MHS Now Home to the Burr and Burton Archive Collection
The Manchester Historical Society is very pleased to announce that the Burr and Burton archive collection is now on loan to MHS and will be housed in the Lowerre Room of the Manchester Community Library, under the care of MHS Curator Shawn Harrington.
“There is no other institution with a richer history in Manchester than Burr and Burton,” said Harrington. “From its establishment in 1829 through today, evidence of its history has survived for the entire 194 years.” Priceless items include Joseph Burr’s daybook dating to the late 1700s, which records how he made the fortune he would amass and bequeath in part for the establishment of an educational institution in Manchester (Burr Seminary), to the plans for the most recent building, Founder’s Hall.
Over the past decade, the archive collection has grown, and with the daily challenge of overseeing an active and growing student body (and the campus that serves those students), keeping the archives safe, secure, current, cataloged, and accessible can be a challenge. In discussions with Headmaster Mark Tashjian, Associate Head of School Meg Kenny, Board Chair Ed Campbell, Librarian Margi Putney, and Director of Development Kate Leach, Manchester Historical Society Curator Shawn Harrington proposed a collaboration with the school under which MHS would act as steward for the collection in its own archive room in the lower level of the Manchester Community Library.
“As we approach the two-hundredth anniversary of Burr and Burton’s founding, I think Burr and Burton’s history, and the fascinating stories of all those who have contributed to and benefitted from our wonderful school will come into increasing focus,” said Board of Trustees Chair Ed Campbell. “This partnership couldn’t have come at a better time, and I am very grateful and excited about Shawn’s and MHS’s willingness to provide their facilities and expertise to both preserve the collection and make it available to all.”
There have been many individuals over the years who worked to ensure that the school’s history would be preserved. Mary Campbell Munson, the great-niece of Josiah Burton (the Burton of Burr and Burton) and wife of Judge Loveland Munson (who was intimately connected from his time as a student to his decades as a trustee), collected and saved an enormous cache of ephemera dating to the first 100 years of the school. She was also among those who founded the Alumni Association in 1874. Burr and Burton’s librarian Maggie Ellis (who was later a trustee of the school) carried on the work in the 1970s, safeguarding early documents and artifacts and overseeing the safekeeping of items returned to the school from alumni. From 1995-2012, MHS President Frederica Templeton, while director of communications at BBA, processed and catalogued the collection, which was continued most recently by BBA librarian Margi Putney.
MHS is very grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with Burr and Burton to safeguard the school’s archives. If you are interested in visiting, please email Shawn Harrington at info@manchesterhistoricalsocietyVT.org to set up an appointment.