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

Author Talk with Kate Clifford Larson

Register Online    

• Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer by Kate Clifford Larson
•  Wednesday, March 8, 2023—Noon to 1:00pm
• State Library of Massachusetts—Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/user/mastatelibrary
  
  

Celebrate International Women’s Day this year at the State Library! Join us on Wednesday, March 8, for an author talk with acclaimed historian Kate Clifford Larson, author of Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer. If you’re unable to attend this talk in person, be sure to visit our YouTube channel to watch the livestream, courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services.

About the book: Walk with Me is the most complete biography ever written about civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer. Born the youngest of 20 children in an impoverished sharecropping family in rural Mississippi, Hamer became one of the most important and powerful voices of the civil rights movement. Starting in the early 1960s, she worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee to help with voter-registration drives, and she went on to become a community organizer, women's rights activist, and co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She used her brutal beating at the hand of Mississippi police as the basis of her televised speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention, a speech that the mainstream party tried to contain. Meticulously researched, Walk with Me draws from recently declassified sources, including unredacted FBI and Department of Justice files, as well as interviews conducted by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress and also the author’s own extensive interviews with Hamer’s family and contemporaries.

About the author: Dr. Kate Clifford Larson is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of three previous biographies: Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero; Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter; and The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln. She also works as a consultant on projects such as feature film scripts, documentaries, public history initiatives, and museum exhibits, including award-winning consulting work for Maryland's Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State and National Historical Park, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and All-American Road, and the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, NY. You can read more about Dr. Larson and her works on her website: http://www.katecliffordlarson.com/

This event at the State Library is free and open to all, and those who attend in person will have the opportunity to participate in a question-and-answer session with the author. Additionally, assistive listening devices will be available upon request, courtesy of the Massachusetts State House ADA Coordinator.

For more information about the State Library’s author talk series, please visit our website at https://www.mass.gov/state-library-author-talk-series

Laura Schaub
Cataloging Librarian

Black History Month, Selected Titles

In February 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson organized a week-long event to honor and raise awareness of the contributions of African Americans to the United States. Support for this event would grow throughout history, culminating in 1976 with President Gerald Ford designating February as Black History Month. February continues to be an important and educational month for communities across America. See Governor Healey’s Proclamation declaring February 2023 as Black History Month. For more information, webinars and exhibits happening this month, visit BlackHistoryMonth.gov. 

In honor of Black History Month, the State Library has selected a few recently published titles from our collection that explore different facets of black history within America. To access any of the titles listed below, please contact the Reference Department (reference.department@mass.gov, 617-727-2590) or visit us in room 341 of the State House! 

Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad (2022) by Matthew F. Delmont – Half American highlights the history of African American troops serving in World War II. Author Matthew Delmont details the vital service of black troops in the battlefield and on the homefront, but also exposes the mistreatment and denial of benefits for black veterans. Delmont is a Professor of History at Dartmouth College. 

The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation (2021) by Anna Malaika Tubbs – Described as a celebration and testimony of the importance of black women in American society, Three Mothers, tells the stories of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin. These women raised, inspired, and instilled in their sons a sense of social justice. Through their influence as mothers, their sons changed America’s history. Tubbs is an educator, consultant, and Cambridge Ph.D. candidate. In addition, check out this past Author Talk with Tubbs as she discusses her work.

Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter (2020) by Kerri K. Greenidge – A name often overlooked in the history of civil rights, William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934), was a Harvard graduate and founder of the Guardian, a Boston based newspaper devoted to activism. In this engaging biography, Greenidge rightfully places Trotter as a leader in the American civil rights movement. Greenidge teaches at Tufts University and is codirector of the African American Trail Project

Say I'm Dead: A Family Memoir of Race, Secrets, and Love (2020) by E. Dolores Johnson – In this poignant memoir, Johnson explores her childhood and the impact of her parents’ interracial marriage. The daughter of a black man and white woman, Johnson explores her identity, family, and the larger history of race relations in America. Watch Johnson discuss her memoir in a previous Author talk!

April Pascucci
Reference Librarian

A Swan in the Library!

The Common American Swan (plate 411) has alighted into the library! Visit us through March 7 to see this impressive print on display in our reading room. And did you know that swans are seen as a symbol of love because they mate for life? So if you’re looking for a way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we suggest dropping by the library this month to see our featured bird for some romantic inspiration. 

When migrating swans reached their winter home, Audubon described their arrival as follows, "the first signal of their arrival at their winter abode is a general burst of melody, making the shores ring for several hours with their vociferating congratulations, whilst making amends for a long fast, and pluming their deranged feathers. From these localities they rarely depart unless driven farther south by intensely cold weather, until their vernal excursion." Read more from Audubon's account here.

The Traditional Exchange of Governor's Gifts

Yesterday marked one month since the inauguration of our new Governor, Maura Healey--welcome, Governor! The State House was buzzing during the transfer of power and now with the renewed energy of a new administration. 

What are some of the finer details of this transfer of power, though? You may have read stories in the news or watched clips on TV of former Governor Charlie Baker’s last day in office. One thing that I found interesting was the exchange of ceremonial tokens of office, or the traditional exchange of gifts, that happens between the outgoing Governor and the Governor-elect.

All four traditional gifts, photo courtesy of WCVB

Photo courtesy of WCVB

These four gifts all hold a special place for this office, but also for the history of the Commonwealth. One of the gifts is a pewter key to the governor’s office. Here we see former Governor Deval Patrick holding the key after it was passed down to him by former Gov. Mitt Romney. This is the original key to the corner office, though you won’t see Gov. Maura Healey carrying this around in her pocket--it’s just a ceremonial key.

Former Gov. Charlie Barker and Gov. Maura
Healey with one of the MA General Statutes
volumes, photo courtesy of the Boston Globe

Another gift is the Butler Bible. This bible was left by former Gov. Benjamin Butler in 1884 to all those who would serve after him. Governor Butler left this bible in the office because he previously had not found one there. The bible also includes a note from the outgoing governor to the new governor.

Two volumes of the Massachusetts General Statutes dating back to 1860 are also part of these gifts, as is the governor’s gavel. The gavel is carved out of white oak original to the U.S.S. Constitution and in 1906 was accepted as the “permanent official gavel” of the Governor’s Council.

Former Gov. Charlie Baker also presented Governor Maura Healy with a coin that had been given to him by the family of Sergeant First Class Jared Monti, who had been killed in Afghanistan in 2006. Baker said to WCVB that the coin is a “reminder of the sacrifice of military families.”

There have been plenty of news stories about these gifts if you’d like to read more:

• Charlie Baker passes 4 traditional symbols of Massachusetts governor's office to Maura Healey
• Handover from Baker to Healey begins with symbolic gifts, Lone Walk on Wednesday 
• Charlie Baker’s final days marked by ceremony, tradition

If you missed the televised coverage of Inauguration Day, take a look at WCVB’s video of the traditional exchange of gifts. We’d also like to give a special shout out to WCVB and the Boston Globe for some of the images featured in this post. If you’d like more information on all former governors of the Commonwealth, take a look at the National Governors Association website, but don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you may have! Once again, welcome to Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and everyone in the new administration!

Jessica Shrey
Reference Librarian

State Library Newsletter – February Issue

February is a short month, but there’s a lot going on in the library! Read about our exhibited items, our upcoming Author Talks, and more in this month’s 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.

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