Enjoying New Hampshire Treasures Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society
Dec 23, 2015
EnjoyingNew Hampshire Treasures
Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society
Think about the variety of objects
that people collect or save.
What do people collect?
coinscoins
dollsdollsstampsstamps
booksbooks
rocksrocks
butterfliesbutterflies
antiquecars
antiquecars
Hummelfigures
Hummelfigures
bottle capsbottle caps
BeanieBabiesBeanieBabies
matchbooksmatchbooks
vinylrecords
vinylrecords
seashellssea
shells
knickknacksknickknacks
comicbookscomicbooks
baseballcards
baseballcards
vacationsouvenirsvacation
souvenirs
scrapbooksscrapbooks
licenseplateslicenseplates
What do people collect?Entire books are devoted to catalogs, histories, and descriptions of objects people enjoy collecting —
cookie jars glassware clocks quilts and many,
many,many other things!
What do people collect?
The New Hampshire Historical Society collects…
objects printed volumes and newspapers photographs and prints manuscripts and maps and other memorabilia
— all in order to document, preserve, and interpret New Hampshire’s history.
we
Preserving History
The Society’s holdings
offer the most complete
picture of the cultural, social, and economic history of
New Hampshire from colonial times to the present day.
Preserving History
This object is among the first collected by the Historical Society
— in 1825.
The axe is of the sort that Englishmen traded with Native Americans. It was unearthed in Ossipee and dates to 1665 or earlier.
Preserving History
Made by Concord’sWilliam B. DurginCompany, this silverservice is of a morerecent vintage.
It was presented to theU.S. Navy by the Stateof New Hampshirein 1908 to celebrate the commissioning of theU.S.S. New Hampshire.
Preserving History
Limited space, as well as the desire to present artifacts meaningfully, permits the display of only a few of the museum’s 28,000 historical objects at one time…
…as in the Treasures of New Hampshire exhibition shown here.
Preserving History
The museum’s Treasures of New Hampshire exhibition is not the only one by that name.
In 2003, an exhibition at the Society’s library also was called Treasures of New Hampshire.
Preserving History
This earlier exhibition focused on collections at the library, including a number of historic documents…
— some with famous signatures.
Preserving History
Even though only two exhibitions have been labeled Treasures of New Hampshire…
all the holdings of the Historical Society may be considered treasures —
like the original State House eagle on display at the library.
Preserving History
Some items are treasurednot just because they are oldor finely made…
but because they belonged to persons important in the history of New Hampshire.
Preserving HistoryEven New Hampshire’s great Daniel Webster was once a baby…And this is the high chairhe sat in.
Preserving History
This vest belonged to a New Hampshire Revolutionary War hero, John Sullivan.
Preserving History
Important information about history does not come solely from the belongings of famous citizens.
Often, it is ordinary people who help us understand the history of New Hampshire.
Take Philias Napoleon Dubuc, for example…
Preserving History
Society Collections include This photograph of Mr.
Dubuc One of his uniforms from
World War I And tools and books he
used while working at textile mills in Pittsfield, Suncook, and Manchester.
Preserving History
The photograph is justone of over 200,000 photographs stored at the Society’s library.
Preserving History
Photographs, like artifacts, can be treasures of information…about peopletheir pastimestheir professions… and more.
Interpreting History
The Society collects objects made and used by ordinary people to help us understand New Hampshire’s past.
This high chest of drawers created by Bedford farmer John Dunlap in 1782 for his neighbor, Jane Walker, is one of the museum’s prized possessions.
Interpreting History
The Society’s curators suggest that visitors pose questions around several concepts to help them understand objects they look at:
Understanding Form and StyleWhat materials, colors, textures, lines, ornamentation, size, form, and proportion do you see?How did such choices relate to society and culture?
Interpreting History
Making and Marketing ObjectsWho made the object — an artisan, a factory worker or a machine?How did the object reach the consumer?
Owning ObjectsWho owned the object and why? What was the economic and social status of its owner?How rare or common was the object when it was made?
Interpreting HistorySuch questions will help us whether we are looking at an object as large and imposing as John Dunlap’s chest of drawers…
or as small and personal as this belt made byRachel Meloon,a young girlfrom Salisbury whowas taken captiveby Abenakis in 1754,when she wasnine years old.
Interpreting History
Those same questions can help us appreciate artifacts that are…
or homemade.
commercially made
Interpreting History
And they help us appreciate very old artifacts
like this Native American stone bowl that dates back more than 2,500 years…
Interpreting History
…or much morerecent ones
like this Abenaki birchbark basket crafted around 1970.
Documenting History
All the treasures of the Historical Society share a common feature…
They have been carefully documented.
Documenting History
Each item that comes into the possession of the Society is assigned an accession number after it has been checked for its provenance…
to be sure it is an authentic artifact to be sure it is of sufficient historical value to warrant
being added to the collection to be sure that past changes of ownership were legal and to enrich the story behind the object so that we better
understand its place in New Hampshire history.
Documenting History
When an object is placed on exhibition, it is accompanied by a label that attests to its documentation.
EagleLeonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the object’s creator
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the object’s creator
where the object was made
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the creator’s name
where the object was made
the date the object was made
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the creator’s name
where the object was made
the date the object was made
the materials
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the creator’s name
where the object was made
the date the object was made
the materials
the source (how the object came into the museum’s possession)
Documenting History
An exhibition label supplies the following information: Eagle
Leonard MorseBostonc. 1818Gilded woodGift of State of N.H.1957.54
identification of the object
the creator’s name
where the object was made
the date the object was made
the materials
the source (how the object came into the museum’s possession)
the object’s accession number
Documenting History
An accession number is the Society’s record for an object.It will appear on the label if the object is exhibited.
1947.7.15
1974.35
Documenting History
The first part of the accession number identifies the year the object came into the Society’s possession.
1947.7.15
1974.35
Documenting History
The second part of the accession number traces the consecutive number of acquisitions each year, and identifies which acquisition this is.
1947.7.15
1974.35
Documenting History
If more than one object is acquired in the same transaction, then a third part of the accession number identifies the individual object.
1947.7.15
1974.35
Documenting History
Sometimes, a label will take us more deeply into an object’s provenance, giving us a glimpse of the story behind the artifact.
Hooked RugElsie Tucker Hardy (1831–1920)Manchester, N.H.1876Wool, burlap and cottonGift of Florence Hardy1974.35
Elsie Tucker Hardy (1831–1920) made this colorful hooked rug commemoratingthe centennial of the founding of the UnitedStates in 1876. According to hergranddaughter, the donor, it was made fromscraps of wool gathered at the Amoskeagtextile mills, where she worked.
Enjoying New Hampshire Treasures
We hope that this behind-the-scenes peek at the New Hampshire Historical Society helps you appreciate how we
preserve document and interpret New Hampshire history
…and we hope that you will visit us soon!
© 2008 Christopher MacLeod for the New Hampshire Historical Society