DIGITIZATION UPDATE Research Library
The Research Library team is hard at work digitizing and transcribing the NHA’s collections. Since December, they have digitized 16,000 pages of more than 2,000 items, all of which are now available to researchers online through the NHA’s collections catalog (nantuckethistory.org). Digitization and transcription of the NHA’s collections is made possible thanks to a visionary gift from Connie and Tom Cigarran.
With 1,500 items documenting more than 250 vessels, the Ships’ Papers Collection (MS15) includes crew lists, correspondence, receipts, and more. All documenting the maritime history of Nantucket, the materials found in this collection provide an important supplement to the logbook collection, also available online, and are a window into how the whaling economy operated and who participated in it. This 1829 shipping paper for the ship Enterprise lists noted African American Nantucketer Captain Absalom Boston as the witness for multiple crew members. MS15 Folder 54 Item 4.
Grace Brown Gardner was a beloved island historian who spent thousands of hours compiling more than seventy scrapbooks on Nantucket history. Consisting mostly of newspaper clippings, Gardner’s scrapbooks are arranged topically and were considered a must-consult resource for Nantucket researchers for more than fifty years. They are now available online and keyword searchable as part of the Grace Brown Gardner Papers (MS57). Scrapbook 1 contains clippings related to Nantucket Churches. Gift of Grace Brown Gardner. MS57 Scrapbook 1.
14 Historic Nantucket | Spring 2022
