The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-27
THEANTIQUARIANS
Semi-annual Meeting
Held In Boston
Yesterday.
HISTORY OF SOCIETY
Librarian Barton Gives the
Statistics for the Past
Six Months.

The semi-annual meeting os the
American Antiquarian Society in Bos-
ton yesterday was held 1n the Athen-
cum building.
Charles A. Chase gave an &C
count. Of the various Boston meeting
places of the society and read interest
ing extracts from the diary of Christie
pher c. Baldwin, librarian of the So
ciety from 1881 to 1885, who described
his visits to Boston to attend the meet
ings. The trip was made by stage
coach, which was nearly half day on
the road.
The American Antiquarian Society
was chartered in the fall of 1912 and
the first meeting was called by Isaiah
Thomas to assemble at the Exchange
Coffee house in Boston, then the largest
public house in the United States. Mr..
Chase described the building, which
was then considered an imposing struc-
ture for it was seven stories high, and
had several halls, including one seating
$50 people, which was used for meet
ings of business men. At first the So
ciety decided to hold three meetings
a year, two Of them IN Boston and one
in Worcester. This plan was afterward
changed and only two meetings We're
held, the annual at Worcester in Octo-
Der and the semi annual in Boston in
the spring. For six years the Boston
meetings were held in the Exchange
Coffee house, which was then destroyed
by fire. While it was rebuilding, the
society met for one year in the concert
hall on Court street, one year at the
Marlboro. After the Exchange was re-
bl1fft fhn cOoiatU raS1Ynpd sessions
there for 10 years. When the fremont
House was first opened, the Antiquar-
ians went there, and used these quar-
tiers for II years, from 1886 to 1S47, in
elusive. In 1848 the invitation of the
Academy was accepted, the meetings
being held in its rooms at IL fremont
row for three years. 1t was in 1881
that the third meeting was discontin-
ued and in 1851 the spring session was
changed from the last of May TO the
last Wednesday in April.
The report of the Antiquarian Socie-
ty council, which was submitted by
William b. Weeden of Providence, at
the meeting held in the Worcester
home Of the president, Stephen Sails
bury, Tuesday evening, was read by the
writer. 1t was a philosophic essay .apon
1.-THE development of the America peo-
ple," discussing the question of ration
al growth and identity.
Prof. Edwin A. Grosvenor of Amherst
College delivered an address on Amer
lean diplomacy"
The librarian, Edmund NJ. Barton,
called attention to certain entries made
by the society's founder, in the first
volume of Donors and Donations" He
then said: 1.-THE Introduction of electric
light, suggested in the last reports of
the treasurer and of the librarian, be-
70 a.
the opening of the new year, at the
charge of the Salisbury building fund.
''The removal of the dwelling house
on the west-now owned by the county
of Worcester-wfll add light in the west
end of our building, and will relieve us
from what has long been a real source
of danger from fire"
Then followed the library statistics
for the six months last past:
Number of givers 1923, namely, "a
members, las persons not members. and
144 societies and institutions. From
these sources were received SIT books,
4119 pamphlets, two bound and Ill I'M
bound volumes of newspapers, Is photo
graphs, three proclamations, two book
plates, one medal and one coin; by ex-
change, 81 books and 124 pamphlets,
and from the bindery six volumes of
magazines and 46 volumes of newspa-
pers, making a total of 577 books, 4243
pamphlets, 4S bound and Ill unbound
volumes of newspapers, etc.
In closing Mr.. Barton said: This is
probably the last meeting of the society
in the building of the Boston Athe-
naeum. Some notice of the different
places in which the Boston meetings
have been held and an expression of
gratitude to the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, our hosts for many
L. ~
whom the council have designated for
that purpose"