Kaitlyn M. Fitzgerald

During the summer of 2021, I worked at the archives and library research center of Old York Historical Society in York, Maine. Old York Historical collects objects, artifacts, archival and ephemeral materials that were made, used, or are otherwise related to the history of York County, such as furniture, antiques, manuscripts, maps, books, and photographs. The research center contains 7,000 printed books and pamphlets (including 600 rare books from the 17th and 18th centuries), over 5,000 manuscripts, and 10,000 photographs.

Due to the town’s long history, Old York attracts researchers from all over New England and the United States. Researchers come to find out more about their family history and ties to Maine, as well as research the many old and historic houses the town has to offer. The photographic collection includes many snapshots depicting the changes to the town beginning in the late nineteenth century and into the twenty-first century.

Under the guidance of Old York’s archivist and collections manager, I completed a full cataloging and re-housing project on a collection of 30 unprocessed photo albums ranging in dates from the 1860s to the 1930s. Albums included carte de visite and tintype portrait albums and art photography albums from the late nineteenth century, as well as many family snapshot albums and several scrapbooks from the early twentieth century. 

I created a detailed finding aid to help aid in research and promote use and interest within this collection. In particular, this collection also has a large amount of documentation of buildings, particularly hotels, that were large staples within the town in the early 20th-century that have since burned down which is an interest to many researchers. 

The albums had previously been stacked on top of each other within two small boxes, risking further damage each time they were removed from the box to be viewed. The new re-housing allowed for a single layer of albums within each new archival box, separated by spacers and wrapped properly to ensure any preservation issues could be maintained and more easily monitored by staff.  Albums were also sorted by theme as there was not really any original order to be kept. Albums were also accompanied by a small section of the finding aid for easy reference.

A personal highlight from this collection was the relatively unknown family album of William C. Williams, who was the head lighthouse keeper of Boon Island Lighthouse from 1888 until 1911. This album documented his family and friends living on an inhospitable rock located six miles (or roughly 9.6 km) off the coast of southern Maine. This album uniquely highlights the private life of a New England lighthouse keeper of the late 19th century, including activities such as gardening, racing toy boats, and drying codfish. This lighthouse, originally built in 1811, went fully automated in 1980 due to a 1978 blizzard that washed away the entire island dwellings and even destroyed part of the stone tower. It’s a very prominent part of the town’s history