Archaeology (Well, sort of)

by Laura Stagliola, Tom Desilets Memorial Intern

The Dennison project is moving along, slowly but surely! At this stage in archiving, volunteers and I are removing all forms of documents from eighteen boxes of scrapbooks. The staff at the Dennison Manufacturing Company took the time to glue or tape every holiday newsletter, newspaper clipping, and advertisement into expertly labeled scrapbooks to preserve its company’s historic impact. The graphics on these ads and newsletters, not to mention their product samples, is truly astounding! I took a few photos of some of the coolest graphics I have found so far, and I am so impressed with the artistic skill.

           I am not alone in my excitement over these Dennison documents. Jen Belloli, an FHC volunteer and junior at Framingham State University, described working with the collection as an archaeological dig. She has always wanted to be an archaeologist, and going through these scrapbooks with a cleaning pad was like unearthing a new treasure and preserving it for the world to see.  Jen’s grandmother, Eileen Belloli, is also a volunteer for the FHC and she is always jazzed about every new piece of material she finds because her father worked for Dennison. Eileen still uses some of the Christmas stickers her father brought home from work more than 50 years ago! Talk about a durable product!

In other Dennison related news:

On Tuesday, June 25, Dana Ricciardi, Annie Murphy, Susan Silva, Pat Lavin and I met with Nick Petri, great step-son of Jimmy Dennison, and Terri Johnson, Vice President of Real Estate for Avery-Dennison, at the Dennison Manufacturing Company. We met to discuss the final locations of the Dennison collection, and then to check out the Avery-Dennison office and the famous stained glass “D” window.

This week, the FHC gained two new volunteers! Zach, an intern  from Framingham High School, started working with the Dennison collection through the catalogs. He is connecting product samples and label boxes with catalogs from the corresponding year. It’s tough work going through all the catalog boxes, but he is already making good headway. Another volunteer, Norma, was encouraged to invest some time here by her friend Marcia who is also a member.  Norma, too, is working on the Dennison collection and began recording the contents of scrapbooks.

Aside from the Dennison work, I am assisting Annie as she prepares for the Civil War Teacher Training Workshop happening July 9th –11th. FHC will be hosting a group of teachers from the surrounding area in this 3-day event, and they will be focusing on Framingham’s connection to the Civil War, for example anti-slavery events like Harmony Grove. We will have a series of guest speakers, both in person and through Skype, giving lectures on their topic of expertise, and the volunteers and staff at FHC will share their knowledge as well. It’s going to be a really exciting week (not just for history buffs, like me!)

Stay tuned!