from the archive: round-up of beehive posts

Seth Eastman on Dighton Rock
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Putting up the Picture of Jesus web video on Monday made me realize it's been a while since I posted links to The Beehive, the official blog of the MHS, where I post occasionally on our shenanigans there as independent research library librarians. So here goes:

• While on vacation (I know, I know! my boss chided me for it) I wrote a short post about the renewed interest in Harvard University's first Native American graduates.
• I highlighted a 1910 police commissioner's report on Boston's "houses of ill fame" (i.e. brothels) as part of our "from the reading room" series.
• I spoke with a dedicated researcher who has been in virtually every day from 9-5 for the past two months reading through John Quincy Adams' papers on microfilm.
• And as promised in the last link round-up, a write-up of Brian Gratton's brown-bag lunch talk on immigration restriction discourse, 1890s-1920s.

While not written by me, I'd like to share a post written by Laura Prieto, my thesis adviser and current research fellow at the MHS on some of the gems she has found during her time in the reading room: Research Fellow Finds More Than She is Looking for in Sarah Louisa Guild's Diary.

And finally, Digital Projects Coordinator Nancy Heywood offers an historical perspective on tornadoes in Massachusetts, in light of last week's storm system which brought with it funnel clouds and caused four deaths across the state: Tornado Strikes Worcester County in 1953.

Follow The Beehive directly if you're interested in more frequent updates on the goings-on of a bustling library and archive. School may be out for the summer, meaning a break for students and teachers alike, but that usually signals the beginning of our busy season as vacationing genealogists, academics, research fellows, and casual visitors, descend to get the type of history fix that just isn't available via Masterpiece Classics!