The Archival Field Fellowship is a pilot program from the Roving Archivist Program debuted in October 2019. This new offering increases hands-on assistance to Massachusetts repositories and provides emerging archivists with professional experience and mentorship. In 2019-2020, six institutions representing a diverse cross-section of archival repositories are hosting field fellows. As the fellowships are completed, field fellows share reflections and insights about their site experience on the MA SHRAB blog. This program is funded through support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. This is the forth post in a six part series.
Author: Sarah Morin
As a relatively young country, America doesn’t have a lot of age-old architecture. But we do have the Peak House in Medfield, Massachusetts.
The Peak House is a charming and distinctive dwelling that was constructed sometime from 1677 to 1680, as a replacement for a family homestead that was destroyed during King Philip’s War. So named because of its exceptionally steep pitched roof, the Peak House is significant for being one of the earliest surviving examples of post-medieval English architecture, as well as being the only free-standing structure of its kind in the United States. Peak House remained under private ownership until 1924, when Frederick Mason Smith deeded the house to the Medfield Historical Society, whereupon it was restored and turned into a museum. In 2019, the Society transferred management of the property, as well as several records relating to the ownership and activities of the building, to the newly formed Peak House Heritage Center.
And that’s where I came in as an archival field fellow, to assist this new organization in inventorying, arranging, and rehousing the influx of institutional records.
Because the Peak House does not have climate control of any kind, the materials were moved to the Medfield Public Library, so I could process them in comfort and even luxury—the library was a beautiful place to work.
Since the Peak House Institutional Records Collection is three linear feet and housed in a two-drawer fire-resistant filing cabinet (to be stored at the Medfield Historical Society after completion of the project), I was really able to delve into the collection and do a high level of detailed processing—something that time and resources don’t always allow for. And speaking of resources, the archival supplies were ordered and waiting when I arrived, which freed me to focus entirely on the arrangement and rehousing.
Previously, I had interned or volunteered mainly for large public institutions where archival arrangement schemes were already complex and well-developed, so I was used to following established—and at times idiosyncratic—organizational methodologies. Because the Peak House Heritage Center is newly established, I had the invaluable opportunity to learn more about the nuts and bolts of developing a sound archival arrangement entirely from scratch, as well as to enhance my study of the theoretical underpinnings of what makes an arrangement work well. In addition to my mentor’s helpful guidance in this area, I found a great deal of good advice in Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts by Dennis Meissner, published by the Society of American Archivists in 2019.
Although I had to consider how best to incorporate digital materials like emails into the intellectual arrangement, this collection primarily consisted of physical materials, including clippings, booklets, reports, notes, transcripts, maps, postcards, prints, and sketches. But the crown jewel of the collection was, overwhelmingly, the numerous photographs of Peak House. Since the advent of photography, several pictures have been taken of this building. Here are a few of my personal favorites:
I would like to thank Sarah-Jane Poindexter for being an awesome and incredible mentor, as well as Rob Gregg for being a tremendously kind, generous, invested, and supportive partner in realizing the completion of this project. I also extend my deep and heartfelt gratitude to Rick Hooker, Rob Babson, Jack Warner, Pamela Gardner, Gloria Polizzotti, and to everyone else who made this fellowship possible. It was an honor and a privilege to help preserve the history of this unique and historic building. Peak House has existed for over 300 years—long may it continue to endure for future generations!
