If you scroll to the bottom of any record in our online collection, you’ll notice a new paragraph addressing our commitment to writing image descriptions that are respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in them. For a variety of reasons, visitors may encounter outdated, harmful, or offensive language in […]
Archivists preserve and describe historic documents, but the interpretation process is ever-evolving. Historic New England’s archivists recently re-described this photograph of the Paul Revere House in our collection as part of an ongoing effort to examine and contextualize archival collections to broaden their accessibility. What do you see when looking at this photograph? Titled “Home […]
Because of Thomas Lincoln Casey’s excellent record keeping, we have a trove of letters from Casey’s three sons to him and his wife, Emma Weir Casey. These letters provide insight into the family life of a prominent American military family. Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey (1831-1896) is best known for his architectural and engineering legacies: […]
The papers of Thomas Lincoln Casey, the U.S. Army Corps Chief of Engineers who supervised the completion of the Washington Monument, include reports, sketches, calculations, and letters that shed light on the risk posed by lightning to the world’s highest structure. The Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. At the time, it was […]
Images from the Yankee Publishing Collection take us back to the 1933 fair. As the leaves change color and the weather shifts, autumn comes to New England. So, too, comes the tradition of the Topsfield Fair – which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. An annual event for many growing up in Essex County, Massachusetts, […]
A major Historic New England digitization project will create online access to papers related to the work of military and civil engineer Thomas Lincoln Casey, including his work on one of the nation’s most famous landmarks. In September 2017, Historic New England secured a $64,415 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) […]
The White Mountains in New Hampshire and Maine have long been a favorite spot for outdoor enthusiasts, naturalists, tourists, and artists. The mountains are a part of the large Appalachian Mountain range and contain the most rugged terrain in New England. The Historic New England Library and Archives preserves and makes accessible many photographs, postcards, […]
Historic New England has an extensive collection of ephemera – more than 25,000 pieces of printed and handwritten paper items – that informs and enlightens us about the everyday lives of New Englanders from the eighteenth century to the present. Much of this collection is catalogued, digitized, and available online. The collection presents a unique […]
As winter gives way to spring, it is maple sugaring season in New England. In honor of the season, Historic New England is sharing images from our Library and Archives collections that document the importance and prevalence of maple sugaring in the region. Colonists learned the practice of sugaring from Native Americans centuries ago. Historically, […]
Historic New England’s Library and Archives includes a large carte de visite collection. Cartes de visite are small photographs, often portraits, which were popular until the late 1870s. Within Historic New England’s collection are portraits of African American individuals. While these cartes de visite have been in the collection for almost a century, little information […]
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