History Matters

E-News from the Congregational Library & Archives
December, 2014

Church Anniversary Workshop

Save the Date

April 25, 2015

New Life

from

Old Stories

Trinitarian Congregational Church.

Concord, MA

Keynote Speaker

Rev. Dr. Nancy Taylor

Senior Minister & CEO

Old South Church, Boston

Founded 1669

Workshops include

Managing social media

Writing your own history

Records Stewardship

Planning worship services

Visit Us

In Person or Online!

Congregational Library

Give the Gift of

Membership

to Someone Special

or to Yourself!

Call 617-523-0470

ext. 230

or
email info@14beacon.org

for more info

Visit us online

www.congregationallibrary.org

Dreaming of Christmas?

Christmas was not widely celebrated in New England until the mid-1800's and was not legalized as a public holiday in Massachusetts until 1856. In fact, between 1659 and 1681, Christmas celebrations were illegal, punishable by a fine of five shillings in Massachusetts Bay Colony. But the descendants of the Pilgrims who came on the Mayflower made up for lost time when it came to boosting the holiday's musical tradition.

The lyrics to three popular Christmas carols were written by Mayflower descendants. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was composed by Reverend Edmund Sears in 1849, and O Little Town of Bethlehem by Reverend Phillips Brooks in 1869. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day during the Civil War. All three poems were set to music to become carols we sing today.

The best-selling Christmas recording of all time remains

White Christmas by Bing Crosby, who was also a Mayflower descendent and a member of the Mayflower Society.

Visit the stacks of the Congregational Library & Archives and you will come across a long row of slim paper-bound volumes mixed with cloth-bound hymnals once held by choir members and congregants who sang of the joys of the season.

So Sing we now of Christmas, Sing we all Noel!

special thanks to William Muttart, co-author

One Hundred & Eleven Questions & Answers

Concerning the Pilgrims

Passengers on the Mayflower, 1620

Mayflower Books

Available for members to borrow.

German Scholar delves into

American Stories of Martyrs

International curiosity

The Congregational Library & Archives provides small but helpful travel grants for qualified researchers. Heike Jablowski, from the Heidelberg University, Germany, shown with CLA Librarian Steve Picazio, has taken advantage of the program to continue her research here in our Reading Room. With a keen interest in Protestant martyrology, this third-year PhD candidate specializes in America religious history. Heike has been investigating and photographing page after page from our collection of missionary records and martyrs biographies. She wants to learn more about how missionaries in the field used the stories of martyrs in their teaching.

So how did a young German become interested in American missionaries? "I just love American history." Heike remarks when reminiscing about her student exchange days in Michigan in 12^th grade. At university, she started by studying American literature and added history into the mix. The relatively small numbers of Early Americanists in Germany made the topic even more intriguing and attractive.

This visit is Heike's second research trip to the U.S. but first to Massachusetts where she has been taking advantage of the extensive collections and the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. Our collections have brought her to 14 Beacon. She finds Boston very exciting and not only has the grant given her closer access to our unique records but she says, "it gives me the time to explore Boston".

Strengthening her tie to the CL&A, one of Heike's professors is a colleague of Mather scholar, Reiner Smolinsky, a good friend of the Library and Archives and professor at Georgia State University.