Beacon Street Blog

We will be closing at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, December 31st, and will remain closed on Thursday, January 1, 2015. All of our online resources will be available as usual. If you have a question for the staff, send an email or leave a voicemail, and we will get back to you when we return to the office on Friday, January 2nd.

Happy New Year!

I had always known that there was a Congregational Library in London, but not much more than that. Over the past several years I've also thought about compiling a list of reasons for a visit — curiosity if nothing else — but the moment always seemed to escape.

Now the other Congregational Library is a reality. In November I traveled to London with Jeff Cooper, the Oklahoma State history professor who has made New England's Hidden Histories possible. Jeff and I were part of a day-long workshop on, yes, Congregational church records, along with scholars from France, Italy, and Great Britain. We were invited by Jeff's former student, Joel Halcomb, who is now teaching in East Anglia. It seems a little surprising that European scholars would have some of the same issues rescuing and preserving old church records — certainly history is a lot more present in a centuries-old city like London than even in Boston — but that was nothing compared to the discovery that Jeff and I were there as resident experts and our project a model they hoped they would one day emulate.

[]
Dr. Joel Halcomb, conference organizer; Dr. Margaret Bendroth, executive director of the Congregational Library & Archives in Boston; Dr. James F. Cooper, Professor of History, Oklahoma State University; and Dr. David Wykes, director of the Congregational Library in London

This was even clearer the next day, when Jeff and I presented our work in a public conference held at Dr. Williams's Library, which houses the original collection of the English Congregational Library, founded in 1831. We met in a large drawing room with old portraits and tall windows (sound familiar?), a gathering of scholars, laypeople, and more graduate students than I would have ever imagined. When I saw the array of learned British faces I was a little worried that our presentations weren't academic enough to pass muster — but the opposite was true. Our hosts were absolutely intrigued with our project — more than one library director came up to me during lunch to say "we need to do what you are doing."

That was the real reward for me: we have been working away at our project for nearly ten years on a shoestring budget, and wondering if we'd ever make an impact. Thanks to the New York Times article, and just recently a piece on the BBC, we are no longer an obscure and struggling little outfit; we've chalked up some amazing finds and found some fantastic allies. But in many ways our real accomplishment is perseverance. Over the years, with the help of Jeff, the Jonathan Edwards Center, and our determined library staff, we have managed to build something unique. New England's Hidden Histories is an ambitious and successful digital program, carried out by a small independent library without the benefit of university funding, a large endowment, or cheap student labor. Yes, we've kind of figured things out along the way, sometimes in fits and starts and down a few cul-de-sacs, but we've kept at it. Will our model work in other small libraries? Maybe so and I hope we have the opportunity to find this out — but in the end, it's a vision carried out patience and persistence. True, we have a long, long way to go and a great need for long-term outside funding, but we've already come a long way on persistence, a quality our hard-working archivists, crack development staff, and dedicated student volunteers have in absolute abundance.

-Peggy

Today we are very pleased to announce the publication of four new New England's Hidden Histories collections! The following collections, totaling 1,361 pages, are now available for your perusal and use from any Java-enabled device with an internet connection:

Salem, Mass. Tabernacle Church records, 1743-1850

Tabernacle Church was founded 1735 when parishioners from First Church of Salem split, along with newly-dismissed pastor Samuel Fisk. It took the name "Tabernacle Church" in 1777 when a new meeting house was built to replace one lost to fire. The new building was copied from the Tabernacle in Moorfields (London, England). The church continues to this day as Tabernacle Church in Salem. You can learn more about this collection from the finding aid, or its collection page.

[]

Marblehead, Mass. Third Church records, 1858-1877

Third Church in Marblehead, Massachusetts, was formed by members of First Church in Marblehead who left the church after a protracted conflict over a newly called pastor and was officially formed in 1858. The Church dissolved some 19 years later when their building was lost to fire and the members of Third Church rejoined with First Church. The church clerk for the majority of Third Church's short life was artist Glover Broughton (1796-1859) and as such, the volume contains gorgeous penmanship, section separators, section headings, and a beautiful drawing of the proposed meeting house site. The volume also contains baptismal liturgy used by the church. You can learn more about this collection from the finding aid or its collection page.

John Pynchon. Notes on sermons by George Moxon, 1640

This booklet of sermon notes was created when then-fourteen or fifteen year old John Pynchon, son of Springfield, Massachusetts founder William Pynchon, recorded the words he heard preached by Springfield pastor George Moxon. The sermon notes are recorded in John Pynchon's own shorthand and a full-text and decoded transcription is available to aid in your understanding of the materials. We are grateful to scholar and friend of the library David M. Powers for providing this transcription, without which these materials would be almost unusable. You can learn more about the Pynchon sermon notes from the collection's finding aid or its collection page.

Samuel Hopkins. Correspondence, 1766-1803

The three letters in this collection, all written by Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), a Congregational minister in the New England area. Hopkins studied under Johnathan Edwards (1703-1758) and preached all over the New England area. It is for him that the Congregational school of theological thought known as Hopkinsianism (sometimes called New Divinity) is named. You can learn more about these three letters from the finding aid and the collection page.

We hope you enjoy these collections, and the others in the New England's Hidden Histories program. And remember -- we are always here to help with research inquiries. If you have questions about these collections, or other resources and materials at the Congregational Library & Archives, please drop us a line.

As the holiday season begins, many of you will be getting ready for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. There's a new movement that has been taking off in recent years. It's called Giving Tuesday, and it's a global day of contributions to nonprofit organizations.

[]

Scattered across New England, in church closets, bank vaults, or town clerk offices lies a richly detailed view of the prevailing cultural currents in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century America. Help rescue these historic manuscripts often exposed to the elements and in danger of deterioration, beyond the reach of the average scholar. Join the Congregational Library and Archives' search and rescue mission to find and preserve these records and make them available to the public.

As part of the nation-wide #GivingTuesday campaign, the Congregational Library and Archives is asking those with a passion for history to contribute to the New England's Hidden Histories program. Your donation helps us find, digitize, and make freely available rare records of America's past. Join us on Twitter and Facebook as we spread the word about #GivingTuesday, the Hidden Histories program, and the importance of saving the primary documents of America's past.

To learn more and make a donation, visit our Giving Tuesday page.

New Book Explores the History of Boston's New North Church

[]The Congregational Library and Archives would like to express our thanks to publisher and author Charles Chauncey Wells for donating a copy of his latest work New North Church : from birth to death in early Boston. The library houses an extensive collection of church histories and is pleased to add this latest volume on such an important and historic church to our shelves.

Exploring the evolution of social and religious thought in colonial Boston through the story of the New North Church, Mr. Wells and his coauthor Steven Fanning deftly reveal the rich, complicated, and at times tumultuous history of Boston. Surveying the period between 1713 and 1864, the book follows the New North Church as it evolves from its founding by Puritans, to its transformation into Congregationalism, and its further progression to Unitarianism.

[]As they relate the stories behind these changes, the authors introduce the many prominent members of the New North Church, detail the construction of new church buildings, and even recall an infamous story of murder and intrigue. The Executive Director of the Congregational Library and Archives, Dr. Peggy Bendroth, also makes a contribution, offering an analysis of the church's transition from Puritanism to Congregationalism.

With transcriptions of marriage, baptism, membership, and death records, along with facsimiles of important documents, New North Church : from birth to death in early Boston offers a wealth of relevant information for genealogical researchers and history enthusiasts alike. The library's copy is available for members to check-out, along with copies of Charles Chauncey Wells's previous books: Preachers, patriots & plain folks : Boston's burying ground guide to King's Chapel, Granary, Central and Boston's Copp's Hill Burying Ground guide.

There is still time to sign up for this week's free lunchtime event.

Join us for an hour of poetry and conversation with theologian, poet, and mysitic Charles H. Harper.

[]Chuck Harper began writing poetry soon after his graduation from Yale Divinity School and it quickly became a passion. His poetry is seen regularly in journals, including Mobius, the Aurorean, Avocet, The Lyric, and The Deronda Review. He is the author of four poetry books: Sorting Things Out (2008), Making A Life (2010), Gratitude (2012), and Fragments (2014). A resident of Plymouth, MA, he is a member of the Tidepool Poets, a frequent participant in POETRY: The Art of Words, and leads poetry appreciation workshops at the Plymouth Public Library. To learn more about Chuck and read examples of his work, visit his website.

Having served the Boston area, as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Chuck was the founding Executive Director of the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. The CMM is an interfaith collaboration of urban and suburban congregations working to address critical social justice issues.

Chuck serves on the Congregational Library and Archives Advisory Circle.

Thursday, November 13th
noon - 1:00 pm

Free.
Register through SurveyMonkey.

Peggy is on the road again, this time close to home. She will be speaking at Eastern Nazarene College later this month as part of the their Boston Semester program.

[]Fundamentalists in the City: Conflict and Division in Boston's Churches, 1885-1950

Dr. Margaret Bendroth, Executive Director at the Congregational Library and Archives, will give a lecture entitled "Fundamentalists in the City: Conflict and Division in Boston's Churches, 1885-1950" on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00pm in Munro Parlor.

(click on the poster image to enlarge)

This lecture is based on Dr. Bendroth's acclaimed 2005 book of the same title:

Fundamentalists in the City is a story of religious controversy and division, set within turn of the century and early twentieth-century Boston. It offers a new perspective on the rise of fundamentalism, emphasizing the role of local events, both sacred and secular, in deepening the divide between liberal and conservative Protestants. The first part of the narrative, beginning with the arrest of three clergymen for preaching on the Boston Common in 1885, shows the importance of anti-Catholicism as a catalyst for change. The second part of the book deals with separation, told through the events of three city-wide revivals, each demonstrating a stage of conservative Protestant detachment from their urban origins.

If you're able to attend, it's certain to be an entertaining evening.

Wednesday, November 19th
7:00 pm

Munro Hall Parlor at Eastern Nazarene College
23 East Elm Ave.
Quincy, MA 02170

If you enjoyed last year's Mather Redux symposium (or wished you could have attended), we have good news for you. One of the featured presenters from that event will be speaking at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy next Friday evening as part of their Boston Semester program.

[]Cotton Mather: The First American Evangelical

Dr. Rick Kennedy, Professor of History at Point Loma Nazarene University, will give a lecture entitled "Cotton Mather: The First American Evangelical" on Friday, October 24 at 7:00pm in Munro Parlor.

(click on the poster image to enlarge)

This lecture shares a title with Kennedy's forthcoming biography of Mather (Eerdmans, 2015):

Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was America's most famous pastor and scholar at the beginning of the eighteenth century. People today generally associate him with the infamous Salem witch trials, but that picture has mostly come down to us from one unreliable, antagonistic source.

This biography by Rick Kennedy, based largely on new research by an international team of scholars, corrects misconceptions of Cotton Mather and focuses on the way he tried to promote, socially and intellectually, a biblical lifestyle. As older Puritan hopes in New England were giving way to a broader and shallower Protestantism, Mather led a populist, Bible-oriented movement that embraced the new century — the beginning of a dynamic evangelical tradition that eventually became a major force in American culture.

Prof. Kennedy is a passionate speaker, and his talk is sure to be a good time.

[]Our recently published New England's Hidden Histories collection from the First Congregational Church in Haverhill includes the relations (personal conversion narratives) from Hannah Duston and several members of her family.

The story of Hannah Emerson Duston (or Dustin) is a fascinating one. She, her infant daughter, and her nurse were taken captive during the 1697 Raid on Haverhill by a group of Abenaki Native Americans from what is now Quebec. Hannah made a violent escape along with the nurse and a teenaged boy, and returned home to much acclaim. Her tale became quite famous over the next few centuries as it was retold by the likes of Cotton Mather, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.

Now her tale has inspired a new generation. The Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University is currently running a play entitled Reconsidering Hanna(h), based in part on Mrs. Duston's life.

Reconsidering Hanna(h)
By Deirdre Girard. Directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary.

September 25-October 19

Hanna, a brutally blunt international journalist, is struggling to come to terms with her husband's violent death. After accepting a seemingly tame assignment, she becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the history of another Hannah: the infamous Hannah Dustin who was kidnapped by a Native American raiding party in 1697. Soon the stories of the two Hanna(h)s begin to merge into a single portrait of a smart woman, torn from the only world she knows, who crosses the line between civilization and her own wilderness.

If you or someone you know has the chance to attend a performance in the next two weeks, we encourage you to do so. Let us know what you think.

I am very pleased to announce the availability of three new New England's Hidden Histories collections. These three collections total 703 pages, bringing our total online page count to over 16,880. Read on to learn more about each collection, and then head over and check them out for yourself!

Salem, Mass. South Church

South Church was founded by persons separating from Tabernacle Church, also in Salem. Originally called Third Church, it was renamed in 1805 when the Proprietors of the New South Meeting House were incorporated. In 1924 the church re-merged with Tabernacle. The records found in this collection contains meeting minutes from the time of founding to shortly before the incorporation of the Proprietors. You will also find records on pew taxes and pew assignments. Keep an eye out for the publication of Tabernacle Church in Salem in December.

[]

relation of Abigail Clement, 1730,
from the Haverhill, Mass. First Congregational Church collection

Haverhill, Mass. First Congregational Church

The portion of digitized records the First Congregational Church in Haverhill collection cover the years 1719-1756. These records include three booklets with accounting or salary information, including one booklet detailing the presents Rev. Edward Bernard received while pastor, loose records of disciplinary cases, and loose personal records. The personal records contain mostly relations, but confessions, admissions, and transfers can also be found. These records are part of a much larger collection of First Congregational Church records. You can learn more about the other items in this collection by viewing the finding aid.

Unknown Author. Boston Massacre Sermon

This collection, published in Series II of the NEHH program is an unsigned sermon that appears to have been preached shortly after the events of March 5, 1770, now known as the Boston Massacre. The 24 page sermon discusses the lead-up to the Massacre, the author's opinion on the root causes, and his prescription for change. You can read the sermon online today, and keep an eye on our blog for a post specifically on this sermon tomorrow.

--Sari

Our Reading Room will be closed to the public on Thursday, September 18th for a private event.

All of our online resources will still be available as usual, and staff will be in the office to answer questions by phone and email.

Still riding the excitement of last week's New York Times article, we are very pleased to announce the availability of two new collections in our New England's Hidden Histories program. They total 708 pages, and are available now available in Series I of the NEHH section.

The first collection is from First Church in Dorchester (now part of Boston), Massachusetts. It is comprised of three record groupings: a volume of sermon notes; a "Sunday journal" listing the preachers' names, scripture passages referenced, administration of the sacrament, and baptisms; and a partial list of church members. First Church was re-founded, in part, by Richard Mather, grandfather of Cotton Mather. At a later date, Richard's great-grandson Samuel Mather was a guest preacher at the church, and his name appears in these records.

[]The second collection is from East Parish Church in Barnstable, Massachusetts. As we have come to expect, it is mostly made up of church meeting minutes followed by baptismal records and records of church membership. Of particular note, however, are the extensive meeting minutes dealing with church finances, particularly ministerial salary. While this may not seem noteworthy, the records contain extensive discussions on currency and inflation. Many currency systems are discussed, and occasionally the pastor's salary is listed in multiple payment methods.

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, Massachusetts for their collaboration with us on the East Parish collection. If you are interested in the larger collection these digitized records come from, you can access the collection's finding aid [PDF format] through the Sturgis Library's archives and research page.

As always, we'd be happy to answer any questions you have regarding the NEHH program or library holdings in general. Feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Happy researching!

-Sari

[]Did you know that the lyrics to America the Beautiful were originally published as a poem in The Congregationalist in celebration Independence Day in 1895?

It was written by Katharine Lee Bates, a native of Falmouth, Mass. and the daughter of Congregational pastor William Bates. She was inspired by the view from Pike's Peak during an excursion in 1893 while she was teaching English at Colorado College. Miss Bates revised the verses a few times over the next twenty years. Our skies were originally "halcyon" rather than "spacious", for example, and each verse ended with a different couplet.

[]
original text of America The Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates
as it appeared in The Congregationalist

Her lyrics were sung to several different tunes before settling with the one we know today. The now-familiar melody was composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882, and first published with Bates's words in 1910.

photograph of Katharine Lee Bates courtesy of the Wellesley College Archives

[]Our executive director Peggy Bendroth, director of development Cary Hewitt, and digital archivist Sari Mauro are representing the Congregational Library and Archives at the annual meeting of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches this weekend. If you're in Omaha as well, please stop by our table in the expo to say hi and find out more about what we can do for you, even from afar.

Dr. Bendroth will be presenting this year's Congregational Lecture on Saturday afternoon. And if you want some help with your church records, Sari will be teaching a session of our popular Records Management workshop on Sunday afternoon. All three staff members look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Don't forget to let us know if you'll be joining us for this month's free lunchtime lecture.

The Portrait of Increase Mather

[]As concrete manifestations of Puritan culture, portraits express intangible ideas, shaping personal identities and reinforcing cultural hierarchies. Early American portraits reflect doctrinal changes paralleling the evolution of Puritan orthodoxy away from a strict Calvinist doctrine to a democratic theology in a time of changing religious and scientific ideas. More than any other, the portrait of Increase Mather demonstrates this connection.

Painted in England while he was crusading to reinstall the Massachusetts Charter, it is steeped in irony, rich in classical motifs, Scripture, and costume choices. Mather, whose likeness was reproduced more than any other image for his time, viewed the charter's revocation as a judgment from God on New England's failed mission. Johnson claims that his portrait demonstrates an eschatological urgency, which supports the religious leader's willingness to negotiate and his optimistic view of the Parousia. It reflects of the divisions in Puritan society regarding the revocation of the charter at the end of the seventeenth century as it yields information about the declension in Puritan orthodoxy, the Puritan contemplative life, and the transition to secular values.

[]Linda Johnson is an Independent Scholar who holds a Ph.D in American Studies from Michigan State University. Her dissertation Spiritual Autobiography in Puritan Portraiture encompassed the interdisciplinary fields of American Art, Religion, and Material Culture. She curated the upcoming exhibition Art and American Dance as well as co-curated the re-installation of the Colonial American Silver collection in the American galleries at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Her recent article "The Divine Sarah" in the Stained Glass Quarterly explores the relationship between the visual arts and religious cultural history. Interested in New England Puritanism and how Puritan doctrine may take visual form in the arts, Dr. Johnson has written several essays on the renowned Puritan ministers Increase Mather and John Lowell.

She may be contacted at lmjohnson1722@gmail.com.

Wednesday, June 18th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Free.
Please register through SurveyMonkey.

original portrait of "The Rev. Increase Mather" (1688) by Joan van der Spriet owned by the University of Virginia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons

The Portrait of Increase Mather

[]As concrete manifestations of Puritan culture, portraits express intangible ideas, shaping personal identities and reinforcing cultural hierarchies. Early American portraits reflect doctrinal changes paralleling the evolution of Puritan orthodoxy away from a strict Calvinist doctrine to a democratic theology in a time of changing religious and scientific ideas. More than any other, the portrait of Increase Mather demonstrates this connection.

Painted in England while he was crusading to reinstall the Massachusetts Charter, it is steeped in irony, rich in classical motifs, Scripture, and costume choices. Mather, whose likeness was reproduced more than any other image for his time, viewed the charter's revocation as a judgment from God on New England's failed mission. Johnson claims that his portrait demonstrates an eschatological urgency, which supports the religious leader's willingness to negotiate and his optimistic view of the Parousia. It reflects of the divisions in Puritan society regarding the revocation of the charter at the end of the seventeenth century as it yields information about the declension in Puritan orthodoxy, the Puritan contemplative life, and the transition to secular values.

[]Linda Johnson is an Independent Scholar who holds a Ph.D in American Studies from Michigan State University. Her dissertation Spiritual Autobiography in Puritan Portraiture encompassed the interdisciplinary fields of American Art, Religion, and Material Culture. She curated the upcoming exhibition Art and American Dance as well as co-curated the re-installation of the Colonial American Silver collection in the American galleries at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Her recent article "The Divine Sarah" in the Stained Glass Quarterly explores the relationship between the visual arts and religious cultural history. Interested in New England Puritanism and how Puritan doctrine may take visual form in the arts, Dr. Johnson has written several essays on the renowned Puritan ministers Increase Mather and John Lowell.

She may be contacted at lmjohnson1722@gmail.com.

Wednesday, June 18th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Free.
Please register through SurveyMonkey.

original portrait of "The Rev. Increase Mather" (1688) by Joan van der Spriet owned by the University of Virginia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons

There is still plenty of time to register for Wednesday's free lunchtime lecture.

[]We are honored to host Professor Nat Sheidley to talk about the reinvention of the Council Chamber in Boston's Town House (now the Old State house) into an interactive learning space. Thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between the Bostonian Society and North Bennet Street School, guests who visit the Council Chamber can sit in the Governor's chair and thumb through reproduction documents at the Council table.

A respected scholar and community organizer, Nat is bringing new energy to historic Boston, spearheading a group of organizations along the  Freedom Trail, including Park Street Church, in another cooperative venture.

We hope to see you at what promises to be a very interesting hour!

Wednesday, May 14th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Free.
Please register through SurveyMonkey.

photograph of the restored Council Chamber courtesy of The Bostonian Society

This week we are dedicating all our blog posts to preservation issues in honor of Preservation Week.

Our workshop on Tuesday focused on caring for photographs; our posts will discuss aspects of care we did not have time to cover in person.

Cell phone photos

Today's Preservation Week blog post is all about preserving the digital photos you take with that camera that is always in your hand, pocket, or bag. Yes, I am talking about your cell phone.

According to a Pew Research Center study published in June of 2013, 91% of adults in the United States own a cell phone. Fifty-six percent of American adults own a smart phone, leaving 35% of American adults with a "dumb phone". But these days it's hard to find a cell phone – of any kind – that isn't also a camera phone.

In the ramp-up to Preservation Week I found myself asking, "How on earth does one do digital image preservation when almost 91% of us walk around with a camera in our pockets every single day?" Well, hopefully this blog post provides some answers.

[]

The first thing to consider when it comes to your cell phone photos is where on your cell phone your gallery or album is stored. Can you find it? Can you get to it? If not, go back to your user guide, or take to Google to see if you can figure it out. You can't preserve what you can’t find.

The second thing to consider is where else those photos might be automatically sent. Some phone software automatically connects your phone's image gallery with a cloud storage service, a social media account, or automatically syncs to your work or home desktop. If this is the case, great! You've got an automatic backup of your images. If not, you might want to consider regularly moving the images you really truly care about to your computer every once in a while so as not to lose them if your phone dies or is stolen. (You might need special equipment to do this, like a specific data cable or a microSD card.) Either way, being aware of where else our pictures may be being sent is a good step towards data security.

The next thing to consider is which of your mobile photos you actually want to keep. In the library and archival world we call this "appraisal and weeding". Not every photo is a winner, and not every photo is important to keep in perpetuity. Maybe you have photos you sent to someone for a laugh, or to clarify that this was the item they really wanted you to pick up. Are these photos you really want to keep forever? You can be as picky or permissive as you want, but automatically keeping everything without thoughtfully considering your pictures' value is not recommended. Once you've decided what you don't want to keep (or, conversely, you've decided what you definitely do want to keep), delete the images you don't want and move the images you do want to a more secure device. And by "more secure", I mean a device that is less likely to be accidentally flushed down a toilet, left in a restaurant, or purloined from your pocket, bag, or locker.

Once you have copies of your cell phone photos on another device or storage service, you should add them to your digital file backup routines. As with all digital files, copies stored on other devices or storage media and in other physical locations keep files safe. You can learn more about personal digital archiving from the Library of Congress's website on personal digital archiving.

--Sari

This week we are dedicating all our blog posts to preservation issues in honor of Preservation Week.

Our workshop today focuses on caring for photographs; our posts will discuss aspects of care we will not have time to cover in person.

Pre-film photographs

In today's Preservation Week blog post, I'll be discussing a few of the earliest and more irregular types of photographic image and how to best preserve them.

[]
George and Anna Harker

One of the earliest photographic processes is the daguerreotype, named after inventor Louise Jacques Mande Daguerre. They were popular from about 1839 until 1854 when they were replaced by ambrotypes (see below). The daguerreotype process uses mercury fumes to develop an image on a silver-treated copper plate.

The ambrotype, named after inventor James Ambrose Cutting, replaced the daguerreotype in popularity in the 1850s. An ambrotype is a glass negative that utilizes a gelatin emulsion and a collodion (cellulose nitrate dissolved in ether) process to hold light-sensitive salts to the glass. The negative is then presented as a positive by placing the glass on a black background and housed in an air-tight case.

The tintype came into use around the same time as the ambrotype, but remained popular until around the 1930s. Like an ambrotype, tintypes use a wet-collodion process, but use metal coated in black varnish as the photographic base, rather than glass. Rather than producing a negative that is then rendered positive, tintypes create a direct-positive image.

When it comes to preserving any of these photo types that you may have in your collection, we recommend the following:

• Do not remove the images from any cases they might be in. Though pretty, these cases are rarely purely decorative, and often times are actually working to preserve the image by protecting it from air, pollutants, and other environmental hazards.
• If the original case is broken or degrading, place the cased image in a box to provide structural support the case can no longer provide.
• If your images are not in a case and are instead the un-cased plates, place acid free paper between the plates to prevent rubbing, and make sure that the plates are stored in such a way that they cannot be jostled when the box is moved
• Store your images in a sturdy, clean box, and store that box in a cool, dry, place and out of direct sunlight. Such places in your home might include a linen closet, under a bed, or in a cabinet.

You can learn more about early photographic processes by visiting the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division's chronological listing of popular photographic print processes.

Stay tuned throughout the week to learn more about how you can preserve some of the items in your own personal photograph collection!

--Sari

Learn more about Rev. George Mifflin Harker in an earlier blog entry.

[]The Council Chamber in Boston's Town House (now the Old State House), where the Royal Governor of Massachusetts met with members of his Council, was once a nerve center for the British empire in North America. This historic room has recently been returned to its appearance during the 1760s, when the fate of the British empire turned on the decisions made within its walls. Thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between the Bostonian Society and North Bennet Street School, visitors can now sit in the Governor's chair and thumb through reproduction documents at the Council table. In this hands-on setting, visitors will uncover a new way of looking at colonial Boston. Rather than distancing themselves from Britain during the years before the American Revolution, Bostonians relished the benefits that flowed from empire's embrace. Historian Nathaniel Sheidley will discuss the challenges encountered and lessons during his work on this project.

Tuesday, May 14th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Free.
Register through SurveyMonkey.

photograph of the restored Council Chamber courtesy of The Bostonian Society

There's still plenty of time to sign up for this week's free afternoon lecture.

St. Francis of Assisi in American Spirituality

[]For contemporary Americans, St. Francis of Assisi is the most familiar of saints other than, perhaps, the Virgin Mary. He is as beloved among Protestants as among Catholics, and his image appears outside churchly settings in such places as garden centers and movies. How did a medieval Catholic saint become so familiar in Protestantism and popular culture? And what does it mean that he did? We will look at Protestants' rediscovery of Francis in the nineteenth century and at some of the many ways he has been interpreted, visualized, and imagined.

[]Patricia Appelbaum is a leading scholar of Christian pacifism and the author of Kingdom to Commune: Protestant Pacifist Culture Between World War I and the Vietnam Era. She will talk about her current work on Saint Francis and his evolution from Catholic saint to animal lover and hippie icon, the star of "Brother Sun and Sister Moon".

Thursday, April 24th
3:00 - 4:00 pm

Free.
Register through SurveyMonkey.

painting "St. Francis" (1898) by Albert Chevallier Tayler in the public domian, found via Wikimedia Commons