Beacon Street Diary

End of Semester for the Old South Project

Once again, the beginning of May means the end of the semester for the Simmons interns. Our Old South interns, Annie and Theresa, worked brilliantly these past few months and here's what they had to say about their learning experience:

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During the course of our internship, we learned quite a lot on many fronts, some of them quite unexpected. We gained knowledge about Congregational history and the history of Old South Church specifically. We also learned about how to tackle large collections. Our main challenge was to get as much of the collection processed and organized as we could, while still respecting the important historical value of the documents and maintaining the integrity of the collection. Hopefully our work will contribute towards making the collection more usable and accessible for collection's users.

Although we worked on one project, this semester gave a new perspective on the different phases of that processing, including planning. Our peers who had archival internships this semesters likely had much smaller project where outcomes were more probably completed finding aids. For us because our project was bigger we had different goals and outcomes. We needed to not only make sure the project progressed during our time at Old South, but to think about next steps for next semester. We strategized how to minimize transition time for next semester’s interns. This project gave more insight to the many tasks archivists have to juggle for successful project management. We have seen how tasks need to not be completed with an eye towards overall project goals. Additionally, one has to balance what one hopes to with a collection, especially in terms of processing, with what is realistic and reasonable. This semester has given us knowledge about project maintenance and management that we can take with us and apply broadly throughout our careers. We have worked with some great people this semester who have been wonderful, who have made our experiences fun and constructive. Thanks for having us!

--Annie and Theresa

Genealogy seminar with Michael Brophy

"Finding Ancestors at the Congregational Library"

Researching your genealogy can be like a treasure hunt, and we've got a lot of buried treasures in our collections, from manuscript church records to biographies to town histories. Professional genealogical researcher Michael Brophy will be leading a full-day workshop to pass on tips for using our resources in your quest.

Join us as we welcome professional genealogical researcher Michael Brophy for a day-long seminar to share his expertise. Learn how to use the Library’s extensive collection of church and other historical records for genealogical research. Brophy is also a columnist and lecturer in the Boston area, as well as Program Director for the Massachusetts Genealogical Council.

Mr. Brophy's recent well-attended lecture, “Genealogy Myths and Legends”, was written up in the Canton Patch in an article entitled Who Do Think You Are?

This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in researching their ancestral heritage, and the techniques can also be applied to researching your church's history in preparation for an anniversary celebration.

Saturday, June 11th
10:00 am - noon.

$15.
Advance registration is required.

** Better Together -- register for both “Finding Ancestors" and "Growing Deeper Roots" on May 19th or July 28th for $25 per person!

Take a look at our Program & Workshop schedule for more information.

Religion and Baseball

For those of us who are both devout Congregationalists and devout to the church of baseball, this link is for you!

It details the ongoing struggle of Jackie Robinson's acceptance into big league baseball in the face of overwhelming opposition, the baseball executive who was willing to fight: Branch Rickey, and Brooklyn Congregational minister, Wendell Fifield, who helped guide Rickey.

The CNN article also includes a brief video worth watching.

-Jessica

Check out our digital exhibit site

We are proud to announce the launch of a new branch in the Congregational Library online empire -- our new digital exhibit site. It's a dedicated space where we can showcase some of our unique collections and educational presentations. 

The first feature is a collection of engravings and brief histories of the churches in Boston from the 1843 Boston Almanac.

Our plan at the moment is to add between one and three new exhibits per year. Next up will be a digital version of our popular ABCFM bicentennial display. Keep an eye out for that in the coming months.

--Robin

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Huge thanks go out to Jeremy and the rest of the Omeka development team, who have provided invaluable advice and references for constructing the site and our first exhibit over the last few months.        

White on White

Our photographer friend, Steve Rosenthal, has created an online exhibit for his book White on White.

He writes:

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to the opening venue of Historic New England's Traveling Exhibit of White on White.

In conjunction with this exhibit at the Groton School, I am also pleased to announce the launch of my new website, which has been designed to help promote my book and traveling exhibit.

Please see the exhibits page of the website for information about this exhibit, and for dates and locations of future events.

http://whiteonwhite.steverosenthalphoto.com/

Steve's book is a favorite here in our Reading Room. I hope people will have the chance to see upcoming events:

• April 4 - June 5, 2011
  The de Menil Gallery, Dillon Art Center
  Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts
• June 30 - September 23, 2012
  Bruce Museum
  Greenwich, Connecticut
• October 6, 2012 - January 27, 2013
  Florence Griswold Museum
  Old Lyme, Connecticut

 

-Jessica