Institutional Partners for the New England's Hidden Histories
The Congregational Library & Archives is grateful to have the opportunity to work with the following esteemed libraries, archives, and cultural repositories through our work on the New England's Hidden Histories project. NEHH would look nothing like it currently does without the ceaseless support of our institutional partners.
American Antiquarian Society
Founded in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas, the American Antiquarian Society is both a national learned society and a major independent research library whose mission is to collect, preserve and make available the printed history of the region of North America that would become the United States. The library of AAS today houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, prints, broadsides, newspapers, and music printed in what is now the United States, as well as a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, and digital resources related to all aspects of American history and culture before the twentieth century. The Society also collects manuscripts. The manuscript department contains rich resources for the study of American history and culture. Numbering over 2,000 collections and well over a million items, the Society's manuscripts span the years from 1613 into the twentieth century and includes family papers, church records, business records, diaries, and account books, all with a focus on New England.
Bennington Museum
The Bennington Museum presents and explores the rich culture of southern Vermont, eastern New York State, northwestern Massachusetts, and southern New Hampshire in all its forms, from the 18th century to the present. We connect visitors with objects of art and history, and put them into context across time and place through innovative exhibitions and programming, virtually and in-person, year round.
Cape Ann Museum
The Cape Ann Museum tells multiple stories, all relating to a single remarkable place. From its earliest days as a fishing and shipping port to its mid-19th century role in the granite industry, to its singular charms of light and sea that have attracted countless artists from the 19th century to the present, Cape Ann boasts a rich and varied culture of nationally significant historical, industrial, and artistic achievement. Founded in 1875 as the Cape Ann Scientific and Literary Association, today the Museum is a vibrant cultural center. The primary campus in downtown Gloucester includes numerous galleries for the display of both permanent and special exhibitions, an auditorium, a Library & Archives, a children's activity center, two sculpture gardens and a 19th century captain's house.
Connecticut Historical Society
The CHS is a non-profit museum, library, research, and education center located in Hartford, Connecticut. Incorporated in 1825, it is the seventh oldest historical society in the country. Its mission is to connect the public to the story of Connecticut. In pursuit of that mission, the CHS collects and preserves materials related to Connecticut's social, cultural, and family histories. Consisting of approximately 4 million items, the museum’s overall collection is nationally renowned in the areas of, unique hand-written manuscripts and diaries, prints, photographs, early children’s books, clothing and textiles, furniture, tavern signs, and tools. The objects in the museum’s collection, distinguished in both range and depth, date from the earliest period of European settlement to the present. They are locally, regionally, and nationally significant. Singly and in combination, the CHS’s collection tells hundreds of thousands of stories – about individuals; families; social groups; businesses; neighborhoods; towns; cities; the colonies of Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook; the state of Connecticut; and, ultimately, the American nation.
Connecticut State Library
The mission of the Connecticut State Library is to preserve and make accessible Connecticut’s history and heritage and to advance the development of library services statewide.
The Connecticut State Library is an Executive Branch agency of the State of Connecticut. The State Library provides a variety of library, information, archival, public records, museum, and administrative services for citizens of Connecticut, as well as for the employees and officials of all three branches of State government. The State Library also serves students, researchers, public libraries and town governments throughout the state. In addition, the State Library directs a program of statewide library development and administers the Library Services and Technology Act state grant. In conjunction with the Department of Higher Education, the State Library also administers researchitct.org– Connecticut’s source for free online resources.
Forbes Library
Forbes Library, the public library for Northampton, Massachusetts, provides a wide range of information, materials and services to all of the people of Northampton and Massachusetts. The library’s magnificent building offers a friendly, welcoming physical environment which encourages the civic, intellectual, and cultural pursuits of the public. Forbes serves as a community meeting place in which curiosity, free inquiry, and lifelong learning are supported and nurtured. The library is open 56 hours per week, and many resources are available online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
James Library & Center for the Arts
The James Library & Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization offering programs in music, art and literature. Housed in a landmark 1874 Victorian building in the heart of historic Norwell Center, the James features a concert hall with a Steinway B grand piano, a free lending library, and an art gallery offering new exhibits each month.
The James has become a vibrant place within the South Shore arts community with its active music instruction schedule, a stream of library patrons visiting daily, and daily activities offered throughout the year.
Jonathan Edwards Center
The mission of the Jonathan Edwards Center is to support inquiry into the life, writings, and legacy of Jonathan Edwards by providing resources that encourage critical appraisal of the historical importance and contemporary relevance of America's premier theologian. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University (JEC) came into being in October 2003, on the three-hundredth anniversary of Jonathan Edwards' birth. The JEC grew out of the offices of the Works of Jonathan Edwards, the contemporary critical print edition of selections from the Edwards papers.
Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History
The Springfield Museums uses art, history, science and Dr. Seuss to explore our shared connections and unique perspectives to promote engagement, literacy and learning. The Springfield Museums include the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museu, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, and the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.
The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History is known for its local history research facilities, its comprehensive program of changing exhibitions, its diverse educational offerings, and it’s wide ranging collections illuminating the history of the Connecticut River Valley.
Maine Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the Maine Historical Society is the third oldest state historical society in the United States, and employs a professional staff of 35. MHS is comprised of the Wadsworth–Longfellow House and Longfellow Garden, the Maine Historical Society Museum and Store, the MHS Research Library and the Maine Memory Network. The Society preserves the heritage and history of Maine: the stories of Maine people, the traditions of Maine communities, and the record of Maine's place in a changing world. Because an understanding of the past is vital to a healthy and progressive society, we collect, care for, and exhibit historical treasures; facilitate research into family, local, state, and national history; provide education programs that make history meaningful, accessible and enjoyable; and empower others to preserve and interpret the history of their communities and our state.
Marblehead Museum
In 2003, the Marblehead Historical Society changed its name to the Marblehead Museum & Historical Society to reflect its museum-quality collection and professional approach to exhibits, research, preservation, and education. The name was simplified in 2013 to Marblehead Museum. The Jeremiah Lee Mansion, the J.O.J. Frost Gallery and Carolyn Lynch Education Center, Marblehead History Archives and the Grand Army of the Republic & Civil War Museum are all part of the Marblehead Museum’s exceptional collection of places, artifacts, documents, and photographs that span centuries of Marblehead history.
Massachusetts Historical Society
The MHS is an invaluable resource for the study of American history, life, and culture. Its collections tell the story of America through over twelve million documents, artifacts, and national treasures, including the personal papers of three presidents—John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Since 1791, the Society has nurtured and spread knowledge and the appreciation of American history by preserving and enriching its collections, providing tools and services to support research, and cultivating scholarship. The MHS is committed to the principle that knowledge of our nation’s past is fundamental to its future.
The MHS collections and the community of scholars, researchers, teachers, and writers we serve provide the foundation for the Society’s educational and public history programs. By building interest in and support for American history, these programs directly serve the MHS mission in themselves, but they also strengthen the Society as an organization dedicated to continuing to preserve and expand its collections and other research activities.
New England Historic Genealogical Society
New England Historic Genealogical Society is America’s founding genealogical organization and the most respected name in family history. Established in 1845, NEHGS is the nation’s leading comprehensive resource for family history research and the largest Society of its kind in the world. We provide expert family history services through our staff, original scholarship, data-rich website, educational opportunities, and research center to help family historians of all levels explore their past and understand their families’ unique place in history.
New Hampshire Historical Society
Since 1823 the New Hampshire Historical Society has been preserving our state's past and telling its stories to each generation. Nowhere will you find a more extensive collection of archives and objects related to New Hampshire's history.
But we aren’t just looking to the past—we also have our eyes on the future. The New Hampshire Historical Society serves thousands of people every year through our library, museum, programs, websites, publications, and exhibitions. And our school programs are teaching the next generation about history, civics, and the fundamental concepts of American government. From kids to seniors and everyone in between, the Society helps us understand who we are and why New Hampshire is a place like no other.
The Society is an independent, nonprofit, member-supported organization, not a state-funded agency. All of our work to save, preserve, and share New Hampshire's past depends on membership dues and contributions from people like you.
Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
The origin of the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) dates to the 1799 founding of the East India Marine Society. Society members brought to Salem a diverse collection of objects from all over the world, including Asia, Africa, Oceania, India, and the northwest coast of America. The bylaws of the Society also stated the intent of the society to collect "books of history, voyages, travels and of navigation and new and correct charts", and "valuable and scarce publications in any language". These collections became the foundation of the Phillips Library.
The collections of the Phillips Library consist of manuscripts, books, pamphlets, maps, charts, photographs and documents created for all manner of uses. Materials in the library's print and manuscript collections relating to early America capture its material culture, foreign relations, and international trade and commerce. The maritime collections document five centuries of exploration and discovery. While the roots of the library are imbedded in the local, maritime history of Massachusetts, the global reach of the founders and early collectors built the library into a wide-ranging collection of extraordinary breadth and depth. Today, its holdings directly support PEM's mission to collect and interpret works of art and culture from all over the world.
Sturgis Library
The Sturgis Library is a national treasure. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Library is situated on the “Old King’s Highway,” recently named as “one of the ten most scenic byways in America.” The Library Collections have grown to over 65,000 volumes, including the Special Collections. These include the Cape Cod History Collection of books, manuscripts, photographs and microfilm, the most important collection of its kind in the United States; the Kittredge Maritime Collection, one of the finest maritime collections on the East Coast, notable for its concentration on Cape Cod sea captains and vessels; and the Lothrop Genealogy Collection, which is used by genealogists from all over the United States in examining their connections to Cape Cod History.
Westborough Public Library
The Westborough Public Library is a comfortable and welcoming place where people of all ages and cultures come together, in person or online, to experience the joy of reading, express their creativity, satisfy their curiosity, and create and share content. The library is the hub of the community, and sustains itself through excellent customer service, careful stewardship of financial and physical resources, and attention to evolving needs of the community.