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Reimagining Early America in Full Color

Reimagining Early America in Full Color

Was the 19th century really as dull and drab as the era’s prints and photos might suggest? Far from it! While we might picture early America in black and white, that’s because photographs obscure garish fabric colors, busy wallpaper patterns, and rainbow-hued books. To help you see beyond the gray and sepia tones of the era, Outreach Assistant Sam Huck sat down with Jayne Ptolemy, our Associate Curator of Manuscripts and the main curator of the exhibit, More than Gray: Reimagining Early America in Full Color, for a Q&A.

[Transcriptions]: Trading Pumpkins for Medical Care in 1850s New Hampshire

[Transcriptions]: Trading Pumpkins for Medical Care in 1850s New Hampshire

One of the many professions represented in the wealth of account books at the Clements Library is that of the country doctor. Here, for example, is a page from the ledger of Dr. Josiah Morse of Stewartstown, New Hampshire, whose patient network extended well beyond the boundaries of his hometown. The following transcribed excerpt shows interactions between John Lamphier of Canaan, Vermont, and Dr. Morse.

[Transcriptions]: Grimké and Weld Women Vote in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, March 7, 1870

[Transcriptions]: Grimké and Weld Women Vote in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, March 7, 1870

Sarah Grimké Weld was 25 years old when she wrote the following letter to William Hamilton. She, along with her mother Angelina Weld and aunt Sarah M. Grimké marched with around 50 other women to vote in local elections at Hyde Park on March 7, 1870. In this letter to her friend and future husband, she explained the significance and purpose of the vote, commented on her dentist’s affection for her (which she rejected), and updated him on her work at the Woman’s Journal.