on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume No. A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service December Longfellow House Archives CatalogingB Complete At Last fter sixteen years of painstaking and region, has worked to- Ameticulous work, archivists have fin- gether with the Longfel- ished cataloging the multigenerational col- low NHS museum staff lection of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to complete this monu- and his extended family’s papers in the mental project. The team Longfellow House archives. Skilled profes- combed through un- sionals have examined and organized over sorted and inadequately , documents – letters, journals, man- stored papers, categoriz- uscripts, and drawings – from the Longfel- ing and filing them in lows, Appletons, Danas, and Wadsworths. acid-free folders. Archi- Twenty-two corresponding finding aids, vists then labeled each most of which are now available on the folder and listed it in a Longfellow National Historic Site website, finding aid. Sometimes provide researchers with an indispensable they cross referenced the Catalogers of the House archives (left to right): David Vecchioli, tool for learning about this extraordinary historic items by listing Margaret Welch, Anita Israel, Jennifer Lyons, Lauren Malcolm, collection and for locating materials. them in more than one finding aid. Each finding aid includes an overview of its Since , the National Park Service’s Without the cataloging and finding subject, biographical information, and an Northeast Museum Services Center staff, aids, these documents would be lost to index of the particular collection’s con- which catalogs collections throughout the scholars of American culture and history. (continued on page ) Treasuring Family Heritage: A Brief History of the House Archives uring his lifetime, Henry early seventeenth century. Be- DW. Longfellow and his cause of the House’s connection family treasured their personal to George Washington, people documents, and they created an offered Longfellow memorabilia informal archives in their home. associated with the first presi- In addition to collecting books dent. He accepted a lottery ticket for his vast library and preserv- signed by Washington. ing his own papers, the poet After Henry’s death in , saved his children’s, parents’, his daughter Alice Longfellow and other relatives’ letters, jour- remained in the House. She and nals, manuscripts, photographs, her siblings paid homage to and drawings. their father through their stew- Before the twentieth century, ardship of his property. They letter-writing served as the major and their children envisioned form of non-face-to-face com- the House as a museum to edu- munication. Longfellow himself cate and inspire the public. In is said to have written more than Longfellow family members at the dedication of Longfellow Park (left to right): , to preserve and manage the , letters in his lifetime. Harriet Spelman Longfellow, Elizabeth E. Dana, Edith Longfellow Dana, Mrs. property, they formed the Gathered in the library, the fam- Daniel Chester French, Annie Allegra Longfellow Thorp, Ernest Longfellow, Longfellow House Trust. They ily often read aloud letters they received, Longfellow and Dana families (which valued the House not only as an excellent such as those they enjoyed from the oldest Henry’s daughter Edith married into) con- example of architecture, but also as a son, Charley, as he traveled through Japan. sciously worked to create their own history. memorial to Henry Longfellow and George Aware of their families’ legacies, both the They kept papers going back as far as the (continued on page ) ᳚ House Archives Cataloging Complete (continued from page ) tents. The finding aid describes groups of to compete nationally for money by region documents and highlights individual items. and park, since the House has received of particular interest. Some family mem- funding every year from the National Park ሖሗመ bers for whom many records exist, such as Service for cataloging. Approximately . Friends of the Longfellow House the poet’s son Charley Longfellow and his million in federal funds have gone into the Board of Directors cousin Mary King Longfellow, have find- entire cataloging project. Heather S. Moulton, President ing aids devoted to them. Other finding In , with no idea as to the extent of Barclay Henderson, Clerk aids encompass an entire family, such as the archives, a regional NPS team was hired to Robert C. Mitchell, Treasurer Dana and Wadsworth-Longfellow families. catalog some of the documents at the Hope Cushing All together the extensive House archives House. They first examined and organized Diana Der-Hovanessian – comprised of materials from to Alice Longfellow’s papers as well as archi- Maura Graham Edward Guleserian – offer a unique view of eighteenth-, nine- tectural drawings found in the House. Elisabeth W. Hopkins teenth-, and early twentieth-century Ameri- Fanny Longfellow’s correspondence had Sarah B. Jolliffe can history. Through the eyes of various already been microfilmed, but her journals Linda Almgren Kime family members, scholars can read firsthand and drawings remained to be sorted. Laura Nash accounts of the Revolu- Based on a year’s work, Elizabeth F. Potter tionary, Barbary, and Civil in the archivists esti- Lynne Spencer Wars. They can glimpse mated there were , nineteenth-century Amer- papers. They had found Advisory Board ican art and culture, and some of these documents Ruth Butler LeRoy Cragwell social movements such as stored in boxes in the Diana Korzenik abolition, women’s educa- basement, but most were Richard Nylander tion, historic preservation, scattered throughout the Stephen D. Pratt and socialism. The collec- House on office shelves Marilyn Richardson tion also illuminates the or in drawers and closets. Marc Shell daily lives of the occu- By the team had Charles Sullivan pants of the House. moved all family papers Lowell A. Warren Jr. Over the years as the to one central location in Administrator cataloging progressed, the basement, and for the J.L. Bell the archives have attracted first time they had com- increasing numbers of pleted a full inventory. Newsletter Committee researchers. Since the late They increased their esti- Glenna Lang, Editor, Writer & Designer s, the number of re- mate to an astounding James M. Shea searchers using the ar- , papers. chives has grown from a mere handful each As part of the major House rehabilita- ᇶᇷᇸ month to over so far this year. tion, from to the basement was National Park Service In the early s, two notable scholars modernized as a state-of-the art research Myra Harrison, Superintendent came to the House archives seeking infor- and storage facility. Historic furnaces were James M. Shea, Museum Manager mation for their forthcoming books. Diana documented and then replaced. Moveable Lauren Downing, Administrative Officer Korzenik was working on Fanny Appleton and stationary shelves were installed in the Nancy Jones, Education and Visitor Services Longfellow’s interest in art, and Stanley basement vaults to hold museum objects, Paul Blandford, Museum Educator Paterson sought supporting material for his historic books, and acid-free storage boxes. Anita Israel, Archives Specialist transcriptions of Henry Longfellow’s un- New climate controls throughout the col- David Daly, Collections Manager edited journals. During their time at the lection storage areas ensure the preservation Lauren Malcolm, Museum Technician House, they recognized the value of study- of all these materials. Flo Smith, Management Assistant ing documents in situ and the urgent need Yet there is always more to be done. In Liza Stearns, Education Specialist to catalog and preserve the archives. In large additon to the now over , docu- Scott Fletcher, Facility Manager part to lobby for and raise the necessary ments, the House also holds more than funds, they helped found the Friends of the , museum artifacts as well as a remark- Printed by Newprint Offset, Waltham, Mass. Longfellow House. able collection of , historic photos. In the mid s the Friends and Sena- These collections are still in the process of ማሜምሞ tor Edward M. Kennedy helped to obtain a being cataloged. Some finding aids created All images are from the Longfellow National Historic base increase in funding from Congress, before await conversion to an elec- Site collections, unless noted otherwise. allowing the Longfellow NHS to hire more tronic format that will enable them to be museum staff to care specifically for the launched online. When this takes place – collections and cataloging. In the probably within the year – people all over LNHS hired full-time archives specialist the world can have full knowledge of the Anita Israel. Although the House has had contents of the House archives. ᳚ Interview with a Friend…Meet Ann Hitchcock, NPS Curator in Washington In when the National Park Service million are archival. These include per- pleting the basic finding aid, the collection- first established the chief curator position sonal papers, as you have at Longfellow level catalog record, and automated descrip- in their Washington office, they chose Ann House, as well as manuscript collections tions at series, subseries, and other levels of Hitchcock. Since then she has worked to and organizational records, such as records intellectual control so that the public is develop policy, procedures, strategies, and from Thomas Edison’s laboratory. We also aware of what we have. As researchers use systems to manage the museum collections have resource management records (for the collections and provide more insights, throughout the Park Service. She has an example, field notes, photographs, maps, we add that information to our records. The undergraduate degree in anthropology and archaeological assessments, and historic public becomes part of the process and art history, and a Master’s in anthropology structures condition reports) that docu- actually helps us to refine the information. with a specialization in museum studies. ment work relating to both natural and cul- LH: Absolutely. We learn so much about Now both a curator and a special assistant tural resources on NPS land.