March 2018 – Public History at UMass Boston

March 26, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Social Activism in the Archives

By: Monica Haberny

In the summer of 2016, volunteers petitioned throughout the state of Massachusetts to put Question 3 on the ballot. The question involved increasing the amount of space farm animals were given in Massachusetts, affected issues of food safety, and passed in a landslide that November.

Some of the flyers and a bumper sticker from the Question 3 campaign.

At the time, I was completing an MA in History and began working as an intern at the Boston City Archives. I used documents I found at the archive to write about women and African Americans who influenced Boston history. The one that stuck out to me the most was Ida M. Hebbard. Hebbard presided over the Housekeepers League during the 1910s and protested the surging prices of basic goods. She held various meetings about public health, worried about the cost of living for struggling families, and advocated for laws which affected food safety and animal welfare. About a hundred years later, the activists petitioning for Question 3 would follow in her footsteps.

Research room/stacks at the MSPCA Archive — Although it looks small, the record room at the MSPCA Archive contains hundreds of documents detailing the history of animal legislation in Massachusetts, throughout the country, and abroad.

Inspired by Hebbard, I initially wanted my capstone project to tell the story of animal welfare organizations in the Boston area and thought about creating an online exhibit. So when Jan Holmquist took me on a tour of the archive at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I came in with my original idea in mind. However, at end my visit I had already scrapped that idea and decided to make the MSPCA Archive more accessible to researchers by creating a finding aid. Much of the archive was already processed, but a 2008 fire had set back progress. There was also no concrete list of what records the MSPCA had; researchers needed to email Holmquist first to see if what they needed was there or make an appointment and hope that it was. Although there was a lot of work to be done, I was excited to get started.

In 1867, philanthropist and activist, Emily Warren Appleton traveled to New York and met with Henry Bergh. The founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) offered her advice on founding a similar organization in Massachusetts. Upon returning to Boston, she located the men who would become the MSPCA’s first donors and began working on a charter. A year later, George Thorndike Angell published an editorial in response to two horses that were raced to death after traveling a distance of forty miles. Appleton immediately went to Angell’s office after seeing the article, and together they founded the MSPCA. Angell became the first president; during his term, the organization pushed for the passage of multiple anti cruelty laws, published “Our Dumb Animals,” created the first American Band of Mercy, and began the distribution of children’s classics like Black Beauty or Beautiful Joe.

During prohibition, Angell Memorial Hospital needed to apply for a permit to use alcohol in the hospital. This is that application.

Dr. Francis Rowley took Angell’s place as the MSPCA’s second president in 1910 when Angell passed away in 1909. Rowley expanded the influence of the MSPCA. He oversaw the creation of the first MSPCA shelters and Angell Memorial Hospital. The hospital would be at the forefront of new practices in veterinary medicine, like the world’s first veterinary intern training program in 1940 or the first successful feline kidney transplant in 1997. Rowley also helped build the American Fondouk Maintenance Committee in 1929, a humane organization in Fez, Morocco. This event served as the first of many instances where the MSPCA fought for animal welfare abroad.

In the late 1800s, the MSPCA secretary kept a daily log. Researchers can use these logs to find mentions of Emily Warren Appleton, various donors, or typical days at the organization.

Despite the accomplishments of Appleton, Angell, and Rowley, many of their letters and documents may have been lost in the 2008 fire. I began my work at the MSPCA going through Angell’s correspondence and early records. A portion of the letters between Angell and his mother were burnt or missing. However, the correspondence that did survive gives insight into Angell’s upbringing and character. Even rarer, though, are records from Appleton and Rowley in their hand. The MSPCA Archives has a copy of Appleton’s will and she’s mentioned in various record books, but not much else. Only a few of Rowley’s letters survived the fire. It’s impossible to know just how much was lost, because of a lack of a finding aid before the fire.

After surveying early records, I began processing documents that were still disorganized from the fire. In about five boxes, I found records from the American Fondouk, correspondence from MSPCA employees, and many media clippings. The MSPCA Archive had amassed a large collection of newspaper and magazine clippings that mentioned the organization, the hospital, its many shelters, and other organizations that they were connected to. The clippings ranged from the early 1900s to the 2000s, the majority of which were from the 1970s up through 2005. While it would have been great to scan the clippings, as newsprint doesn’t preserve well, I had no means of doing that. So I spent time putting all of these clippings in chronological order and into boxes by decade. I learned a lot about animal welfare history in the 20^th century from these clippings. For example, the MSPCA worked with the Franklin Park Zoo in the late 1970s and early 1980s to upgrade the zoo and improve conditions. I would sometimes separate articles not just chronologically, but by event as well. I did so with articles about the zoo in the 1970s.

This is just a small look at some of the newspaper articles I organized in the fall of 2017.

When going through the records of the MSPCA and creating the finding aid, I not only learned a lot about animal welfare history, but I also realized how a collection can take a toll on the archivist processing it. Sometimes the subjects presented can hit close to home, and this was especially true with how big animal welfare had become in my life. The records at the MSPCA mentioned various issues like donkey basketball, greyhound racing, and instances of animal rescue during natural disasters. In addition to records of successful legislation and uplifting stories, there were also images of animal cruelty. Around the 1950s, employees at the MSPCA wrote to various companies which sold humane stunners and pistols asking for brochures. I also had to process articles on different methods of euthanasia. This aspect of the collection, while important to preserve, was particularly hard for me to look at.

Child's Membership, 1877. — Since its inception, the MSPCA has offered membership for those who wanted to support animal welfare in the state. Here’s a child’s membership from 1877.

Coming into this project, I was extremely attached to the subject matter. I wanted to list every single record I came across. My finding aid would include everything from documents and photographs to audiovisual material and medals. In the middle of my project, my advisor, Dr. Marilyn Morgan, confronted me with reality. She told me that processing and recording everything at the MSPCA was impossible if I wanted to graduate in December. She also made me realize that my time at the archive wouldn’t have to end when I submitted my finding aid. With her guidance, I focused on what I could actually get done within the time I had. I began selectively processing and recording things. I listed all of the boxes on the finding aid, but not all of the folders inside of them. For example, I didn’t list all of the folders for the many boxes of publications. I knew that any researcher looking for a newsletter or magazine could find what they needed in the labeled boxes and all the folders within them were in alphabetical order. My finding aid ended up focusing entirely on the documents and a small portion of the books. The photographs, audiovisual items, oversized materials, and ephemera needed to be left for another time.

Since the late 1800s, the MSPCA has published annual reports detailing the major accomplishments of the past year. These reports are readily available for researchers.

That time came less than two months after I submitted my finding aid and graduated. I became a consultant in February. I work a few hours a week helping Jan Holmquist keep up with the archive. This includes processing new materials, adding to the finding aid, researching the history of the MSPCA, and finally being able to go through all the materials I missed last time around. The project I’m most excited about is going to various archives and learning more about Emily Warren Appleton.

Animal welfare activism has grown in the last decade, and while Massachusetts has been on the forefront of this issue since 1641, the history isn’t too readily available yet. I know that my work will change that. The past will become more accessible to researchers and activists will be able to learn about how far animal welfare has come in almost four hundred years.

March 19, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Wheels, Genealogy, and Baby Hair: An Internship with the PEM Library

By: Rachel Sherman

“To celebrate outstanding artistic and cultural creativity by collecting, stewarding, and interpreting objects of art and culture in ways that increase knowledge, enrich the spirit, engage the mind, and stimulate the senses” This passage is the first sentence of the mission statement for the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), an internationally recognized art and cultural museum located just north of Boston, Massachusetts.

As a student of public history also pursuing an archives certificate, I knew from the start that I needed multiple internships to gain the professional experience. As a resident and lover of the North Shore area (the cities north of Boston, mostly in Essex County), I wanted to bring my skills in helping cultivate the history of my home. All of this cumulated into an internship at the Phillips Library, part of the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM).

The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

Known as the PEM Library or the Phillips Library, this archive stores the millions of manuscripts donated throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century to promote the understanding of the culture of the North Shore and its community members. The archival collections vary from maritime shipping logs, business logs, unpublished books, maps of the New World before the establishment of the United States, and so much more.

Under the supervision of the head archivist for the Phillips Library, Tamara Gaydos, I got to get my hands dirty (not literally!) and process three collections, as well as write brand new finding aids for the collections: the Archibald Wheel Company Records and Edward A. Archibald Papers, the Martha Jane (Weston) Averill Collection, and the Almy, Butler, and Robson Papers.

Each collection varied in multiple regards: size, material, historical period, and level of necessary processing, to name a few. Each collection also brought new challenges I never faced before, and after all the new folders went into their new boxes and placed amongst the thousands of other archival collections, I left having learned more than I predicted before my first day.

The Archibald Wheel Company Records and Edward A. Archibald Papers was my first collection, and the easiest. The collection consists of business papers relating to the Archibald Wheel Company, a wheel manufacturer active between 1867 and 1910, and its founder, Edward A. Archibald, a Canadian immigrant who immigrated to Boston in 1852, started his wheel company in the late 1860s, patented a machine for creating a new wheel, the iron-hubbed wheel, and successfully served clientele across the United States until his death.

The Martha Jane (Weston) Averill Collection was my second collection and my first actual challenge. The collection consists of extensive genealogical research on multiple New England families conducted by Martha Jane (Weston) Averill (1838-1908), a Middleton woman, over the course of her life. These families include both local families, such as the Curtis, Putnam, and Wilkins families, and her own familial connections, such as the Averill, Gould, and Weston families. The documents collected by Martha on these families include legal documents, bills, receipts, accounts, family trees, and correspondence.

Unopened envelopes. — The Almy, Butler, and Robson Collection contained hundreds of unopened envelopes. Each had to be opened and examined over the course of processing.

The Almy, Butler, and Robson Collection, my third collection, proved to be the greatest challenge yet because, besides previous research conducted by Tamara, there was little to no processing done in this collection; no one knew what was inside the hundreds of unopened envelopes (which I had the pleasure of opening!) The collection consists of documents pertaining to various members of the Almy, Butler, and Robson families, members of the founding family of the Almy Department Store (Salem, Massachusetts), and all of whom were related by blood or marriage. The collection consists predominantly of personal correspondence between family members and close friends; however, the collection also contains photographs, ephemera from travels, cards, drawings, shipping papers, writing samples both written by and about family members, court papers, tax records, and even baby hair! The collection contains documents in English, French, and German. Also accompanying the collection is a family tree to better understand the family.

A lock of baby hair found in the Almy, Butler, and Robson Collection.

Although these three collections by themselves do not change the course of history, they do stand their own ground as gateways into the lives of those who once lived in the communities some call home. The Archibald Wheel Company presents the story of an immigrant who lived the American dream of success. Martha Jane Averill set out to understand her family and her community’s story. The Almys, Butlers, and Robsons kept hold their familial correspondence, pictures, and papers to treasure their relationships. Altogether, these collections present various histories and stories that can be appreciated by a broad constituency of researchers and members of the public.

As an institution of knowledge, preservation of history, and the enrichment of the community, the Phillips Library holds itself to a standard of safe holding and presenting the tantalizing stories of those who once shared the same land as our present communities. To maintain community relations and to allow further accessibility, the Phillips Library digitizes its collections for all to treasure, and this includes the previously mentioned collections processed over the summer.

During the summer, while I sat in the corner processing these valuable collections, the Phillips Library staff secretly prepared for their journey to a permanent home for the archival collections. Only recently did the news break out that despite previous promises made to return the PEM Library back to Salem, Massachusetts, the Phillips Library instead planned to house its archives in Rowley, Massachusetts. This news shocked those who eagerly awaited the day that, after six years of housing in Peabody, the Phillips Library would return to its ancestral home in Salem. Instead, the building would become office space, as the collection moved to a new location in another town.

Angered Salemites gathered in the snow to protest. Some created and signed petitions to “Preserve the Phillips Library.” Thousands wait to see what will happen to both the beloved Phillips Library and the PEM Library collections. Yet, regardless of what happens, the issues that the PEM staff face now are part of the archives profession. Archivists must be flexible enough to carry out their work despite resource constraints and sweeping institutional decisions. As long as the wheels keep turning, community members keep researching, and families continue to preserve their stories, history will move forward.

Postscript: The Phillips Library has released a statement about its move. You can read it here.

March 5, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Pilgrim’s Progress: An Interview with Rebecca Griffith

By: Molly Liolios

Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA. Photograph by Giorgio Galeotti

Hidden in the lower levels of Pilgrim Hall Museum and camouflaged among the exhibit of the Pilgrim journey is a door leading to the archives. There is a series of makeshift offices, built of plywood and filing cabinets. This is where curator and archivist Rebecca Griffith spends her days.

Museums have held a place in Becca’s heart for the majority of her life. As a child, her family would often vacation in areas of historic interest, attending museums of various collections. There, Griffith would spend hours analyzing the artifacts, taking in every detail, carefully reading the descriptions and that sparked the start of her fascination with material culture. “I had always loved books and reading, and of course history,” she said with a smile. She credits and her undergraduate internship for solidifying the idea of archives as a career.

“I cataloged a book collection in this weird place in Philadelphia, it’s called Fonthill Castle, and it’s this very eccentric bachelor who built this concrete castle in the suburbs of Philadelphia,” she remembered fondly. There was an assortment of tiles he made from his business as well as his collection of incredible rare volumes form the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It was these books that started Becca on the road towards becoming an archivist and inspired her to pursue graduate school.

Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, PA. Unaltered photograph by James Loesch, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jal33/5437285992

Griffith attended Simmons College and earned a degree in Public History, wanting to continue to work with both paper documents and three-dimensional objects. It was there that she learned the skills to be able to interpret history for the public as well as archival and object handling. She put these skills to use with an internship at Pilgrim Hall Museum, which led to a full-time job with the departure of two directors, the curator, and the retirement of their archivist. Her title is Associate-Curator but she does the work of two departments, not only creating exhibits but also performing all duties with the museums archives. She credits good luck with her position as a fairly recent graduate as the competition for jobs in the field is very steep in this area, joking “you just have to be at a place and show that you’re useful so they’ll want you around and eventually they’ll start paying you.”

Rebecca began to remark on her current job at Pilgrim Hall, talking passionately on how she loves what she’s doing, the excitement and the activity never leave her a dull moment. She receives the most enjoyment out of learning about the history of the objects and documents she works with, stating that she learns something new with every acquisition. The Pilgrim Hall archives covers a broad assortment of documents, beginning with seventeenth century documents and ending with current donations from various clubs and organizations around Plymouth. “Archivally, we really took on the role of the Plymouth Historical Society [there isn’t one] and really just collected everything Plymouth related document wise.” She continued with their extensive photograph collection with the majority containing pictures from the 1800s.

Mayflower passenger William Brewster’s copy of the works of Seneca found its way into the collections of the Pilgrim Hall Museum

Wanting to get an insiders opinion, I asked what her favorite item in their possession was, especially as they have such an extensive archival collection. She surprised me with a book not transparently connected to the Pilgrims at all. It is a 1614 edition of the works of Seneca, a Roman naturalist and a favorite of the Pilgrims. However, it wasn’t the subject matter of the book that constituted it as her favorite; it was the clear provenance of the book. The inside front cover catalogued the history of who owned the book previously and exactly how it came to the following owner, which included William Brewster. An artifact such as this is unique to collections as there are usually mysteries surrounding the objects. Griffith noted that although artifacts like this are great for a number of reasons, she enjoys uncovering the history of documents, adding that without it, the job would be very boring. And thankfully, the majority of artifacts in their collection have a mystery to them.

As Pilgrim Hall is the oldest continuously operating museum in the country, they have been collecting items for over two hundred years, and with that have seen a change in museums standards and record keeping. Griffith and her interns have attempted to piece together the history through museum records, combing through boxes to try to and find any information, which was time consuming as their records are not digitized. However, the interns have begun the tedious process of digitizing their photo collection and transcribing museum records for online consumption. There is no current program in place, but Griffith hopes to have it up and running by the fall of 2018.

Currently, Plymouth is gearing up for the 400th anniversary of the landing of Pilgrims which has left Griffith with little time for anything else. Pilgrim Hall Museums is currently in collaboration with Plymouth 400, a committee solely dedicated to the celebration, to create a community needlework tapestry showcasing the history of Plymouth. She hopes that this creation will not only be a commemoration of the event but a tangible artifact that will last for the next hundred years and beyond.

1620 stamp on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth will celebrate its 400th year in 2020.

As the conversation about the upcoming celebration events dwindled, I asked Becca what the greatest advice she was given, hoping that she could pass on this wisdom to this up-and-coming grad student. She began with advice on publishing, saying to find a newsletter, journal, or magazine that will accept your work. “Pick something you’re interested in and get it published…get your name out there.” She said not to be discouraged at failure or rejection, whether it be from a job or journal- that it will happen and that’s okay. With each answer of no there’s a new opportunity waiting in the wings, and to remind yourself that you’re doing what you love to do, closing with the fact that “you’ve picked this particular field for a reason because it’s something that you’re passionate about. Don’t forget that.”

As she led me back through the exhibit and up the stairs we paused to look at her most recent exhibit on wedding dresses from the 1600s through 2010s. She reflected on it fondly, emphasizing the hard work and long days it took to complete it but highlighting the joy and feeling of achievement it gave her. As we said our goodbyes, I found myself replaying the words she had said about passion, clearly reflected in her work, and I felt a new sense of excitement and determination in me in regards to my own path. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be sitting across from an archival history grad student answering their questions and, hopefully, filling them with a zest for discovery and pride in their work.