HW Sheldon and Sign Photograph
H. W. Sheldon and sign, ca. 1897-1912. From Billerica Public Library.

To start of 2017 right, we’ve added several amazing new collections to the Digital Commonwealth portal. Check them out!

American Archive of Public Broadcasting

American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection – 13,707 items harvested

Billerica Public Library 

Billerica, Massachusetts: History Capture on Glass – 1074 items

Jamaica Plain Historical Society

Jamaica Plain Historical Society Photo Gallery – 9 items added to existing collection

USS Constitution Museum

War of 1812 – 7 items added to existing collection

This post was written by Patricia Feeley, BPL Collaborative Services Librarian.

Cynthia Harbeson, Head of Special Collections at the Jones Library, began her job in January 2015. Amherst greeted her with the snowiest winter on record and a digital website in disrepair. She resolved to make Digital Amherst great again.

Happily for Cyndi, Sharon Sharry, the Jones Library director, was a huge fan of Digital Commonwealth (DC) and the Jones Library Trustees were fully committed to increasing access to the Jones Library collections. Cyndi didn’t really have to sell anyone on the benefits of bipartisanship cooperation with DC.

"Ice hockey at Massachusetts Agricultural College."
“Ice hockey at Massachusetts Agricultural College.”

In actual fact, Cyndi recognized that DC was a “wonderful resource” for her project and had the support of her director and trustees. Cyndi also realized DC’s harvesting of the Jones collections meant they would be available on the Digital Public Library of America, a bonus in Cyndi’s eyes.

In all, it took about a year and a half from initial contact to harvested collections on DC – and some of that time was spent getting Jones’ own digital website and metadata in order. The Jones Library decided to have its collections harvested rather than hosted because they planned to maintain the Digital Amherst site as their primary digital presence. They also wanted to be able to add to their website constantly on a small scale. Cyndi plans to notify DC when there are enough items to re-harvest for the wider world. She would not hesitate to contact DC again for a larger project. For the Jones Library, harvesting is the “best of both worlds” for the digital collections.

Black boy reads to his father in South Carolina
Black boy reads to his father in South Carolina

Cyndi found the DC staff “amazing” collaborators. Digital Commonwealth staff was great about getting her what she needed as well as telling her exactly what DC needed from her. Developer Eben English was her primary contact. She was impressed with how quickly and patiently he answered all her questions. With her metadata skills, Cyndi was able to do all the metadata clean up on Jones’ end. Still, she was surprised by how little Jones had to do beyond that to get the collections added.

The most noteworthy lesson Cyndi learned from her collaboration was the importance of standardized metadata to a shared project. She wound up changing some of her own metadata to match the standard DC uses and she is sure her metadata is stronger for it. For those lacking Cyndi’s skills, DC has a metadata team happy to help our contributors.

Cyndi is proud that the Clifton Johnson collection will have a higher profile. Clifton Johnson (1865-1940) of Hadley, Massachusetts was an accomplished literary figure with some 125 books to his credit. He was an acquaintance of many late 19th and early 20th century authors and editors, including William Dean Howells and John Burroughs. Johnson was also an amateur photographer who traveled widely. Cyndi is delighted that “now the world can find him” and calls his photographs “extraordinary”. This collection includes many photos of African Americans in the post-Civil War South. A subject you might not have thought to go to the Jones Library to research.

Robert Frost with Charles R. Green
Robert Frost with Charles R. Green

However, the one item that the Cyndi is happiest to see available “to everyone from anywhere” is the recording of Robert Frost’s speech at the dedication of the Robert Frost Room at the Jones Library in 1959. She rightly believes it is a special treat for Frost scholars and fans to be able to hear the man himself – as well as commemorating a significant event in the Jones Library’s history.

Poetry lovers also may appreciate images connected with Emily Dickinson, her family and her beloved Amherst. The family had a long connection to Amherst College, which is represented by some interesting photos, especially of faculty and students.

For the many University of Massachusetts graduates in Massachusetts and around the world, there are many wonderful images – photos, postcards, stereographs – of the old Massachusetts Agricultural College. Sure to be favorites are the outdoor skating rink (above) and the accompanying image of a tug of war game by the campus pond.

Watching the rope pull, Massachusetts Agricultural College
Watching the rope pull, Massachusetts Agricultural College

Cyndi has gotten feedback from the people she directs to DC that the photos look great. She also has gotten more image requests lately, but she can’t say if there’s a connection. Coming from an academic library to Jones, Cyndi has been impressed by “all the hats” she has to wear as a public librarian. It is safe to say one of her favorites is maintaining the very rich digital collection.

Been dying to know what’s new in Digital Commonwealth? Well here’s a list of the newest collections!

Abbot Academy.  "Abbot girls on Lawn."  Photograph.  1901.
“Abbot girls on Lawn.” 1901. From Phillips Academy Andover.

 

American Antiquarian Society

American Antiquarian Society Collection – 138 items

 

Boston Athenaeum

Boston Athenaeum, Cartographic Collection – 10 items added to an existing collection

 

Boston Public Library

Leslie Jones Collection – 66 items added to an existing collection

 

 

 

Massachusetts Historical Society

Massachusetts Historical Society Collection – 15 items added to an existing collection

"Crew of the U.S. Battleship Rhode Island." From Thomas Crane Public Library
“Crew of the U.S. Battleship Rhode Island.” From Thomas Crane Public Library

 

Phillips Academy Andover

Sarah (Sallie) Moore Field Collection – 368 items

 

Thomas Crane Public Library

Fore River Shipyard Postcard Collection – 281 items

Quincy, Mass. Postcard Collection – 182 items

 

Front of Nicola Sacco autographed note (postcard) signed to Bartolomeo Vanzetti, [Dedham], 31 December 1923
Front of Nicola Sacco autographed note (postcard) signed to Bartolomeo Vanzetti, [Dedham], 31 December 1923
Make sure you spend some time catching up on the new items added to Digital Commonwealth this past month!

Boston Public Library

Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee – 789 items

Chicopee Public Library

7 collections reharvested – 758 items

Jones Library, Amherst

Back of Nicola Sacco autographed note (postcard) signed to Bartolomeo Vanzetti, [Dedham], 31 December 1923
Back of Nicola Sacco autographed note (postcard) signed to Bartolomeo Vanzetti, [Dedham], 31 December 1923
9 collections harvested – 1204 items

National Archives at Boston

Photographs of the First Naval District – 194 items added to an existing collection

USS Constitution Museum

War of 1812 – 44 items added to an existing collection

 

"Aerial View of Eastern States Exposition Grounds, Springfield, Mass." From Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
“Aerial View of Eastern States Exposition Grounds, Springfield, Mass.” From Springfield College Archives and Special Collections

As is appropriate for this autumn season, a lot of the collections added to Digital Commonwealth in the past month have been harvested (pun, obviously, very much intended). Don’t miss out on exploring all of the wonderful new items added to the site!

Boston Public Library

Anti-Slavery (Collection of Distinction) – 1819 items

Charlestown Lantern Slides – 616 items

Stereograph Collection – 6 items

 

NOBLE Digital Heritage

Collection reharvested – 6048 items

 

Phillips Academy Andover

"Arms and the Man overtunic, shirty, and pants." From Costume Archives of Williams College.
“Arms and the Man overtunic, shirty, and pants.” From Costume Archives of Williams College.

Abbot Academy Photographs – 689 items

 

Springfield College Archives and Special Collections

Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection – 5212 items

 

Suffolk University, Moakley Archive & Institute

12 collections reharvested – 2800 items

 

Williams College

23 collections harvested – 1800 items

 

This post was written by Mary Bell, Adult Services Librarian at Wilbraham Public Library.

Maybe it’s because I’m interested in family history and genealogy, but my favorite photographs in Wilbraham Library’s local history collection are of people. Knowing about people, seeing their faces and learning their stories, can make history’s potentially dry dates and facts come alive.

"James and Hannah Bennett ," 1910-1916, from Wilbraham Public Library.
“James and Hannah Bennett,” from Wilbraham Public Library.

Take, for instance, this photograph of James Addison and Hannah (Butler) Bennett. The Bennett family was one of the earliest families in the Town of Wilbraham, moving in sometime before 1790 when their son Ralph was born here in town. As a side note, I have many photographs relating to this branch of the family that would be a treasure trove for any genealogist. But this particular picture of James Bennett and Hannah Butler is full of character. There’s the old-fashioned stove, a “Riverside Park” sign and this older couple staring stoically at the photographer. Riverside was the name of the amusement park in Agawam, Massachusetts before Six Flags purchased it, and would have been operative at the time of this photograph. I have to wonder if this couple or their children were the enthusiasts. James died in 1919, and the calendar on the wall is dated December 1916, so I know the date it was taken within a few years as well.

"Mrs. Dewitt Mowry," from Wilbraham Public Library
“Mrs. Dewitt Mowry,” from Wilbraham Public Library

One of my other favorites is this photograph simply labeled “Mrs. DeWitt Mowry.” With a little help from the person who donated the photographic collection and some research on Ancestry Library Edition, I was able to identify the woman – whom I affectionately think of as the knitting lady – as Sarah Emiline “Emma” Collins. She was born in Wilbraham in 1856, married DeWitt Mowry, and had three children. Her son Harold died of typhoid in 1906 at the age of 19, and her daughters grew up and stayed close by after they married. By 1912, Emma was a widow. She was a contemporary of the Bennetts, and a photo of the family tombstone in the local cemetery indicates she died in 1922, so this photograph was most likely taken around the same time as that of James and Hannah. But her whole countenance could not be more different, smiling when many people were straight-faced for cameras and just exuding joy. Don’t you want to sit down with her and have a cup of tea and a conversation?

History fascinates me: not the bare bones facts, but the people who lived it. Here are three individuals who lived and died in Wilbraham, raising a family, and living through the first World War. Seeing their faces and getting a taste for their personalities bring that history to life. These are some of the people who lived in my hometown 100 years ago. What else – who else – might you discover in our history collection? I can’t wait to find out!

This post was written by Patricia Feeley, BPL Collaborative Services Librarian.

Catherine Louise Brown and Mildred Brown, Keitha's maternal aunts, and Henrietta "Yetta" Brown (later Burke), Keitha's mother
Catherine Louise Brown and Mildred Brown, Keitha’s maternal aunts, and Henrietta “Yetta” Brown (later Burke), Keitha’s mother” c. 1927-1929. From the Grove Hall Memory Project

 

When the Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library began planning the Grove Hall Memory Project, it was their intention to make it available in a digital format.  Katrina Morse, now the Parker Hill Branch librarian and the driving force behind the Memory Project, wanted “anyone…anywhere in the world” to be able to access the materials.

The Memory Project’s goal was to provide audio/visual “snapshots” of the neighborhood through the years as reported by the people who lived there.  The collection includes letters, photographs, newspaper clippings and oral-history interviews with full transcriptions.   For Katrina, the interviews are the most interesting and valuable part of the collection.  You can listen to and/or read the transcripts of these interviews on Digital Commonwealth.

After the Memory Project collection was added to the Digital Commonwealth, Katrina reports that another branch librarian approached her about doing a similar project for her branch.  While Katrina says the project was incredibly time-consuming, she thinks it was worthwhile and is very pleased that Digital Commonwealth offers the collection a platform making it accessible to Grove Hall residents, former residents, and anyone interested in the history of a vital, ever-changing Boston  neighborhood “anywhere in the world.”

This post was written by Patricia Feeley, BPL Collaborative Services Librarian.

"Interior, Larz Anderson Estate, Brookline" ca. 1934-1956. From Boston Public Library
“Interior, Larz Anderson Estate, Brookline” ca. 1934-1956. From Boston Public Library

 

Stephen T. Moskey spoke about his new book, Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age, at the Boston Public Library recently.  He could not say enough nice things about how helpful Digital Commonwealth was to his research on this historic couple and their Brookline and Boston homes.  He cited the Leslie Jones collection for interior photos of the Anderson home, Weld House, that allowed him to get a feel for how Larz and Isabel lived.

 

 

Larz Anderson Estate." From Public Library of Brookline.
“Larz Anderson Estate.” From Public Library of Brookline.

 

In addition to the Jones Collection, images belonging to the Public Library of Brookline show the Weld House

grounds and photos from the Abdalian Collection show some of the family’s autos (and drivers).  Moskey voiced his appreciation for the preservation of these historical windows into the life and character of his subjects.

So taken was Moskey with Digital Commonwealth, he even recommended that readers keep Digital Commonwealth open while reading his book to enhance their own appreciation and enjoyment of the Andersons’ life!

This September, Digital Commonwealth added many new collections that you can now search for on the website! These collections consist of many type of materials including photographs, personal paper, maps, and even a scrapbook! Make sure you check them out!

Page from Westborough World War II memorial scrapbook" [ca. 1940-1976]. From the Westborough Public Library.
Page from Westborough World War II memorial scrapbook” [ca. 1940-1976]. From the Westborough Public Library.

Harvest Forest Archives

Harvard Forest Martha’s Vineyard Collection – 457 items added to an existing collection

Lawrence Public Library

Lawrence Public Library Map Collection – 15 items

Lincoln Public Library

Joshua Child Collection – 56 items

Wilbraham Public Library

Stella Greene Farr Collection – 19 items

Westborough Public Library

Records of the State Reform School [Lyman School], 1847-1959 – 1 item

World War II Memorial Scrapbook, 1942-1948 – 1 item

Westborough Map Collection – 2 items

 

This post was written by Susan Aprill, Archivist at Kingston Public Library

One of the challenges and delights of describing Kingston’s historic photographs for the Digital Commonwealth lies in identifying places, figuring out what they are and what they’ve been called, then when I’m lucky, uncovering and disambiguating the hidden corners of the past. The Kingston Public Library’s Local History Room holds thousands of photographic images: prints of all sorts, lantern slides, glass and plastic negatives, tiny tintypes; you name it and I’d bet we’ve got one. Almost 13,000 are itemized in a Filemaker database that provides not only descriptive information about content and format, but also location, provenance, scan file management, use statistics and more. Staff and volunteers have been building this database (and its precursor spreadsheets) since 1998. Translating this gloriously rich and messy metadata into the strict form required by Digital Commonwealth has been a lesson in itself, but one of my favorite parts of the work is in the details: creating definitive subject headings for hyper-local subjects, and using them to identify otherwise under-documented photographs.

As an example of disambiguation, there’s a pond in Kingston, just west of the geographical center of town, which has had many names. Some are variations on a theme, others seem unrelated. On various maps dating from 1810 to 1903, it’s called Cosmo’s or Crosman’s; a 1795 map has something that definitely starts with C but is otherwise illegible. Manuscript and published sources give similar variations – Crosmus, Causton, Causaton’s or Crossman’s – as well as Carding Mill Pond, after a small woolen processing shop there in the early 19th century, and Fountain Head Pond, for the springs just to the west that fed the Kingston Aqueduct Company’s pipes around the same time. There’s no dispute that it’s all the same pond, but what exactly should it be called?

Near Crossmans Pond
Near Crossmans Pond

So, a little research project was in order. The Library of Congress subject headings and the Getty TGN are not (yet!) this granular. Scouring the database for transcriptions of annotated photos and poring through manuscript collections for place names, I compiled a list of possibilities. Turning then to search online, I found a Wikipedia entry, a 1920 state report on alewife fisheries, and a note in an 1841 genealogy that around 1730, James Tompson drowned in Kingston in Crossman’s Pond. In the end, I opted for simplicity by omitting the apostrophe, and created an entry to geonames.org for “Crossmans Pond” with all of the variations included. Finally, I added the geonames code to my local subject headings database – linked to the images database and to other collections – which also lists the known variations. Now the pond name has been fixed for use as a local authority, pinned to a map (virtually at least), and made ready for searching.

As I work through the photograph collections, item by item and heading by heading, I’m not only describing what the photos capture, but creating and enhancing a tool that makes everything in the Local History Room more searchable, findable, accessible. A second example of this kind of investigation produced a less tangible result, but much more satisfaction, because it exposed a connection not previously documented.

Some background: to create Digital Commonwealth-ready metadata, my process is to choose a set of scanned images to work on, then step through a series of layouts in the image database, each of which focuses on distilling a particular facet of the metadata: title, date, format, creator, subjects and notes. Each layout shows the image, and the process is iterative, so as I work through a given selection, I see each photograph several times. I look hard for clues that add to the typically scant captions. Do clothes or cars or advertising signs suggest a possible date? Have I seen that face or hat or hairdo or beard before? The photographs provoke as many questions as answers, and I always see things I think I’ve seen before. It’s like playing a complex variation on the card game Concentration.

In this case, I was working with about 140 photographs of people from the Emily Fuller Drew Collection (partially online at the Digital Commonwealth). Within this selection, there are series of related photos: specific events, scenes or groups of people in various combinations and poses. One set captured an outdoor meal, described minimally as “Drew family” and “clambake.”

At the table
At the table

It looks delightful, a shared meal outside on a long late summer afternoon, but unfortunately there’s no location given, and the views of the surrounding houses are partial and vague. The feast can only be placed in some anonymous backyard, probably in Kingston, but there’s no way to know for sure.

Clambake
Clambake

After working through the entire selection of a couple of times, something in the background of this photo caught my eye.

Harriet, Charity, Norma and Dorothy Drew
Harriet, Charity, Norma and Dorothy Drew

There’s a woodpile and rail fence that I knew I’d seen before, so I combed through the images again, until I found it.

Logging
Logging

The same woodpile and rails are in the background of this photo, one of a series that Emily Drew took of her father Charles Drew. After “retiring,” he harvested cedar in the Blackwater Swamp and took it by boat and homemade railway to the yard of his house on Summer Street.

Logging pram
Logging pram

Other records show exactly where Charles Drew lived, and just like that, the Drew family clambake landed squarely in his backyard. It’s a just speck of data, to be sure, but this small victory of connecting items in a collection and fixing something depicted in a century-old photograph in the exact right place is one of the greatest satisfactions of this kind of work.