Tag: Boston Globe

Now Open: The Boston Globe Cambridge Clippings Collection

Posted on by Meta Partenheimer

Last June, the commission received a donation of newspaper clipping files from The Boston Globe clipping library. Although The Globe was clipped from around 1900 until it went electronic in 1977, the clippings in this collection date from around the 1920s with some items dating into the 2000s.

collection_box_view
The Boston Globe Cambridge Clippings Collection contains nearly 1,900 individual subject envelopes.

During the time when the clippings library was active, groups of clippings were organized by subject into single or multiple envelopes depending on the breadth of information on a given topic.

restaurant_files
A selection of files related to Cambridge restaurants.

Envelopes can include stories of community interest to crime investigations, and originated not only from the Boston Globe, but from other newspapers and publications including the Boston Herald and the Transcript.

flim_flam
Vestiges of the past can be seen through use of less-modern terms, as this 1971 clipping from CAMBRIDGE: MASS: CRIME: FLIM-FLAM illustrates.

Some envelopes even included photographs once published in the newspaper, many depicting prominent Cambridge architecture or buildings that no longer exist.

childrens_museum001
Cambridge Children’s Museum, 1919.

The newspaper clippings have now been processed and a finding aid will soon be available to researchers on our website. Each title has been transcribed into a spreadsheet, and ordered via separate tabs for quick searching and topic browsing.

bridge

A selection of clippings regarding a new bridge over Broad Canal, 1928.

The next step in the Globe clippings collection will be to cross-index relevant clippings about buildings, social clubs, and other pertinent addresses with our architectural inventory files to facilitate an even more comprehensive history of Cambridge.

mansion_house001
Mansion House, a restaurant and ice cream saloon once at the corner of Gore and Bridge (now Monsignor O’Brien Highway) Streets, 1905.

We look forward to welcoming patrons interested in researching this collection! To make a research appointment, contact our archivist, Emily at egonzalez@cambridgema.gov or stop by the CHC during our research hours: Mon: 4:00-7:00pm and Tue-Thur: 9:30-11:30am & 2:00-4:00pm.

rent_control

New! Boston Globe Donation

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Last week, we received a special visit from Richard Pennington, a former librarian for the Boston Globe. Mr. Pennington and Lisa Tuite, the Globe’s Head of Library, donated seven boxes of newspaper clippings from the Globe’s newspaper clipping morgue. The clippings date from 1900 to around 1977 (with some from the 1980s) and include interesting news stories and information pertaining to Cambridge. The stories come not only from the Boston Globe, but from other newspapers and publications, including the Boston Herald and the Transcript.

IMG_8425

The newspaper clippings are arranged by subject, and they run the gamut of topics related to Cambridge history: from specific Cambridge buildings (of particular interest to the Commission), to local politics, to schools, historic riots, and Cambridge businesses.

IMG_8421

According to Pennington, “The Globe was clipped from around 1900 until it went electronic in 1977 – it was  the first newspaper to store its content in a computer for retrieval.” The content of the clipped, indexed and filed newspaper clippings often depended on the preference of the librarian at the time.  Pennington also added that, “The city desk also had a decades-long policy of sending ephemera to the library to be added to the clipping files, and this included small photographs. Occasionally odd book chapters and magazine articles were added to the files.”

IMG_8426

Pennington helped with the recent and ongoing transition of the Boston Globe Library’s collections to new institutions, as the Globe relocates from their Morrissey Boulevard location back to downtown Boston. Pennington was assistant librarian at the Globe when he left in 2007. The large majority of the Boston Globe clippings collection was transferred to Northeastern University — however, the Cambridge Historical Commission was fortunate enough to receive a great portion of this collection for our research files.

The newspaper clippings will be processed, cross-indexed with our architectural inventory files, and a finding aid will be created for researchers. The collection is currently not open for research.

IMG_8427