of Last fall Historic New England celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Prize for Collecting Works on Paper. The prize recognizes collectors and dealers whose passion, dedication, and commitment to preserving and making accessible a record of human thought and activity has resulted in the creation of extraordinary collections. During the past ten years, Historic New England has honored twenty-one individuals for assembling and sharing paper-based collections that inform and enlighten us about the world around us. The collections range from World War II-related items to images of the American roadside diner, from minor American verse to the industries of the Shakers, from the history of pets in the United States to the Cape Cod Canal, among other topics. Our tenth anniversary observance of the award acknowledged the importance and uniqueness of community collecting. “Community collectors tightly focus on a particular topic, often with personal knowledge of significant people, places, and events in local history,” said Carl R. Nold, president and CEO. “They deal with stories and materials that may be overlooked by institutional collecting. Their collections bring personal and local character to history, which may not be available from any other sources.” The three collectors honored have enthusiastically gathered and shared material that greatly expands knowledge about their communities: Sam Allen of Dover, New Hampshire; Lance Llewellyn of Burlington, Vermont; and Earl Taylor of the Dorchester section of Boston. We asked each award winner to write about his collection. — Lorna Condon Senior Curator of Library and Achives below Earl Taylor of Boston and Sam Allen of Dover, New Hampshire (both seated), two of the three recipients of the Prize for Collecting Works on Paper, with President and CEO Carl R. Nold (left) and David A. Martland, chair of the board of trustees. page 5 Promotional materials for the Dublin, New Hampshire, bicentennial commemoration and a circus in Newport, New Hampshire, are among the 4,000 items in the Granite State Collection.
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Historic New England Winter 2020
