In a recent study published in The American Archivist, Laura McCann details the history of photo morgues, and their importance considering the newspaper industry’s shift from print to digital media. Ms. McCann is a conservation librarian in the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department at New York University (NYU) Libraries. In light of our own newly-opened photo morgue collection (detailed below), her article has been summarized here.
When the use of photographic images began to appear alongside news print, only larger newspapers could afford full-time photography departments. Thus, many small establishments turned to news agency photography departments to compete and meet the growing demand for photographic images.
“Billows of smoke pour from the John P. Squire Co. meat packing plant, as fireman battle to bring the blaze under control” (14 April 1963). Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection.
While the negatives and their copyright were usually maintained by the parent agency, the smaller papers developed “photo morgues” to organize and manage photographic print assets obtained from the news agencies and other parties. A caption or tag line, along with copyright information and a date, would usually be recorded on the verso of a print or on an affixed section of paper.
“Cambridge, Mass., June 17 – Ellsberg residence” (17 June 1971). Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection.
Over the past few years, the CHC has collected many prints from various newspapers in the greater-Boston area. This collection, Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection, contains black-and-white prints taken by newspaper photographers to illustrate stories regarding the city of Cambridge. Images in this collection represent a wide breadth of topics including protests, political figures, buildings, and city projects, thus documenting the social change and architectural evolution of Cambridge in the 20th century.
In an effort to reach those interested in Cambridge history, we recently sent these images to undergo digitization by Digital Commonwealth. The entire collection can be viewed by clicking here. This process is ongoing, and we plan to add more digitized content in the coming months.
Screenshot from the Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection image “Cambridge ‘Sparks’ and his radio scooter”. Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection.
May 1st has become known as MayDay in the archives world. Every year on May 1st, archivists and other cultural heritage professionals take time to assess the preservation needs of their collections and amend glaring problems.
In acknowledgement of MayDay, we would like to take this opportunity to communicate some quick tips for preserving your own archival materials at home. We will focus on relaying basic information for care and storage of the three most commonly saved items: scrapbooks, photographs, and documents.
Scrapbooks
Albums of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera weave a narrative of family history. However, the materials from which many scrapbooks are constructed can be harmful. Adhesives, dated plastic sheets, and newspaper accelerate deterioration of photographs and documents.
This image of Harvard Square trolley workers show how over time, adhesive can cause document and photographs to pull and create ripples.
We recommend scanning your scrapbook pages to create a digital surrogate, or removing items in danger of damage. If you want to keep your scrapbooks intact, make sure to store them in a dark area with a lower temperature (at least below 75° and at 65° if possible) and a lower relative humidity (below 65%). Often, linen closets work well for this purpose! Store your scrapbooks in a box made of acid free-materials.
Photographs
Printed images communicate stories and are seen as proof of events and past existence. Yet, the people and places within these images can quickly fade if not taken care of properly.
This photograph has begun to yellow, likely due to the acidic paper to which it is mounted.
Photographs should be placed inside acid-free folders or archival plastic sleeves and kept inside in a dark room or closet with a lower temperature and relative humidity.
If your photographs have been rolled for a long period of time and are now stuck, consult a professional who can humidify and flatten your print safely. If you scan your photographs, you will be able to view it whenever you like, and lessen the effects of UV and humidity on your physical prints.
Documents
Documents such as letters, postcards, and paper records provide us with descriptions and evidence. Often, these items are unique and become more fragile over time. If you have paper in your family collection, separate pages from harmful materials such as newspaper or staples.
The acidic paper of this Signet Hosiery Company membership book has begun to yellow, and the staples are in danger of rusting if not kept in a cool, dry place.
Like scrapbooks and photographs, make sure to store your documents in a cool and dry location (not an attic or basement). Store documents in acid-free containers, ideally inside folders and a box.
If you would like to learn more about how to preserve documents, photographs, scrapbooks, or other materials you may have, contact our archivist, Emily at egonzalez@cambridgema.gov or 617.349.4683.
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Time Travel Tuesday! This series will focus on aspects of history illustrated by objects in our collections. In today’s post, we’ll be talking about stereographs.
Have you ever watched a movie in 3D or spent hours staring at a Magic Eye image hoping to see whatever was hidden in all the abstract colors? 3D imaging is somewhat of a novelty, even today, but the impulse to create two dimensional images that look 3D has been around a lot longer than you might think. In the early decades of the 19th century, inventors began devising ways to create the illusion of a three dimensional view, even before advances in photographic technology made it possible to quickly and inexpensively create direct representations of the world.
Early 3D photographs (and drawings) were called stereographs or stereograms. Stereoscopy, the technique used to create stereographs, works because our eyes see at slightly different angles from each other. When your eyes work together, in stereo, you perceive a three dimensional view of your surroundings. Close one eye and the world flattens. By placing a slightly different image to be viewed by each eye independent of the other, your mind is tricked into seeing a three dimensional scene.
The first stereoscope was invented by a man called Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838. Wheatstone’s original apparatus employed a system of mirrors to reflect two slightly different images to the eyes. Six years later, David Brewster improved on Wheatstone’s design, doing away with the mirrors and instead using prisms in a closed case. Stereoscopy became all the rage in Victorian England. Even Queen Victoria was bitten by the stereo bug. The Great Exhibition of 1851 brought the stereoscope to an international audience and around 1860 Cambridge native Oliver Wendell Holmes invented his own version of the stereoscope.
The Holmes Stereopticon, also known as the American stereoscope, was incredibly popular. In the years following its invention, which Holmes declined to patent, thousands upon thousands of stereoscopic images, also known as stereographs, were produced for viewing through a stereoscope. They were cheap and readily available, making them a truly democratic amusement.
The CHC has a number of stereographs as part of the Postcards and Stereographs Collection, depicting historical monuments, notable residences, churches, Harvard University, and landscape views.
Washington’s Headquarters (Prof. Longfellow’s Residence), Cambridge. Not dated. Produced by American Stereoscopic Views.The Washington Elm. “Under this tree Washington first took command of the American Army. July 3rd 1775.” Not dated. Produced by A.E. Alden, Boston.
Vicinity of Boston. Park and Garden Series. Not Dated. Produced by C. Seaver, Jr. Photographer. Labeled on reverse “Residence near Mt. Auburn.” This is the only color stereograph in our collection. See below for more information.
Updated: It was recently pointed out to us by an eagle-eyed commenter that the above image is, in fact, a house formerly in Roxbury. This house appears in a painting of Roxbury in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, below:
Stereographs were mass produced as souvenirs. People visiting Cambridge could purchase these cards and bring them home with them to relive their trip. This is evidenced by the frequent inclusion of historical information on the back of the cards.
Elmwood, Birthplace of James Russell Lowell, Cambridge Mass. Not dated. Produced by Underwood & Underwood Publishers.
[Reverse] Elmwood, Birthplace of James Russell Lowell, Cambridge Mass. Not dated. Produced by Underwood & Underwood Publishers.Especially interesting in this example is the inclusion of multiple languages at the bottom of the card. Visitors who spoke French, German, Spanish, Swedish, or Russian could read for themselves what was depicted in the stereograph.
Reverse of a stereograph card of Hollis Hall dormitories. Several cards with this historical description pasted to the back are present in our collection, and indication of just how common these types of cards were.
Other cards included a list of other available stereograph images. This card depicting a scene in Mount Auburn Cemetery is an example.
While difficult to make out, the design to either side included the description “Rural Cemeteries, United States.” Based on information on the reverse, we know this is Mount Auburn Cemetery. Not dated. Publisher not specified.Reverse of above. Someone, perhaps the original owner of this card, underlined “12. Lawn and Chapel” under Mount Auburn, Cambridge, indicating the subject of the photograph.
Unfortunately, many cards do not include any information at all to identify them. However, occasionally the original purchaser chose to identify the subject themselves, perhaps to help them remember their visit.
Memorial Hall, Harvard University. No identifying information is present on the front of this card.Reverse of above. “Memorial Hall” “Harvard” Cambridge Mass. June 1874. A. F. F.
Interest in stereoscopy has continued to the present day. Tutorials on creating your own stereoscopic images are available online. So if you live in Cambridge and want to experience a little bit of time travel for yourself, give it a try and show us what you come up with!
In the archives field, we are often charged with describing, cataloging, and preserving memories in their physical form. A key first step is actually acquiring historic items and collections that can speak volumes about the past.
Our flyer requesting historic photographs
In 1980 the CHC initiated a project to document photograph collections in private hands. The Polaroid Foundation donated a copy stand, a camera, and cases of 4×5 instant film that also made high-quality negatives. The flyer, pictured above, was sent out with utility bills and generated hundreds or responses.
The staff had copied about 2,000 images when the CHC published A Photographic History of Cambridge in 1984. Donations, which included including the corporate collections of the Cambridge Electric and Gas companies and the Cambridgeport Savings Bank and many, many scrapbooks, slowly tapered off, but the recent donation of this photo shows that the simple flyer of 1980 continues to bear fruit.
Our appeal – “Don’t let our history fade away.”
A family residing in Buzzards Bay discovered our flyer while going through the papers of their mother, Julie Ferguson.
Sally Howes as a nursing student weighing “Baby Hope” in 1926.
Along with the flyer, the family included this photograph featuring nursing student, Sally Howes.
Program for graduation exercises at the Cambridge Training School for Nurses, 1927. Sally Howes is the second graduate listed.
Ms. Howes is listed as a graduate of the Cambridge Training School for Nurses class of 1927. It is possible that she was a family friend or acquaintance of the donor’s mother.
Verso of the program featuring the Florence Nightingale Pledge.
These materials will soon be available for research. We are open for research Mon: 4:00-7:00PM and Tue-Thur: 9:30-11:30AM & 2:00-4:00PM. Contact us today for an appointment!
Recently, the staff here at the Commission performed some summer cleaning in our archives and library storage. After relocating a few boxes, our archives assistants assessed the physical states of some of the materials. Among the collections were a collection of Civil War memorabilia, photographs, an oversize atlas, documents, and an oversize volume of architectural plans.
Many of the items had already been stabilized and were properly housed. Others were in need of repairs or other types of preservation. Two items were in need of immediate preservation work: a volume of architectural plans and a photograph.
The architectural plans are bound in a volume measuring around 24 x 20 inches. This volume represents personal collection of plans of an engineer at the Cambridge Water Board, and the plans date ca. 1860s-1870s.
Our digitization assistant, Meta, dry-cleaned the area, and repaired the tear using Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.
Before the tear is repairedWheat starch pasteWeighting the pasted tissue until dryAfter the tissue has driedTrimming the excessThe final product
The photograph, titled “Survivors of the First Company Raised in the United States for Suppression of the Rebellion” comes from the George H. Hastings Civil War Memorabilia Collection and was taken ca. 1880.
The photograph had been held to a mat frame with adhesive. Glues manufactured during this era were often made from animal products and rubber. These products are now known to congeal and harden over time.
Emily removing hardened adhesive from the back of a photograph
Our archives assistant, Emily, carefully removed the hardened glue from the verso of the photograph with a micro-spatula, thus protecting this photograph from any chemical or physical damage.
In the archives field, professionals and students are always working hard to provide access to our materials, both physically and digitally. Our work here at the Cambridge Historical Commission is no different.
The Commission has recently finished conducting inventories on a few of our smaller collections, and the corresponding finding aids for each are now available. Scroll down to read descriptions and view a selection of images from the following collections: Hovey Family Records, Signet Hosiery Company Collection, Squirrel Brand Company Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission Objects Collection, and The Riverside Press Collection.
Hovey Family Records
The Hovey Family Records are a collection of documents, booklets, and photographs which once belonged to the Hovey Family of Cambridge. In 1997, the bulk of the collection was found in a house in Worcester, MA by Shirley Piermarini and these items were donated to the CHC that same year. In 2001, Ms. Piermarini donated five Hovey family photographs. View the finding aid here.
Photograph portrait of a young girl in the Hovey family, taken in 1871.
Caption: Susan A. Hovey’s autograph book, 1876
Signet Hosiery Company collection
In 1926, the Signet Hosiery Company began moving into the newly-expanded Kendall Square Building located at 238 Main Street in Cambridge. Signet and its president William H. Doty encouraged customers to form their own Signet Clubs with their friends and relatives. Weekly membership dues of $1 entitled you to a subscription for hosiery and lingerie at discount prices.
Membership book for the Signet Hosiery Company, 1926
This collection contains materials from the 1920s-1930s, and includes documents relating to Signet Hosiery Company club membership along with a Signet Hosiery Company hosiery box. View the finding aid here.
Signet Hosiery Company hosiery box measuring 3 x 6.75 x 9.5”, c. 1920s-1930s
Squirrel Brand Company collection
The Squirrel Brand candy company started in 1890 in Roxbury, but had a presence in Cambridge beginning in 1915. Their focus was on manufacturing nut-based candies, such as roasted nuts and nougats. Their most popular product was made of caramel, vanilla, and nut taffy called the “Squirrel Nut Zipper.” Squirrel Brand moved to Texas after being purchased by Southern Style Nuts in 1999. The New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) purchased the license for Squirrel Brand from Southern Style in 2004, officially bringing the long-loved company back to Massachusetts.
Cardboard advertisement to “Eat Squirrel Brand Butter Chews,” c. 1940s.
This collection includes advertising materials manufactured for the Squirrel Brand Company, c. 1910-1940, and one copy of a document relating the history of the company from “The History of Candy Making in Cambridge” by the Cambridge Historical Society. View the finding aid here.
Tin container for Squirrel Brand Salted Mixed Nuts, c. 1930s.
This collection is composed of objects relating to various aspects of Cambridge history, c. 1890s-1980s. Within the collection are vases, pins, buttons, and badges. View the finding aid here.
Longfellow Home Vase, glazed ceramic, made in Germany, 5.25” in height, no dateCambridge 50th Anniversary Souvenir Pin, 1896
The Riverside Press collection
The Riverside Press started in Boston as a book-printing factory that began in 1852. Later, Henry Houghton began The Riverside Press along the Charles River in Cambridge.
Photograph of the Riverside Press building, c. 1910
The Riverside Press collection contains photographic materials related to The Riverside Press. Subjects include architectural views of The Riverside Press buildings, interior views, machinery, and construction views, c. 1890s-1950s. View the finding aid here.
Photograph of the first automatic fed cylinder press at Riverside, c. 1910
Currently, these findings aids are only available in paper format at the Commission. To view the finding aids for these collections, or to schedule an appointment for in-person research, please contact the Cambridge Historical Commission today at 617.349.4683 or e-mail our Archivist, Emily at egonzalez@cambridgema.gov.
In the late 1990s, Ronald R. Rindge donated a collection of materials that had belonged to his grandfather, the philanthropist Frederick Hastings Rindge (1857-1905). Earlier this month, Frederick Hastings Rindge’s great-great-granddaughter, Melissa Rindge, came to visit the commission. CHC Executive Director Charles Sullivan showed Melissa a selection of Rindge items. This collection is comprised of materials relating to the Rindge family’s business interests in New England and Frederick Hastings Rindge’s donations to the city of Cambridge, including the Cambridge Public Library (1887), Cambridge Manual Training School (1888), and City Hall (1889).
Charlie showing Melissa the Cambridge Manual Training School Yearbook from the class of 1897.
Born to a wealthy textile merchant family in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 21, 1857, Frederick Hastings Ridge grew up to become a successful businessman. Rindge was privately tutored before continuing his education at Harvard. The passing of his parents in the late 1880s left him with an inherited estate of approximately 2 million dollars.
Portrait of Frederick Hastings Rindge from his book Happy Days in Southern California.
The Cambridge Historical Commission is proud to house the Frederick Hastings Rindge Collection, which contains materials from 1852-2001. Included are correspondence, photographs, financial records, family papers, and architectural drawings, among other items.
Ledger page detailing real estate and property inventory, 1 July 1893.
Rindge’s business interests in New England comprised a number of textile mills and manufacturing companies and he owned a large number of real estate properties, mostly inherited from his father. Many of our records represent the family business as well as Rindge’s philanthropic efforts.
Photograph of Monadnock Mills, located in Claremont, New Hampshire c. 1890s.Monadnock Mills comparison financial statement, 31 May and 30 November 1897. Francis J. Parker was one of Frederick Hastings Rindge’s business managers.Happy Days in Southern California was published in 1898. The book begins with a history of this region and follows with descriptions of animals, flora, and scenery.
In 1888 Rindge relocated to California, where he purchased large tracts in Los Angeles and a 17,000-acre Spanish land grant north of Santa Monica that is now occupied by the town of Malibu. Between 1888 and 1890, Rindge’s old schoolmate, William E. Russell, then Mayor of Cambridge, urged him to fund the construction of a number of projects in Cambridge, including the Cambridge Manual Training School (later renamed the Rindge Manual Training School and now the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School). Rindge hired the architects, superintended the construction, hired the faculty, reviewed applications from students, and supported the school for five years before turning it over to the city. Because Rindge was living in California, all these matters were the subject of extensive correspondence with his agents in Boston.
Rindge Manual Training School Register, March 1903.Photograph of the Rindge Manual Training School baseball team, 1925.
Many records held in the collection relate to the Cambridge Manual Training School and Camp Rindge, a summer camp program for the CMTS students at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH.
A tent erected at Camp Rindge, c. 1893.
This collection is open for viewing and research at the Cambridge Historical Commission. Stop by during our research hours: Monday: 4:00-7:00PM, and Tuesday/Thursday: 9:30-11:30AM and 2:00-4:00PM, or feel free to call and make an appointment with our archivist!
In July 1891, owing to dense streetcar traffic, a result of increasing populations and the industrial strides of the late nineteenth century, a Rapid Transit Commission was created to resolve the transportation dilemma of Boston and its neighboring communities.
Proposed Location, Underground Structures for Main St., 19 May 1909
The commission researched traffic conditions in the city’s densest areas, namely Tremont Street, and presented a report recommending construction of an elevated railway system and a tunnel for streetcars to alleviate congested conditions in Boston and surrounding areas. Citing this report, the Massachusetts Legislature approved the Boston Elevated Railway Company (BERy) for incorporation on July 2, 1892.[1]
Brattle Square Progress on Excavation, 15 November 1909
The Cambridge Historical Commission holds approximately 1,200 glass negatives taken by the Boston Elevated Railway between 1907 and 1912. These images primarily document the construction of the Cambridge Subway in 1909-1912.
South Side of Mass. Ave. from Brookline to Pearl Street, 17 February 1909
The Commission also holds a collection of about 200 cyanotypes donated by Frank Cheney. These prints were made from negatives that are not held in the CHC collections. Many of the cyanotypes in the collection depict the construction of the Charles River dam and viaduct.
Charles River dam, lower side looking toward Cambridge, 31 July 1907Charles River Bridge, Foundation #4, 1 December 1907
Others document the construction of the underground tunnel on Brattle Street.
Brattle Street, 20 June 1910
General William A. Bancroft was president of the Boston Elevated Railway from 1899 to 1916 and proved a great influence in expanding the lines in Cambridge.[2] In the words of one writer at the Cambridge Chronicle, “No suburban city is more vitally interested in rapid transit than Cambridge.”[3]
Looking down Mass. Ave. incline, 15 November 1911
The Commission holds several boxes of BERy cyanotypes in the archives as well as vertical research files in our main office. To research our BER-y photographs and related collections, please contact our archivist, Emily Gonzalez by e-mail at egonzalez@cambridgema.gov or by phone at 617.349.4683.
In this post, our archives assistant Meta shares highlights and images from the recently processed and digitized Ella Jepson Nylander Photograph Collection. This collection is open for research at the CHC.
This collection consists of photographs found in a trunk that belonged to Ella Jepson Nylander. Mrs. Nylander was born Rozella Josephine Jepson in New Sweden, Maine in 1883 to Swedish immigrants Mons and Elna Jepson. Ella and her husband Olof Conrad Nylander lived within the closely-knit Swedish-American community in Cambridge for many years, and a number of the photographs in this collection were taken by photographers in Cambridge and across the water in Boston. Members of the Nylander and related families are represented in the images, in addition to friends and fellow church-goers of the Swedish Baptist Church located at the corner of Washington and Columbia streets.
Portrait of Anna Nyman (left) and Ella Jepson Nylander (right), c. 1890-1905.
Cambridge began seeing a rise in Swedish immigrants during the late-nineteenth century, and by 1905 the population had reached 1,645. Many Swedes were employed in trades and as craftsmen, but quite a few members of the younger generation began working in a more professional capacity. The Swedish and Swedish-American community in Cambridge was a close-knit and religious group during this time, and many of their activities centered on their religion.
Portrait of Olof Conrad Nylander (left) and Otto H. Anderson (right), c. 1900-1910.
Ella Jepson married Olof Conrad Nylander in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 30, 1908, and the ceremony was performed by Reverend C. (Carl) E. Johnson, the couple’s first pastor in Cambridge. Reverend Johnson became the pastor for this congregation in 1899. During his time in Cambridge, Reverend Johnson performed wedding ceremonies for various friends of the Nylanders and was very active in organizing church social events.
Portrait of Reverend Carl E. Johnson, c. 1900.
By 1902, the Swedish Baptist congregation in Cambridge had expanded to over 100 members and began taking bids to create a new church. Many members of the congregation were said to be poor or working class immigrants, and the surrounding community of Cambridge was encouraged to aid in fund contributions to the new church. Construction began in late 1902, and during this time the congregation worshiped in the YMCA building. The cornerstone for the new church was laid on March 8, 1903 and dedicated the following May in 1904. As it stands today, the building at 77 Columbia Street is a substantial improvement to its predecessor and embodies the spirit of community and fellowship of the Swedish community in Cambridge.
Swedish Baptist Church at 77 Columbia Street, Cambridge, c. 1903-1915.
Woods, Robert A. and Albert J. Kennedy, The Zone of Emergence: Observations of the Lower Middle and Upper Working Class Communities of Boston, 1905-1914. Abridged and Edited with a Preface by Sam Bass Warner, Jr., 70-74, Cambridge: The M.I.T. Press, 1962.
Thanks to the hard work of our archives interns and assistants, many of our archival collections are now available for research at the Cambridge Historical Commission. We are constantly processing new and existing collections, so check here often for updates.
Click here to discover full finding aids for the collections listed below (as well as many other collections in our archives):
Cambridge Engineering Department Collection
Cambridge Ephemera Collection (Updated). This collection contains ephemera related to Cambridge industry and business, institutions and organizations, local history, photographs and published materials.
Cambridge Traffic Department Collection
Cambridge Women’s Commission Collection. The collection is comprised of photographs, negatives, and planning materials relating to Cambridge Women’s Commission activities between 1979 and 1993.
Charles W. Eliot 2nd Collection. Eliot was a landscape architect and early advocate of urban planning.
Corcoran’s Department Store Collection
Doyle Family Photograph Collection
Frederick Hastings Rindge Collection (includes materials from Cambridge Rindge & Latin and Rindge/Cambridge Manual Training School)
Gladys G. Boyce Photograph Collection
The Electronics Corporation of America Collection (Updated)
Ella Jepson Nylander Photograph Collection
Harvard Naval Radio School Collection
Henry Deeks Photograph Collection
Latino History and Culture in Cambridge Research Collection
Lois M. Bowen Photograph Collection (Updated). Cambridge-based photographer and entrepreneur.
William Lawrence Galvin Collection (Updated). Cambridge architect.
Above Image:
Corcoran’s Department Store, new store opening, 615 Mass Ave, 4/13/1940. Corcoran’s Department Store Collection.
About our archives:
The Cambridge Historical Commission maintains an archive of material on Cambridge buildings, organizations, and people. The primary collection is the Inventory of Cambridge Buildings, which documents every building in the city. Other collections include materials on Cambridge businesses and industries, transportation in all its forms, local government, biographical files, ethnic and minority groups, social history, and more.
