting us for the rare opportunity to see a 1776 version of the Declaration of Independence in person! 

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian