Special Event: Treasures of the State Library of Massachusetts

Thursday, May 4th, 2017—3:00-3:45pm
State Library of Massachusetts, Special Collections—Room 55
Massachusetts State House

Detail of Aprosmictus splendens.
(Peale.), from the atlas volume “Mamalia
and ornithology,” United States
Exploring Expedition: During the
Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842,
Under the Command of Charles
Wilkes, U. S. N. Philadelphia, 1844-1874.

The State Library is once again participating in ArtWeek Boston!  On May 4th from 3:00-3:45pm the Library’s Special Collections Department will be hosting the event “Treasures of the State Library of Massachusetts.” Visitors will be able to view and learn about materials that are normally not on public view.  Items include some of the earliest published laws of Massachusetts, a realistic facsimile of Mayflower passenger William Bradford’s manuscript journal Of Plimoth Plantation, broadsides recruiting soldiers for the Civil War, photographs of African-American soldiers from the Massachusetts 54th and 55th Regiments, a handwritten journal by a Civil War soldier from Massachusetts, early maps of Boston, and beautifully illustrated books on natural history.  Space is limited so register today!

To register or learn more about the event, please visit: Treasures of the State Library of Massachusetts

Have a question?  Contact the library’s Special Collections staff directly via e-mail or by phone:
E-mail: special.collections@state.ma.us
Phone: 617-727-2595

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Department

The State Library is now on Youtube!

We now have two short videos on our Youtube channel, MAStateLibrary.

The first video is a slideshow highlighting some of the treasures in the State Library’s collection. These include Governor Bradford’s 17th century manuscript, the Haitian medal presented to Charles Sumner by the people of Haiti, as well as important photographs, maps and other items in the library’s collection.




The second video outlines the process of researching the legislative history, a common type of research among those coming to the library. The video describes the sources used when doing this sort of research and is a good introduction for those needing to research the history of a piece of legislation.



A special thanks to Libby Johnson, a reference intern last semester at the State Library, who produced these videos. Libby developed the storyboard, assembled the content and provided the voiceover for the legislative history video. Thank you also to Matthew Gamber, a former digitization intern, who photographed many of the objects in the treasures slideshow.