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Historic New England honors three collectors

May 23, 2016

Historic New England will present three collectors with our annual Prize for Collecting Works on Paper at a public awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 21.

This year’s winners:

Harry J. Ashe, M.D. M.P.H., is a retired physician whose personal collection of books and ephemera presents a continuous narrative of New Englanders and Americans in China and the China Trade. Spanning from 1792 through 1894, Dr. Ashe’s collection has been used as a resource for students from Ipswich, Massachusetts, to Macao, China.

Katherine C. Grier, professor of history and director of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware, collects a wide range of ephemeral works on paper related to the history of pets in American culture from the eighteenth century to the present. Through her book, Pets in America: A History, and exhibition, Pets in America: The Story of Our Lives with Animals at Home, she helped legitimize pets as a topic of historical study.

Richard J.S. Gutman, director and curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson and Wales University, has built a collection based on the history of the American roadside diner, which originated in New England 144 years ago. His collection of hundreds of archival photos, original architectural drawings and blueprints, advertisements, postcards, matchbooks, menus, and more helped popularize the study of vernacular commercial and roadside architecture. He is the author of American Diner Then and Now.

The Prize for Collecting Works on Paper honors collectors who have saved and made accessible collections that would otherwise have been lost or left unrecognized. The reception includes remarks by the winners and Historic New England President and CEO Carl R. Nold.

The June 21 ceremony takes place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lyman Estate in Waltham, Massachusetts. Please RSVP to 617-994-6678 or [email protected].