"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.”