Unexpected Annotations: An Inserted Note From Eliza Susan Quincy

Josiah Quincy's portrait,
in Eliza's handwriting,
reads: "Aged 89. Sixteen
years after he resigned the
Presidency of Harvard, thirty
five year after he left
the Mayoralty."

Historian, amateur artist, and genealogist Eliza Susan Quincy (1798-1884), on May 13th, 1869, presented to the State Library a copy of her father’s 1852 work titled A municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries.  Eliza’s father, Josiah Quincy III (1772-1864), was a Massachusetts state and congressional legislator, the 2nd Mayor of Boston, and President of Harvard University; Quincy Market was also named in his honor. In addition to these accomplishments, he was also a published historian.  His father, Josiah Quincy II (1744-1775), was a prominent Massachusetts lawyer and patriot who died shortly after the start of the Revolutionary War.

Faneuil Hall engraving caption reads:
"View of the Market House erected
in 1826, and of Faneuil Hall from
the east."

What’s interesting about this particular copy is that Eliza inserted a handwritten note annotating the engravings that were included as frontispieces—information that she, a historian and student of the arts, felt was important for the reader to know.  Eliza collaborated with her father on many of his works, so it is not surprising that she continued to add information where she felt it was needed. The note reads:

The frontispiece of the work was partially copied from a sketch taken in 1827, soon after the Market was finished.  The hanging gardens belonging to the mansion of Peter Faneuil (in 1827, the property & residence of William Phillips) are seen on the left side of the engraving near the roof of Faneuil Hall.  A tower slightly indicated by the engraver, was a summer house built by Mr. Phillips on the site of that of Mr. Faneuil.  The trees beside it were a landmark to ships entering the harbor of Boston.  This interesting coincidence was probably accidental.  The artist sketched the distance as it existed in 1827.  The site of these gardens now forms part of Pemberton Square.  Eliza S. Quincy.  May 1869. 

Another copy of this title is available online, and that copy, which was donated to the Library of the University of Michigan by Eliza in 1872, also includes a longer and more detailed handwritten note inserted into the pages of the book.

For more information on Eliza Susan Quincy the artist, please visit the following website: http://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/eliza-susan-quincy-2007-03-01

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Librarian

Item of the month for January 2013

Written by Cornelius Dalton, in collaboration with John Wirkkala and Anne Thomas, Leading the Way: A History of the Massachusetts General Court 1629-1980 is a valuable source for anyone interested in the story of the state and its government. Divided into six parts: Origins, 1629-1775, Founding-1776-1780, Legislating for the Common Good, 1780 -1865, Pioneering in Progressive Legislation 1866-1915, A Changing Commonwealth 1915-1950, and A New Era, 1950-1980, this book is a classic and beautifully written history of the Commonwealth which has and will continue to touch historians, politicians and all with an interest in Massachusetts. Often consulted for reference questions here in the State Library, the book includes short, illustrated biographies of Senate Presidents and Speakers of the House, a listing of the political “complexion” of the General Court for the years 1867 until 1980 and pages giving the lengths of legislative sessions. This “treasure” stands out as a uniquely valuable source for those wishing to know the history of the Massachusetts General Court.

Cornelius Dalton’s own story is in itself a beautiful State House tale. A political reporter, he worked for 39 years for the Herald-Traveler. To Boston Globe reporter David Farrell, who remembered Dalton in a piece in 1985, he was “Mr. Chips”:

“The scholarly Dalton, who wrote about local and national politics for more than four decades, died last Thursday. His death caused little more than a ripple in the local media which is dominated by people who were in diapers when Dalton was in his prime. But the qualities that made him special will never pass away. His integrity, professional standards, patriotism, warmth and sincerity were the hallmarks of his distinguished career. Dalton was one of a kind. As a young political reporter in the early 1950s, I had the good fortune of breaking in under him at the State House. He was a beautiful man, my Mr. Chips.” (Boston Globe, September 16th, 1985, page 15).

A copy of Leading the Way is kept at the Reference desk for referrals by our staff. The library has several copies for circulation.

Pamela W. Schofield

Legislative Reference Librarian

State Library of Massachusetts

Both Sides of an Argument: Significant Debates in Massachusetts History

Last week saw the third and final presidential debate before the 2012 November elections.  As the debates are still lingering fresh in our collective mind, now is a great time to dip back into history and take a look at some notable hot-button issues and persuasive arguments delivered by Massachusetts legislators and other well-known figures.

One significant debate, which examined the nature of the Union, largely took place between legislators Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a Federalist, and Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, a Republican and advocate for state sovereignty.  The argument, which came to a head in January of 1830 while on the topic of protectionist tariffs and public land, stemmed from the 1787 Constitutional Convention’s debate on the nature and purpose of the federal government.  As a solution to the 1787 question, a new Constitutional ratification positioned the government as “central to the structure of American politics.”  However, the debate of 1830 brought accusations of a federal government and Union in ruins, ultimately revealing fiery sectional discord that was seething below the surface of the political climate.  The unplanned debate between Webster and Hayne lasted from January 19^th to the 27^th, and Webster’s second speech in reply to Hayne is considered one of the most eloquent to ever have been delivered in Congress.  During and after the Civil War, many viewed this debate as having foreshadowed the subsequent violence that erupted between the north and south.

Another important debate was held on March 19th, 1919 in Boston’s Symphony Hall between U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts and Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell, with an introductory address by then-Governor Calvin Coolidge.  The debate focused on the issue of a League of Nations as proposed in the Covenant of Paris, which both men agreed was in need of ratification, and whether the U.S. should or should not participate in such an organization.  Lodge, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, was not supportive of U.S. involvement in the proposed League and felt that it would only serve to engender friction between nations; instead, he called for a league that would seek general disarmament and aim to “secure the future peace of the world”.  Lowell argued that nations should work together and form a greater understanding of one another, which would therefore decrease friction.  It was believed that both sides were in close enough agreement that, once ratifications were made to the covenant, the U.S. would eventually join the League.  However, the United States did not participate in an international organization until the formation of the United Nations at the conclusion of WWII in 1945.

Kaitlin Connolly

Reference Department