George Washington: John Quincy Adams’s “great Patron”
By Gwen Fries, Adams Papers
For as long as teenagers have had bedrooms, they’ve been pinning their role models up on the wall—a favorite singer, a beloved actor, the best ball player. When John Quincy Adams was fifteen, his bedroom at The Hague held a gilded framed picture of General George Washington. Like many of his contemporaries, John Quincy had the deepest respect for the “truly great and illustrious” Washington, a respect that endured throughout his life.
John Quincy's portrait was likely a copy of John Trumbull's 1780 portrait of Washington.
[Accessed on 29 August 2017 at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/24.109.88/]
Twelve years after the portrait of Washington was removed from the wall, John Quincy Adams discovered he would be returning to The Hague thanks to the general’s orders. On May 27, 1794, John Adams wrote to his wife that, “the President has it in contemplation to Send your son to Holland.” When he wrote to his son, he discussed the appointment at The Hague in vague terms, calling the nomination “the Result of the Presidents own Observations and Reflections.” The next day, John Adams penned, “The Senate have this Day unanimously advised and consent to the Appointment of John Quincy Adams to the Hague.”
Just at the beginning of his law career in Boston, John Quincy felt too young and inexperienced to deserve the honor. Nevertheless, he did not believe his father would have suggested it to the president. When he next met his father in Quincy, John Adams confirmed his hunch. “I found that my nomination had been as unexpected to him as to myself,” JQA recorded in his diary. “His satisfaction at the appointment is much greater than mine,” he confessed, writing, “I wish I could have been consulted before it was irrevocably made. I rather wish it had not been made at all.”
Despite his hesitation at being separated from his family and sent halfway across the world for a then-undisclosed purpose, the day before his 28th birthday, JQA was in Philadelphia being introduced to President Washington. “He said little or nothing to me upon the subject of the business on which I am to be sent,” JQA noted. That night JQA was invited to dine with the president, and he paid his respects to Martha Washington, delivering her a letter from his mother. Abigail wanted to acknowledge “the honor done him by the unsolicited appointment conferd upon him by the President.” She continued, “I hope from his Prudence honour integrity & fidelity that he will never discredit the Character so honorably conferd upon him. painfull as the circumstance of a Seperation from him will be to me Madam I derive a satisfaction from the hope of his becomeing eminently usefull to his Country whether destined to publick, or to Private Life.”
A week after receiving Abigail’s letter from John Quincy’s hand, Martha responded. “The prudence, good sence and high estamation in which he stands, leaves you nothing to apprehend on his account from the want of these traits in his character;—whilst abilities, exerted in the road in which he is now placed, affords him the fairest prospect rendering eminent services to his country; and of being, in time, among the fore most in her councils.— This I know is the opinion of my Husband, from whom I have imbided the idea.”
Washington may have felt confident in John Quincy’s diplomatic abilities, but the young man was less sure. As he waited for Alexander Hamilton to return to Philadelphia to deliver instructions relevant to his mission, JQA wrote to his father, expressing doubt about his unfolding career: “I have abandoned the profession upon which I have hitherto depended, for a future subsistence . . . At this critical moment, when all the materials for a valuable reputation at the bar were collected, and had just began to operate favourably for me, I have stopped short in my career; forsaken the path which would have led me to independence and security in private life; and stepped into a totally different direction.” John Quincy ended his letter by telling his father that he determined to return home and to private life in no more than three years, if Washington had not already recalled him by then. John Adams replied urging patience and flexibility. “As every Thing is uncertain and Scænes are constantly changing I would not advise you to fix any unalterable Resolutions except in favour of Virtue and integrity and an unchangeable Love to your Country.”
In 1796 John Quincy learned that his father had been elected to succeed Washington. He wrote to his mother, assuring her that he would never solicit an office from his father. He discussed the devotion he felt to his country and his plans for a private life back in Massachusetts. John Adams was so touched by the letter that he shared it with Washington. Washington communicated his reflections on the private letter to John Adams: “if my wishes would be of any avail, they shd go to you in a strong hope, that you will not withhold merited promotion from Mr Jno. Adams because he is your son.” Washington declared it his “decided opinion” that John Quincy was “the most valuable public character we have abroad,” a man who would “prove himself to be the ablest, of all our diplomatic Corps.”
When George Washington died on December 14, 1799, John Quincy received many letters offering condolences from his family, closest friends, and foreign dignitaries. Poignantly, his father, though overworked in the office of president, sent him a short note on February 28, 1800, acknowledging that John Quincy was mourning the loss of his “great Patron.” Just over a year later, John Quincy welcomed his first son, George Washington Adams.
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| Published: Wednesday, 30 August, 2017, 12:00 AM
Announcing 2017-2018 Research Fellowships
By Dan Hinchen, Reader Services
Each year, the MHS sponsors various fellowship programs which bring a wide variety of researchers working on a full range of topics into the MHS library. The Reader Services staff enjoys getting to know the fellows, many of whom become career-long friends of the Society, returning to our reading room year after year.
The Society is excited to receive the list of the incoming research fellows for the 2017-2018 cycle. If any of the research topics below are particularly interesting to you, keep an eye on our events calendar over the course of the upcoming year, as all research fellows present their reearch at Brown Bag lunch programs as part of their commitment to the MHS.
For more information about the different fellowship types, click the headings below.
*****
Suzanne and Caleb Loring Fellows on the Civil War, Its Origins, and Consequences
Kathleen Hilliard
Iowa State University
Bonds Burst Asunder: The Revolutionary Politics of Getting By in Civil War and Emancipation, 1860-1867
MHS Short-term Fellowships
Judith Harford
University College Dublin
The Power of Social and Professional Networks to Promote Agency and Negotiate Access: The Role of the Women's Educational Association, Boston, in Advancing the Cause of Women's Admission to Harvard
African-American Studies Fellow
Natalie Joy
Northern Illinois University
Abolitionists and Indians in the Antebellum Era
Andrew Oliver Fellow
Susan Eberhard
University of California - Berkeley
Artisanal Currencies: Silver Circulations of the US-China Trade, 1784-1876
Andrew W. Mellon Fellows
Daniel Burge
University of Alabama
A Struggle Against Fate: The Opponents of Manifest Destiny and the Collapse of the Continental Dream, 1846-1871
Angela Hudson
Texas A&M University
The Rise and Fall of the Indian Doctress: Race, Labor, and Medicine in the 19th-century United States
Lindsay Keiter
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Uniting Interests: Love, Wealth, and the Law in American Marriage, 1750-1860
Kimberly Killion
University of California - Berkeley
From Farms to Kitchens to "the Body Laboratory": Nutritional Science and the Politics of Food in the United States
Sunmin Kim
University of California - Berkeley
A Laboratory for the American National Identity: The Re-Invention of Whiteness in the Dillingham Commission (1907-1911)
Aaron Moulton
University of Arkansas
Caribbean Blood Pact: Dictators, Exiles, and the CIA in the Caribbean Basin, 1944-1955
Heather Sanford
Brown University
Palatable Slavery
Jaclyn Schultz
University of California – Santa Cruz
Learning the Value of a Dollar: Children and Commerce in the U.S., 1830-1900
Christopher Pastore
University at Albany
American Beach: Law, Culture, and Ecology along the Ocean's Edge
Benjamin F. Stevens Fellow
Gretchen Murphy
University of Texas - Austin
Disestablishing Virtue: Federalism, Religion, and New England Women Writers
Louis Leonard Tucker Alumni Fellows
Alexandra Montgomery
University of Pennsylvania
Projecting Power in the Dawnland: Colonization Schemes, Imperial Failure and Competing Visions of the Gulf of Maine World, 1710-1800
Ittai Orr
Yale University
Intellectual Power: Print Culture and Intelligence in the United States, 1781-1908
Michael Williams
Carnegie Mellon University
Impolite Science: Print and Performance in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic
Malcolm and Mildred Freiberg Fellow
Derek O’Leary
University of California - Berkeley
Building the American Archives
Marc Friedlaender Fellow
Nina Sankovitch
Independent Scholar
The Rebels of Braintree: Exploring Collaboration, Conflict, and Conciliation Between Colonial Families Prior to the American Revolution
Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati Fellow
John McCurdy
Eastern Michigan University
Quarters: Billets, Barracks, and Place in Revolutionary America
Ruth R. & Alyson R. Miller Fellows
Kabria Baumgartner
University of New Hampshire
A Right to Learn: African American Women and Educational Activism in Early America
Caylin Carbonell
The College of William and Mary
Women and Household Authority in Colonial New England
W. B. H. Dowse Fellows
David Ciepley
University of Denver
The Tug-of-War between Trust and Corporation as Models for Colonial New England Government
George O’Brien
University of South Carolina
"What an expecting and troublesome being a New England Refugee is": The Struggles of Early New England Emigrants in Nova Scotia, 1755-1783
MHS-NEH Long-term Fellowships
Kimberly Blockett
Penn State University – Brandywine
Race, Religion, and Rebellion: Recovering the Antebellum Writing and Itinerant Ministry of Zilpha Elaw
Laurel Daen
The College of William and Mary
The Constitution of Disability in the Early United States
Adrian Weimer
Providence College
Godly Petitions: Puritanism and the Crisis of the Restoration in America
New England Regional Fellowship Consortium Fellows
Christopher Babits
University of Texas – Austin
To Cure a Sinful Nation: A Cultural History of Conversion Therapy and the Making of Modern America, 1930 to the Present Day
Renzo Baldasso
Arizona State University
The Emergence of the Visuality of the Printed Page from Gutenberg to Ratdolt: Case Studies in the Collections of the New England Consortium of Libraries
Kathrinne Duffy (MHS)
Brown University
Doctrine of the Skull: Phrenology, Public Culture, and the Self in Antebellum America
Craig Gallagher
Boston College
Covenants and Commerce: Religious Refugees and the Making of the British Atlantic World
J. Ritchie Garrison (MHS)
University of Delaware
Matter and Mind in the Early Modern Atlantic World
Karen Harker
University of Birmingham
Shakespeare's 19th-Century Soundscape: Reconstructing, Reconsidering, and Preserving Shakespearean Incidental Music written for Victorian and Edwardian Theatres
Hina Hirayama
Independent Scholar
Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925): his American Life & Times
Alexander Jacobs
Vanderbilt University
Pessimism and Progress: Left Conservatism in Modern American Political Thought
Shira Lurie (MHS)
University of Virginia
Politics at the Poles: Liberty Poles and the Popular Struggle for the New Republic
Jen Manion
Amherst College
Born in the Wrong Time: Transgender Archives and the History of Possibility, 1750-1900
Laura McCoy (MHS)
Northwestern University
In Distress: Family and a Marketplace of Feeling in the Early American Republic
Brianna Nofil
Columbia University
Gender, Community Policing, and Crime Control in the Late 20th C.
Heather Sanford
Brown University
Palatable Slavery
Nancy Siegel (MHS)
Towson University
Political Appetites: Revolution, Taste, and Culinary Activism in the Early Republic
Daniel Soucier
University of Maine
Navigating Wilderness and Borderland: Environment and Culture in the Northeastern Americas during the American Revolution, 1775-1779
Tyler Sperrazza (MHS)
Penn State University
Defiant: African American Cultural Responses to Northern White Supremacy, 1865-1915
Amy Voorhees
Independent Scholar
Christian Science Identity and New England Cultures, 1820-1920
Peter Walker
McNeil Center – University of Pennsylvania
The Church Militant: Anglicanism, Loyalism, and Counterrevolution in the British Empire, 1720-1820
Donald Yacovone (MHS)
Harvard University
The Liberator's Legacy: Memory, Abolitionism, and the Struggle for Civil Rights, 1865-1965
Colonial Society of Massachusetts Fellowship
Hannah Anderson (MHS)
University of Pennsylvania
Lived Botany: Households, Ecological Adaptation and the Origins of Settler Colonialism in Early British North America
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| Published: Tuesday, 6 June, 2017, 11:08 AM
The Significance of Strawberries
By Rakashi Chand, Reader Services
In New England, the arrival of summer is synonymous with strawberries. Strawberry plants (fields) can be found throughout the region, and the strawberry harvest in late May and early June goes hand-in-hand with the most beautiful part of the year. The lovely, fragrant evenings and the final sigh of relief as New Englanders pack their coats away for the summer inevitably lead to the sudden desire to celebrate the arrival of the long-awaited warm months of summer. So, naturally, spring fetes were often “Strawberry Festivals.” The delicious berry was a welcome addition to the kitchen after months of cooking and consuming dried fruit. Every dish on the table was augmented, filled, or garnished with the beautiful, vibrant, and sweet berry.
In the nineteenth century Strawberry Festivals or parties were very popular. The strawberry was the first crop of the summer, and the region was dotted with strawberry farms. Strawberry festivals were popular events celebrated in many New England towns. Here at the Historical Society we have a few examples of broadside advertisements for local strawberry festivals from the late nineteenth century.
Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Club (yes, they were up to the same silliness all those years ago!) produced an annual show called “Strawberry Night” in June.
But for us at the Massachusetts Historical Society, such festivals have a very special significance as our annual strawberry festival may have indeed led to the bequest of our biggest benefactor. According to Robert C. Winthrop, MHS President from 1855-1885, it was the invitation to the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Strawberry Festival that led Thomas Dowse to donate his prized library to the MHS, and to that end, Winthrop says, “the regeneration of our Society may thus be fairly dated.”
“SPECIAL MEETING, JUNE, 1886. A Social Meeting of the Society was held at the house of Mr. Charles Deane, in Cambridge, on Friday, the 18th instant, at five o'clock, P.M.
The Hon. Robert C. Winthrop then spoke as follows :
“Passing from this topic, let me say how glad I am to find myself at another social meeting of our old society at Cambridge…
…But another of these Cambridge meetings was still more memorable, and can never be forgotten in the history of our Society. I refer, as I need hardly say, to the meeting at good George Livermore's in 1856, just thirty years ago. From that meeting came the library and large endowment of our great benefactor, Thomas Dowse. Mr. Dowse was a neighbor and friend of Mr. Livermore, and had been specially invited by him to come over to our strawberry festival. Age and infirmities prevented his acceptance of the invitation; but the occasion induced him to inquire into the composition and character of our Society, and he forthwith resolved to place his precious books, the costly collections of a long life, under our guardianship, and to make them our property forever. From that meeting the regeneration of our Society may thus be fairly dated. Cambridge strawberries have ever since had a peculiar flavor for us, - not Hovey's Seedling, though that too was a Cambridge product, but what I might almost call the Livermore Seedling or the Dowse Graft, which were the immediate fruits of our social meeting at Mr. Livermore's.”*
Read more about Thomas Dowse and the Dowse Library here! (http://www.masshist.org/database/210)
Ten years ago, The Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Peter Drummey, suggested the library staff resurrect the age-old tradition; one hundred and fifty years later, a Strawberry Festival was once again held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Library Staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society holds a Strawberry Festival every year in late May or early June for the staff, friends, volunteers, researchers and patrons of the Massachusetts Historical Society. We will be hosting our 2017 Strawberry Festival on Friday, June 2nd.
*Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. 3, [Vol. 23 of continuous numbering] (1886 - 1887), pp. 53-54
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| Published: Friday, 2 June, 2017, 8:51 AM
October is American Archives Month!
By Rakashi Chand, Reader Services
The archive of the Massachusetts Historical Society is not only home to an invaluable and incredible collection of American history, but it is also staffed by amazing people. Get to know your local archivists in Reader Services! We are here to assist you with all your research needs in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
To find out more about the wonderful archivists you meet when you visit the MHS, I asked a few fun questions:
Why did you choose to become an Archivist?
What is your favorite archival tool?
And what is your favorite MHS collection(s)?
From Alex Bush,
Library Assistant in Reader Services
Why did you choose to be an archivist?
I stumbled into the field unexpectedly after my third year of American Studies at Smith—all I knew was that I wanted to surround myself with history and always have a use for all those dates and eras I’d spent so long studying. I also happened to have some experience working in libraries. I was lucky enough to get a short summer internship at the Massachusetts Historical Society, which ended up completely cementing my love for all things archival and sent me straight from Smith to Simmons College to start my career in library science/archives. Upon returning to Boston, I was also able to return as a staff member (not a lowly intern!) at Mass Historical. The moral of the story is that you should never listen to people who tell you that your undergrad major is useless, because you might end up accidentally tripping into your dream career.
Your favorite archival tool?
I love those little white cotton gloves. They make me feel super fancy.
Your favorite MHS collection?
I could spend hours reading through John Quincy Adams’ diaries—nearly 70 years of daily entries, all digitized and available on the Mass Historical website. Included is everything from line-a-day quips to long musings on American politics to marginal doodles. I find it especially impressive that he managed to include the hour he awoke every morning (usually between 3 and 6 a.m.).
From Brendan Kieran,
Library Assistant in Reader Services
Why did you choose to become an Archivist?
I first took interest in the field as an undergraduate history major looking for a career path involving history. I was initially drawn to the idea of working with historical materials. However, a desire to help preserve and make accessible marginalized histories plays in important role in keeping me motivated and excited about this type of work.
Your favorite archival tool?
I really enjoy looking through our collection guides when working on reference questions here at the MHS. Each guide is different, and I like coming across various names and subjects – some expected, some unexpected – while searching them.
Your favorite MHS collection?
The Walter Channing Papers, 1810-1921, which I highlighted in a recent post on The Beehive, is one collection that really interests me. It was exciting to explore the ways in which MHS collections are relevant to the study of anarchism in the United States.
From Grace Wagner,
Library Assistant in Reader Services
Why you choose to be an Archivist?
I majored in history in undergrad and I’ve always been interested in material culture, particularly fashion and textiles. Archives unite both interests.
Your favorite archival tool?
Searchable finding aids are incredibly useful in that they provide information about an entire collection rather than a basic overview.
And your favorite MHS collection(s)?
I am constantly surprised by the diverse materials housed in our small broadsides collection and, in particular, enjoy looking through the Theater broadsides.
From Rakashi Chand,
Senior Library Assistant in Reader Services
Why you choose to be an Archivist?
I have always loved history, even as a child. I looked for ways to immerse myself in that which I loved, and the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society is a history-lovers dream come true! Not only am I surrounded by history, as a member of the Readers Services Staff, I am a guardian of history! We ensure that the manuscripts are safe every step of the way; from the moment they leave the stacks, while in transport, then consulted in our Reading Room, until they are safely returned to the stack shelves. It’s like being on the frontlines of historical research and protection!
Your favorite archival tool?
My favorite tool is Abigail, our online catalog. We depend heavily on our catalog and consult it continually throughout the day. Our catalog is fully searchable from home and readily accessible through our website at www.masshist.org. In Reference Services, Abigail is certainly my best friend.
A close second are Hollinger Archival boxes; seeing rows of neatly organized Hollinger boxes full of documents is simply thrilling!
And your favorite MHS collection(s)?
There are too many collections to name! The fact that we have the equivalent of three presidential libraries always astounds me! The Papers of President John Adams, President John Quincy Adams and the second largest collection of President Thomas Jefferson Papers outside of Monticello! But that’s not all, we have more Presidential Papers! I also love so many of the intimate pieces of history housed in our collection, such as the dying letter of Wilder Dwight, in my opinion one of the most touching and poignant items in our collection. We also house 53 pieces of mourning jewelry in our artifact collection.
From Shelby Wolfe,
Library Assistant in Reader Services
Why you choose to be an Archivist?
Helping others access archival material is a great way to learn unexpected things while I work.
Your favorite archival tool?
Since ABIGAIL has led me to countless reference question answers, research interests, and blog post topics, I would have to say our online catalog is my favorite tool.
And your favorite MHS collection(s)?
I’m a big fan of the numerous travel diaries in our collections – anytime I need to take a mini vacation, they’re always there for me!
Please feel free to ask us more about our field, our library and our collections!
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| Published: Wednesday, 5 October, 2016, 12:00 AM
Implementing Technology in Current Jefferson Exhibition was a TAG Team Effort
By Nancy Heywood, Collections Services
Last fall, as the Massachusetts Historical Society planned its current exhibition, The Private Jefferson, an interdepartmental team of staff members successfully pursued a wonderful opportunity to incorporate technology into the galleries. Thanks to the efforts of Gavin Kleespies, Director of Programs at MHS, and Ryan Gaspar, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft, MHS staff members were able to showcase MHS digital content in an interactive content management system for exhibitions, Touch Art Gallery (TAG). Numerous high resolution digital images, short videos, and interactive features are available on a variety of touchscreen devices within the Jefferson exhibition.
TAG was developed by a team of programmers (mostly undergraduate computer science students) at Brown University led by Professor Andries van Dam, the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Professor of Technology and Education. Carolyn Gress, Marketing Project Manager, Microsoft, coordinated a meeting in October between some staff from the MHS and Professor van Dam and some of his students. During the visit to Providence, Rhode Island, MHS staff saw and interacted with the digital museum experience they created using TAG for the Nobel Foundation.
Notable features of the TAG system include: the display and delivery of high resolution images of exhibition items and their associated metadata in various sets ("collections"); management of related material including audio and video clips; and interactive segments on topics ("tours"). Gallery visitors can browse the items, "grab" and zoom in to closely examine the high resolution digital images, select, start (and interrupt) the interactive tours to closely examine the featured images.
Due to several previous grant-funded digitization projects, MHS has many existing high resolution digital images of documents within the Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts. These digital assets and the existing metadata were good starting points for the implementation of TAG within the Jefferson exhibition, but it took intensive work and effort by many staff members to ready the digital features by the opening date of the Jefferson exhibition.
The digital team (Laura Wulf, Peter Steinberg and I) had to work efficiently to assemble over a hundred images and descriptions. Bill Beck, MHS's web developer, worked with Trent Green (the Brown University student who our main contact for TAG server and software issues) on the batch ingest and overall configuration of the system. Several staff members (Gavin, Sara Sikes, Sara Georgini, Peter Drummey and I) focused on the content for six interactive features and developed outlines and scripts to tell specific stories about the Jefferson materials. The production of those interactive tours was truly a team effort with Gavin and Bill taking the lead on many sequencing and editing tasks; the digital team assembling more images; Sara, Sara and Peter providing narration for some tours; and Jim Connolly and Hobson Woodward recording additional audio clips. Three staff members, Chris Coveney, Carol Knauff and Laura Lowell, provided excellent feedback regarding the multimedia overviews (the "tours").
The digital content and the touch screens of various sizes--ranging from one large (65") screen to two Dell All-in-Ones and one Microsoft Surface tablets--had to be physically incorporated into the exhibition. Gavin worked with exhibition designer Will Twombly and MHS's Chris Coveney to ensure that the screens were accessible and functional in the gallery spaces.
The result of so many people's efforts with the planning meetings, the configurations, the production tasks and deployment steps is an exhibition celebrating MHS's 225th anniversary with significant historical manuscripts (the core of the collections) as well as value-added digital content on current touch-screen devices. We strived to make the digital content as informative and user-friendly as possible.
Please visit the Jefferson exhibition to examine both the original manuscripts on display as well as the digital components on the touch screen devices in the galleries. Professor van Dam and some of his students will be giving a gallery talk about the development of the Touch Art Gallery system on Friday, May 13, at 2PM.
Image: Screenshot of a tweet Liz Loveland sent during the Jefferson exhibition opening with an image of a manuscript page from the Farm Book delivered on a touch screen device.
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| Published: Wednesday, 11 May, 2016, 8:00 AM
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