At the end of August 2018, long-time Marcus A. McCorison Librarian and Curator of Manuscripts Thomas G. Knoles will be retiring from AAS. After almost twenty-nine years at the Society, we wanted to be sure to tap Tom’s long institutional knowledge and his experiences in the library world. There was none better to do this ...
We recently announced a new web resource consisting of four journals kept by Edmund Quincy Sewall Jr. between 1837 and 1840, when Sewall was between nine and twelve years old. Of particular interest is a journal kept in March and April 1840, when the boy was a student at John and Henry David Thoreau’s Concord Academy ...
Last week we announced a new AAS web resource consisting of four journals kept by Edmund Quincy Sewall Jr. between 1837 and 1840, plus an introductory essay. The journals include a description of Edmund’s life in Concord, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1840 while he was attending John and Henry David Thoreau’s Concord Academy and ...
Thoreau scholars have long been aware of the journal kept in Concord, Massachusetts, during a period of seven weeks in 1840 when twelve-year-old Edmund Quincy Sewall Jr. was attending John and Henry David Thoreau’s Concord Academy and boarding in the Thoreau household. One reason Edmund’s journal is of interest is that it contains one of ...
By the mid-eighteenth century, a common rite of passage for many young people in Colonial America was to attend a local singing school conducted by some itinerant music-master. There they learned the names of the notes, time signatures, rudimentary music theory, and how to sing harmony in four parts. For the young, singing schools were ...
On a sunny Sunday morning in May, Tufts University held its 2012 commencement exercises. The event was of particular significance to us at AAS because among the recipients of honorary degrees was AAS’s own Philip J. Lampi, who has spent more than four decades compiling early electoral data. Mostly on his own time and at ...
Shortly after their arrival, new AAS fellows give a talk to the staff about their project and the sorts of sources they’re hoping to find. In her talk, current fellow Jessica Linker, who is working on her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut, mentioned that as part of her work on women and science she ...
Downer, David R., “Notes in College,” 1827-1828. David Robinson Downer (1808-1841) was born in Westfield, New Jersey. He attended Yale College, graduating in 1828, and then entered the Auburn Seminary, eventually becoming minister of the West Presbyterian Church in New York City. This volume consists of theological notes made by Downer during his senior year at ...
As we began planning a lengthy piece on AAS president emeritus Marcus A. McCorison for the Almanac newsletter last week, we pulled photographs of him out of the archives for possible use as illustrations. I was struck by this photograph: In it, Marcus is sitting in his office, which is now my office. On the desk ...
Ballou, Levi, Commonplace Book, 1831-1840. Levi Ballou (1806-1865) was born in Halifax, Vermont. After studying theology with his brother William S. Ballou, Levi became a minister in Orange, Massachusetts in 1843. These fascicles contain poems and prose extracts, almost all of which appear to have been copied by Levi Ballou from a variety of sources. The majority ...
Browne, Samuel and J. W. S. Browne, Account Book, 1844-1846. J. W. S. Browne was the son of Samuel J Browne, a printer who published the Liberty Hall newspaper in Cincinnati and later the Cincinnati Gazette. J.W.S. Browne and his brother –in-law L.S. Curtiss began publication of the Weekly Commercial in 1843. This account book contains ...
Some of us on the AAS staff are still recuperating from October’s bicentennial celebrations. There were three days of events, beginning with the Baron lecture by Patricia Nelson Limerick on Thursday night. On Friday morning the curators presented a celebration of bicentennial gifts, followed by lunch across the street at the Goddard Daniels House. On ...
Huse, Jonathan, Papers, 1795-1842. Jonathan Huse (1767-1853) was born in Methuen, Massachusetts and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1788. In 1795 he became minister of the Congregational church in Warren, Maine. In the late 1820s a growing number of members of his congregation became interested in Hopkinsianism and a movement began to form a second ...
Stevens, Cassandra Swasey. Diary, 1856-1858. Cassandra Swasey (1818-1901) was the daughter of John B. and Alice Ladd Swasey of Meredith, NH. After her first husband died, Cassandra married Col. Ebenezer Stevens, a merchant in Meredith in 1846. This diary, which covers the period between 1856 and 1858, covers her daily activities. A recurring theme is her ...
Morgan, Sophia. Poetry Journal, 1824-1827. This small volume belonged to Sophia Morgan of Somers, CT. It is a collection of poems, both original and copied, entered into the volume by Morgan’s friends and relatives. Among the titles are “Withered Violets,” “Friendship,” “Time is Short,” and “Contentment.” Purchased from Shelf Life Antiques. John Thomas Lee Fund.
