Please notice that this piece was originally published on 13 December 2011. All of the links have just been updated as of 11 December 2013.
Digital Newton first went online on October 1st of this year. Materials you could only see if you came to the Newton Free Library, you can now look at from any Internet connected computer anywhere in the world. Materials you can view include city directories (1868- 1934), Assessed Polls (voting lists from 1884 to 1942), , early photographs and albums including the Newell Family Album, trade cards, information and photos of the Jersey Stock Club and the Hunnewell Club, High School Yearbooks from 1885, 1890, 1895, and 1900, as well as early books and historic maps. Click Digital Newton to discover all the treasures. You might even find an ancestor. And please feel free to leave a response to the material included here. There is a link for your comment in each section
Digital Newton is in a format known as a LibGuide. To go from section to section, click one of the tabs of interest near the top of the page. Some, such as the “Images of Historic Newton” tab, will have drop down menus to get you into a number of albums and collections. I chose just one above, the Newell Family Album. Don’t miss the others. They are well worth the time. You can get lost in another time looking at these photos and books.
This is an ongoing project. Please note that the photos themselves are not, for the most part, links to anything else. There is one exception. [Note that the following is no longer the case. More photos of the Villages have been added. Click on this link Villages of Newton Photographs as of 11 December 2013.] On the first page you will see a link to Newton Corner/Nonantum. When you click on any one of the photos in this set, you will get additional information about the photo you are viewing. Consider this a preview of coming attractions.
During the month of December, the Newton Free Library is also hosting an exhibit with objects based on, but not limited to, Digital Newton. If you are in the area, drop by and take a look. Featured are an overview of the project with reproductions of maps and trade cards, as well as “Mayor Warren Then (1907) and Mayor Warren Now (2011)” and various three dimensional objects that will take you to another era. Check out the doll and the child’s drinking cup. Below the photos of the two Mayor Warren’s are samples of items you might typically find in each man’s pocket. A great deal of imagination and historical knowledge went into this display. The picture above depicts only one small section of it.
You will find this material in the three first floor display cases. Just park in our lot and walk in the side entrance over the bridge. You will find the cases on your right. Click Newton Free Library for hours and directions.
Digital Newton is funded in part by the citizens of Newton through the Community Preservation Act, a Federal LSTA Grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (via the Institute of Museum and Library Services) and the Library’s municipal appropriation.
vea/13 December 2011
Newton Free Library
Newton, Mass
Library website: http://www.newtonfreelibrary.net
Genealogy blog: https://thecuriousgenealogist.wordpress.com
Newspapers can provide a significant amount of genealogical information. You can find so much more than birth announcements, marriage announcements and obituaries. See what can be found in newspapers at Newspapers and Genealogy .
Regards, Jim
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