Boston Strong and the Marathon Tradition

It is time again for the annual running of the Boston Marathon—the race to be held on April 18, 2016 will mark the 120th continuous year for the world’s oldest marathon, having begun in April 1897 with its inaugural race. It holds the distinction of also being one of only four major events that was still held in the United States during the years of both World Wars (the marathon is in the varied company of the other three: the Kentucky Derby, the Rose Parade, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!). Still unarguably the most famous marathon run today, the Boston Marathon was inspired by the successful revival of the Olympic marathon as the signature event of the first international modern-era Summer Olympic Games held in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

When the Boston Athletic Association, which still manages the marathon to this day, originated the idea of running of a marathon on the newly established Patriot’s Day, April 19 (first proclaimed as such in 1894 by Gov. Frederic Greenhalge to commemorate the date of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1776), the runner’s route was to trace the route of the battle from Concord to Lexington and on to Boston. As this route was too short at 20 miles, the decision was made to follow the tracks of the Boston and Albany Railroad 40 kilometers (24.5 miles) northwest of Boston to the starting line fixed at Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland. In 1924, the course was lengthened to the more familiar distance of 26.2 miles to commence at the now famous starting line at Hopkinton Town Green.

The State Library has a number of books that recount this long history and tradition of the Boston Marathon; highlight its famous and/or colorful participants over the years; as well as chronicle the tragedy of the 2013 bombings. The library even owns a beautiful, bilingual Greek-English “coffee table” book on history of Marathon, Greece and the history of Olympic marathon running. Listed below is a selection of titles and more can be found in our online catalog here.

• Young at Heart: the Story of Johnny Kelley, Boston’s Marathon Man 
• 26.2 Miles to Boston: a Journey Into the Heart of the Boston Marathon
• The Boston Marathon: the Incredible, Zany Story of America’s Greatest Foot Race and the Men and Women Who Have Run It
• Staying the Course: a Runner’s Toughest Race 
• Boston Strong: a City’s Triumph Over Tragedy
• Marathon (Greece)

Judy Carlstrom
Technical Services

Friends of the Library Newsletter -- April Issue

Pressed Flowers from the Holy Land

Working as a cataloger at the State Library of Massachusetts, I have become accustomed to handling rare materials of all kinds, but a book that recently came to me in need of recataloging caught my eye as something truly special. It is a small book, only six inches tall and 27 pages long, but contained within this slim volume are twelve nicely preserved pressed flowers from the late 19th century.

Published ca. 1898 in Lowell, Massachusetts, Pressed Flowers from the Holy Land contains flowers that were gathered and pressed in Palestine by Harvey B. Greene. Included in the book is a certificate from the U.S. Consul at Jerusalem, who attests that the author “spent three springs, in gathering and pressing the flowers of Palestine, during which time he made with the assistance of native helpers, large collections of the wildflowers,” which the Consul “feel[s] sure … really grew in the Christ Land.”

Delicately secured to the pages of the book are sprigs of Lily of the Field, Papyrus, Mignonette, Puff Ball, Madonna Flower, Judean Clover, Passion Everlasting, Flax, Lentil, Bean, Pheasant's Eye, and Carmel Daisy. Pressed Flowers from the Holy Land may be viewed in its entirety online in the State Library’s electronic repository.
                                                                               

Laura Schaub
Cataloging Librarian

Hatpins and Cursing

At the library we are continuously looking to make our resources more available to the public. In the past we digitized a number of public documents from our collection as well as all of Massachusetts’ Acts and Resolves. Currently we are in the process of digitizing Massachusetts’ Legislative Documents – all filed bills from the late 1700s, and have already put a number of them online for anyone to search through.

Digitization is a long process, including scanning of the material, creating and editing metadata, and uploading these files so that they are searchable and findable. During the process of editing the metadata, I came across a number of bills that today may have seemed slightly ludicrous. Of course, not all bills become law, but many of these bills seemed to reflect the time that they were filed.

For example, there was a lot of debate about hatpins at the turn of the 20th century, when they were quite fashionable for women to wear with oversized hats and long hair. Massachusetts passed an act in 1913 regulating the use of hatpins, making it unlawful for any person to wear a hatpin in public longer than one half inch. This was an issue all over the country, as women were using the pins as weapons against those harassing them and some saw the hatpins as a symbol of female empowerment at a time when women’s rights were at the center of politics. In 1943, with hatpins being out of fashion, a bill was filed and passed to repeal the hatpin law. Luckily, hatpins have not been a problem since.

There are other bills that today would seem difficult to handle or for police to enforce. In 1936, a bill was filed in the house, “prohibiting the use of obscene or sacrilegious language and swearing at theatrical exhibitions or entertainments”. Perhaps even harder to believe, a bill was filed in 1956, “prohibiting profane, obscene, impure language or slanderous statements directed at participant of sporting event.” When I read this bill, I found it very quaint that the legislatures of 1957 tried to get New England sports fans under control. But it turns out this bill came up again in 1957 and actually passed into law in 1963. In fact, it is still law today. Many people (including myself) may owe a fine of $50 after a visit to The Boston Garden or Fenway Park.

There are many more bills and acts worth looking into, including the intent of a bill filed in 1937, “making it unnecessary for women twenty years of age or over to give their exact age in order to be listed as residents of any city or town or permitted to Vote therein.” While we only have some of the legislative documents from 1913 to the 1980s and early 1990s currently online, we are working to make all of them eventually available!

Stephanie Turnbull
Reference Librarian

Chickadees in a Cracker Jack box

The State legislature designated the chickadee as the “bird or bird emblem of the commonwealth” in 1941. A few years ago, in preparation for an upcoming exhibition on birds in Massachusetts*, the State Library’s Special Collections Department started collecting objects and images relating to our state bird. A surprising number of friends and family members had chickadee memorabilia to contribute, and the collection has continued to grow through donations.

Acts and Resolves passed by the General Court. 1941 Chapter 0121.

In early 2015 a small gift joined the collection: a prize from a 1940’s Cracker Jack box. The prize was a miniature booklet (2 ¾”h x 2 1/8”w) titled Chickadee, by John H. Eggers, with a copyright date of 1941. Not necessarily of great research value, but this item will be a charming addition the next time we do an exhibition on printing techniques, or birds, or state emblems.

*Amazing Birds: The Wild Side of Massachusetts, June-August 2012; see images on the State Library’s Flickr page.

Special Collections Department

March Author Talk: John Stauffer

Picturing Frederick Douglass by 

John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd, and Celeste-Marie Bernier 

Thursday, March 24, 2016—Noon to 1:00 pm

State Library of Massachusetts—Room 341, Massachusetts State House

If someone were to ask you to name the most photographed American of the 19th century, what would your answer be? Abraham Lincoln? Ulysses S. Grant? Walt Whitman? According to author John Stauffer, the answer is Frederick Douglass.

Why did abolitionist and political activist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) sit for so many portraits? This is the question that Harvard University Professor John Stauffer and his co-authors, Zoe Trodd and Celeste-Marie Bernier, explore in their recently published book, Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth-Century’s Most Photographed American. As it turns out, Douglass loved photography and spoke and wrote on the topic extensively. Douglass also recognized the power of photography to more accurately portray black Americans during this pivotal time in American history. Picturing Frederick Douglass presents a visual biography of Douglass with 160 of his portraits, arranged chronologically, and generous annotations by the authors. 

In addition to Picturing Frederick Douglass, Professor Stauffer has written or edited eighteen other books, including The Portable Frederick Douglass, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, and The Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race. Professor Stauffer is one of the leading authorities on the Civil War era, antislavery, social protest movements, and photography, and he is an award-winning professor of English and American Literature, American Studies, and African American Studies at Harvard University.

Please join us for an Author Talk with Professor Stauffer on Thursday, March 24, at noon at the State Library. Professor Stauffer’s talk is free and open to the public, and copies of the book Picturing Frederick Douglass will be available for purchase and signing at the event. Please register online and join us on March 24 at the State Library.

Laura Schaub

Cataloging Librarian

Friends of the Library Newsletter -- March issue available