It's that time again –- that time when those of us at the Congregational Library take a small break from the rush of cataloging, digitizing, processing, acquiring, researching, studying, administrating, and just general library-ing, to celebrate the holidays with our families and friends. It has been our habit, in years past, to post a series of pictures that we find interesting or relevant. This year we have decided to take a slightly different track and pay homage to those librarians (and assistant librarians) who have come before us. So, without further ado, we present the first post in an ongoing series: The People of the Stacks.
Joseph S. Clark
Joseph Sylvester Clark (1800-1861) holds the distinction of being the library's second librarian, serving from 1859-1861. Under his leadership, the library's collection grew to contain 6,138 bound volumes, 23,696 pamphlets and 1,232 manuscripts.
He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December of 1800. He attended Amherst College, graduating in 1827, and Andover Theological Seminary. In 1842 he was called to a pastorate in Strubridge, Mass., where he served for over seven years. For eighteen years he served as the Secretary for the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, and then as Corresponding Secretary of the Congregational Library Association. Upon his death in 1861, Congregational Quarterly wrote, "He was literally diligent in business, while he was fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
Dr. Clark was a prolific writer (most notably in the Congregational Library Association's publication Congregational Quarterly), and the library holds several archival collections and publications which he created. Don't want to wait until we re-open to read some of his works? Dr. Clark's A historical sketch of Congregational Churches in Massachusetts, from 1620 to 1858 is available online!
-Sari
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Posted by: domena | December 30, 2011 at 05:53 PM