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Find out about our collections and what's happening at the Library by checking out our blog,
Beacon Street Journal.
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ACA-Athenaeum Fellow Traces Links Between Congregationalism and Christian Science
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At the Library's Brown Bag Lunch on July 24th, Dr. Amy Voorhees, 2013 ACA-Boston Athenaeum Fellow, presented compelling connections between the Congregational background of Mary Baker Eddy and the Church that she founded, Christian Science. Tracing Baker Eddy's roots back to Concord, New Hampshire, where she was a member of what is now the Tilton-Northfield Congregational Church, Dr. Voorhees explored the possible influences of her 37 years as a Congregationalist.
 Dr. Voorhees focused particularly on the resources she used in her fellowship research at the Congregational Library, including 19th-century church histories and transcripts of sermons. Through these she gathered contemporary perspectives of Baker Eddy's publication Science and Health as well as larger social phenomena like the Temperance movement. Church manuals also provided opportunities to probe similarities in things as simple as their format and as important as dealing with private offenses among church members and the exercise of authority of synods and councils and that of the Christian Science Board of Directors.
Once again, the room was full and there was a lively banter between presenter and attendees.
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History Connects Family
Over Space and Time
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Visitors and researchers from near and far come to the Library to use its resources for many different kinds of projects. Recently, a researcher on an unexpected family quest visited for several days. Here from Vancouver, Canada, Dave Galloway made some intriguing discoveries at a family reunion that he came to the Library to explore further. Here's the story in his own words.
From Maine's Missionaries to Micronesia:
Papers, Letters and Photos in the
Lydia Vose Buck Snow Collection
by Dave Galloway
While in Cape Cod, as part of a family reunion, a cousin showed me a copy of a document that is part of the Lydia Vose Buck Snow Collection at the Congregational Library. Handwritten in the 1960's by my late aunt, Patricia Thurston, it covers the period of 1850 to 1870 for the Buck family of Robbinston, Maine. My Great Grandmother's aunt, Lydia Buck, married Benjamin Galen Snow, and they traveled to Micronesia as the first Congregationalist missionaries in 1851. Lydia Buck was one of 8 Buck children. She was well educated and met Galen while at school. They were married in Maine when she was 29 and began their life as missionaries.
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Lydia Buck in the Lydia Vose Buck Snow collection of family papers, MS 2407. The Congregational Library and Archives, Boston, MA.
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The document, based on some 40 letters in the collection, describes various events in the Snows' and the Bucks' families lives. It could take a year for news to make the round trip to Robbinston, Maine and back, and the missionaries couldn't sleep sometimes when expecting a new mail package. The letters are personal and reveal aspects of life and personality. Galen Snow seemed to be a very practical man, urging his brother-in-law to be "the best methodist he could" if that was the faith for him.
Isolated from the Civil War, it would be months before they learned of Lydia's brothers' involvement in the war or that Eben Buck spent a lovely evening on the Charles River on the 4th of July before going south that summer. He would die of "the fever" and not a bullet.
On this same trip, my family and I visited Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard and saw a number of beautiful old homes built by whaling ship captains, only to find out later that Edgartown Whalers visited the Snows!
The Library's collection includes over 40 original photographs from this period. It has been a wonderful and informative find, one that I'll be able to share with over 100 descendants of Galen and Lydia Snow.
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The family reunion of 4 generations of descendants of John Harvell and Annie G. Byrne, the author's great grandmother and Lydia Buck's niece.
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LIS Student Joins Library for Summer Internship
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Youn Jung Choi, also known as "Yuna," served as an intern at the Library in June. A student in the dual degree master's program in Library and Information Science of Simmons College, Boston, and Yonsei University, Seoul, Yuna was particularly excited to do her internship at the Library because she has an interest in archives and special libraries (a term describing libraries that do not fall within larger categories such as academic and public libraries). This combination made the Congregational Library an ideal setting for Yuna to learn and to contribute to the specialized work carried out there.
 Yuna increased her knowledge of RDA (resource description and access) standards by cataloging sermons and books. Handling fragile items properly was also part of her internship experience. One of things she'll remember best, however, is the beauty of the Library itself. Citing the three floors of stacks, glass floors, furniture, and even the view from the windows onto the Granary Burying Ground, Yuna thoroughly enjoyed her time at 14 Beacon Street. When she returns to Korea, she hopes to finish her degree and find a job at a special library there.
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Mather Redux:
New Perspectives on Cotton Mather
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Registration has begun for an October 18th symposium commemorating the 350th anniversary of the birth of Cotton Mather at the Congregational Library. Mather experts will cover new as well as familiar territory as they shed light on the man, his work, and his times. Presenters will include Reiner Smolinski of Georgia State University, Francis Bremer of Millersville University, and Kenneth Minkema of Yale Divinity School, among others. The event includes a guided walking tour of Boston's North End led by the North End Historical Society.
For more information, see our website, or contact Kate Parsons at kparsons@14beacon.org or 617-523-0470, ext. 230.
To register,visit http://matherredux.eventbrite.com/
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for a complete list of our resources,
classes, tours, lectures, and more!
For more information on the Library, call (617) 523-0470,
or e-mail info@14beacon.org
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