Beacon Street Diary
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have questions you would like to ask the staff, please send an email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office on Tuesday.
presidential portrait of James Madison by John Vanderlyn courtesy of the White House Historical Association, found via Wikimedia Commons
The latest additions to our New England's Hidden Histories program come from our project partners, the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. One is a brand new collection to the program, and two are consolidations of materials that are physically separated between our two institutions.
This church was founded as the Second "Chabacco" Church in Ipswich in 1683, and it has been through many changes over the centuries. This collection contains volumes of church records and town meeting records of Chebacco Parish. It also includes some papers written Rev. John Cleaveland during his time as pastor, a few loose administrative records, and relations of faith from female members.
We had already published the minutes of a 17th-century ecclesiastical council from the CLA's holdings, but several new additions from the PEM's collection give a much fuller picture of the church's history. They include volumes of church records and ministers' records, as well as documents relating to later ecclesiastical councils.
Salem, Mass. Tabernacle Church
The majority of these materials come from our collection at the CLA. The contribution now added from the PEM's holdings is an earlier version of the church's covenant from 1786. It is a particularly useful supplement because the previously published version is a copy made almost a decade later. Other materials in this collection include both bound and loose church records, construction plans for the Tabernacle itself, and a lengthy dispute between the church's first pastor and its proprietors.
Take a look at some or all of these documents. You never know what interesting information you might find.
Special Thanks
These digital resources have been made possible in part by the Council on Library and Information Resources, through a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource do not necessarily represent those of the Council on Library and Information Resources.
The Congregational Library & Archives will be closed this coming Monday, January 15th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question you'd like to ask the staff, send an us email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office on Tuesday, January 16th.
Did you know that the Congregational Library & Archives is a member of the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium?
The NERFC is a collaboration of cultural agencies managed by the Massachusetts Historical Society. It awards eight-week research grants for scholars to study at its member institutions. If you have a project idea that meets the granting criteria, you still have time to put together your application for the 2018-19 cycle before the February deadline. Proposal requirements can be found on the MHS website.
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question you'd like to ask the staff, send us an email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office.
Stay warm and stay safe!
photograph "Bokeh Snow tree branches in Massachusetts blizzard" by D Sharon Pruitt, via Wikimedia Commons
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question you'd like to ask the staff, send us an email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office.
Please check this blog or our Facebook page for updates regarding Friday's hours.
Stay warm and stay safe!
snowflake ornament image courtesy of Petr Kratochvil via Wikimedia Commons
The Congregational Library & Archives will be closed this coming Monday, January 1st.
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question you'd like to ask the staff, send an us email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office on Tuesday, January 2nd.
However you plan to greet the new year, we hope that it will be a good one.
All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question you'd like to ask the staff, send an us email or leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to you when we return to the office on Wednesday, December 27th.
We wish all of you a safe and happy holiday.
star ornamement image by Nina Matthews via Wikimedia Commons
The latest additions to our New England's Hidden Histories program come from groups in the North Shore region of Massachusetts that had strong opinions on the issues of the time. One forged a local fellowship of churches that has lasted to the modern day. The other achieved its purpose and disbanded. Take a look and see what you can find.
The original manuscripts in these collections are owned by our project partners, the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Essex North Association, Mass.
The Essex Middle Association, which would later become the Essex North Association, was formed in Rowley, West Parish (now Georgetown) in 1761. Noteworthy members included Rev. John Cleaveland, who ministered Chebacco Church in Ipswich for 52 years. The Association weighed in on various social issues throughout its long history, including slavery and the temperance movement.
Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society
The Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society (SFASS) was formed in 1834. The preamble to the SFASS's constitution stated its three principles: that slavery should be immediately abolished; that people of color, enslaved or free, have a right to a home in the country without fear of intimidation, and that the society should be ready to acknowledge people of color as friends and equals. The majority of SFASS membership was comprised of wives and daughters of the members of the Anti-Slavery Society of Salem and Vicinity (ASSSV), who were drawn largely from Salem's middle and professional classes. Early activities of the society included distributing clothes to freed blacks in the area, supporting the National Anti-Slavery Bazaar at Faneuil Hall, organizing a sewing school for black girls, and aiding fugitive slaves in Canada.
Special Thanks
These digital resources have been made possible in part by the Council on Library and Information Resources, through a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant.Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource do not necessarily represent those of the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Our archivists have been hard at work recently finishing up their processing on several new manuscript collections. There are institutional records, personal papers, and even a group of mid-20th century photographs. Take a look and see if anything strikes your fancy.
Churches:
- Cambridge, Illinois. First Congregational Church. Records, 1851-1917.
- Chicago, Illinois. Avalon Park Community Church. Records, 1932-1941.
- Joseph T. Goodwin's collection of Rutherford Congregational Church records, 1932-1964.
- Hancock, Vermont. Community Church of Hancock and Granville, UCC. Records, 1995-2017.
Other groups:
- American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Account with S. J. Humphrey. Papers, 1871-1888.
- American Congregational Deaconess Association. Records, 1901-1906.
- Beloit Convention. Records, 1880-1939.
- Chicago, Illinois. Bethlehem Community Center. Records, 1944-1948.
- Winthrop Club. Records, 1858-1990.
Personal papers: