Thanksgiving, 1863

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It has been a big year for some of the country’s most important documents. January saw the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, and just last week was the 150th anniversary of the reading of the Gettysburg Address. This Thursday in the United States we celebrate our national day of Thanksgiving, and so are looking back, ...

The Acquisitions Table: Calico Dress Ball!

Calico Dress Ball! There Will be a Social Dance at Lyceum Hall, West Acton. Boston: Searle Printing, 1870. This large (42” x 28 ½”) broadside was one of a group of five sheets purchased together, all of which relate to activities in Acton and West Acton, Massachusetts, between 1865 and 1875. Printed in Boston by F.A. ...

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Council for New England Records, "The booke of Orders," 1622-1623.

At most non-profits, November and December are year-end fundraiser months. You are probably getting a lot of solicitation letters in your mail box, along with those stacks of glossy holiday catalogs.  AAS has several important initiatives underway, including donations to our Annual Fund.  This year, however, we are also trying something new. The Society’s curators have selected thirty objects ...

Do you know the Gettysburg Address?

"National monument to be erected at Gettysburg, Pa. -- ." By James Goodwin Batterson. (New York: Major & Knapp, ca. 1863-1867)

“The newspapers are making morning after morning the rough draft of history. Later, the historian will come, take down the old files, and transform the crude but sincere and accurate annals of editors and reporters into history, into literature. The modern school must study the daily newspaper.” - The State (Columbia, SC) December 5, 1905 On ...

Seven Years and a Quiet Dirt Road in Exchange for 600 Newspaper Issues

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This week we continue our curators' acquisitions stories with curator of newspapers Vince Golden. His story combines elements of both of the previous posts (I and II), making for quite an interesting turn of events! There are various phrases in the English language that mean act immediately. Strike while the iron is hot. He who hesitates ...

“Use every precaution or I perish”: Breaking Dr. Benjamin Church’s Code

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Ever since we’ve been recording information, we’ve been trying to find ways to keep it out of the wrong hands.  This need often times comes to the forefront during times of war and conflict when information is at its most valuable.  Codes, ciphers, even invisible ink, have been employed quite successfully and famously in the ...

The Acquisitions Table: Taxidermy Without a Teacher

Manton, Walter P. Taxidermy Without a Teacher. So. Framingham [Mass.]: The J.C. Clark Printing Company, 1876. The author describes how he originally wanted to call this book “Simple Chats on Taxidermy,” and in it he certainly takes a conversational approach after first setting the stage: “I ask the reader to take himself, in imagination, to my ...

The Pay Off for a Curator’s Perseverance

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Last week, curator of children's literature Laura Wasowicz posted about finding a unique find in a dusty house. This week, curator of graphic arts Lauren Hewes talks about another tack curators more often have to take: "hard work and diligence." Recently, the Society’s curatorial staff was asked to blog about significant acquisitions and the process by ...

But does it play in Pareoi?

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Peoria Daily Transcript (IL) Sept. 27, 1858.  June 9, 1859. Those who research the history of printing love mistakes.  It is the little “oops” that give us clues into the methods of production.  A piece of type might work loose and fall on top of the bed and get printed that way, showing us the shape of ...

The Acquisitions Table: Writings of Omaha

Writings of Omaha. Chicago: S. S. Jones, Publisher, Religio-Philosophical Journal Office, 1869. APPARENTLY UNRECORDED, ONLY KNOWN COPY! Describing the nature of reality, electricity, and the spirit realm in 61 numbered paragraphs, this overview of Spiritualist theory is also an apparently unrecorded Ante-Fire Chicago imprint. The 26-page pamphlet in its original printed green wrappers was issued by the ...

The votes are in!

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The collection of election ballots at the American Antiquarian Society is an impressive group of 952 items spanning the nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. Several of these are individual ballots for specific elections, others are completely uncut; some are annotated, others are marked-up canvassing sheets (with sample tickets) or are comprised of paste downs. ...

Curatorial Instinct: Or Flying Blind in Upstate New York

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In the most recent issue of the Almanac, we had a feature article about the process of bringing new items into the collection. This got us thinking about some of the interesting ways in which these treasures are found. In the coming weeks, each curator will share one of their favorite stories about finding a ...

“Hollow Eve” pranks, 19th century style

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For those that are sad to see the holiday pass, here's one last dose of Halloween for you.  Today we are featuring a letter found by one of our volunteers while processing a new manuscript collection, the White Family Papers.  John White, the patriarch of the wealthy West Boylston family, was a pioneer in textile ...