Burns Library

title page reading "Newes from the New Exchange, or, the Commonwealth of Ladies,"

The Commonwealth of Ladies denounces women who drink, gamble, and generally do as they please, but it also reveals the surprisingly feminine social fabric of 1600s England. Read our blog post for more!

https://bit.ly/commonwealthofladies

@universalhub.com @hubhistory.com

Title page reading: The trial of the British soldiers, of the 29th Regiment of Foot : for the murder of Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr, on Monday evening, March 5, 1770, before the Honorable Benjamin Lynde, John Cushing, Peter Oliver, and Edmund Trowbridge, esquires, justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and general gaol delivery, held at Boston, by adjournment, November 27, 1770.

printed page with heading "Trial of the British soldiers"

Printed page with transcript of testimony of Ebenezer Bridgham

Otd in 1770, British soldiers in Boston fired on a crowd, killing 5 civilians. Surprisingly, when the soldiers went on trial, future US President John Adams defended them

We recently digitized a trial transcript, Read it for yourself here: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/103271253

Visiting post-doc Zoë Van Cauwengerg aided students from Prof. Jim Smith's class in a visit to the Burns Library, where they examined early 19th-century Irish books (by Edgeworth, Owenson, Young, Brooke, etc.) as part of a class discussion on Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent.

@burnslibrary.bsky.social

Image of a Black Virgin Mary holding Jesus with text "Born of the Virgin Mary, nacio de Virgen Maria"

Burns Library holds a copy of his illustrated Apostles Creed, created in the 1950s, and signed by Crite. Take a look at some of his illustrations and visit us to see the entire work.

Crite, Allan Rohan. The Apostles’ creed = Credo de los apóstoles. S.n., 1954.

Image of of a Black Jesus with text "and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord, y en JesuCristo, su unico hijo, nuestro Senor"

By the 1930s, he had shown pieces at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Much of Crite’s art depicts the everyday lives of Black Bostonians living in the South End and Roxbury, but he also created religious and devotional art.

Cover of The Apostles Creed, illusrated by Allan Rohan Crite

We're wrapping up #BlackHistoryMonth with art by Bostonian Allan Rohan Crite. Crite lived in the South End and graduated from English High and the School of the MFA. He worked as a draughtsman and artist for the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Boston Naval Shipyard, while also creating his own art.

title page reading "Boston, One Hundred Years a City, a collection of Rare Prints and Old Photographs showing the changes which have occurred in Boston during the one Hundred Years of its existence as A City

Photograph of Scollay Square showing pedestrians, street cards, and the Suffolk Savings Bank

Photograph of the Old Bromfield House on Bromfield Street in 1858 showing the Bromfield Methodist Church and pedestrians

On this day in 1822, Boston incorporated as a city. A century later, State St Trust Co published this commemorative booklet documenting the changes in the city's landscape and built environment over its first 100 years. @universalhub.com @hubhistory.com bc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

Antique car parked in outdoors with evergreen trees in background

Antique car parked in outdoors with evergreen trees in background

Antique car parked in outdoors with evergreen trees in background

Antique car parked in outdoors with evergreen trees in background

We just processed a family photo collection that is full of images of pre-1930 cars! The Lyons family collected cars, donating two of them to the Smithsonian. Their photo collection contains nineteen images of cars owned by the family. Visit us to see more. findingaids.bc.edu/repositories...

Megan Keller on ice with a hockey stick wearing a Boston College Eagles uniform

🥇 Megan Keller BC ‘19 scored the game-winning OT goal to help lift Team USA over Canada. Here she is on the ice during her senior year playing for @bostoncollege.bsky.social

close up of 3 horses staring at the camera

Giddy up, its the year of the horse.

Fair Day at Castlewellan, farmers "hit hands" to complete a horse sale, County Down, 1980s, Bobbie Hanvey photographic archives, MS-2001-039. findingaids.bc.edu/repositories... Accessed February 13, 2026.

yes way

That's correct! We hold a copy of
Viocáire Wakefield as well! bc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

Cover of Irish translation of Wuthering Heights with title "Arda Wuthering"

Did you know that you can read Wuthering Heights in Irish? Visit us to check out our 1933 edition, translated by Seán Ó Cíosáin.

bc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

The book’s use of comics to delve into complicated theological issues proved popular and it was reprinted several times - but we have an original copy from 1968. Visit us to take a look! bc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

Cover of "The Parables of Peanuts" showing Linus reading aloud to Snoopy and Charlie Brown

In 1968, author Robert Short published “The Parables of Peanuts.” Despite its heavy use of Peanuts comic strips as illustrations, Short’s book delved into weighty theological topics and explored the work of Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Soren Kierkegaard, and Martin Luther!

Page from pamphlet "LIberation Will Come Froma Black Thing" by James Forman. Text of the speech argues for a political understanding of the fight against racism and argues the fight for black liberation as self-defense against U.S. Imperialism.

Forman’s speech was later published in pamphlet form and distributed by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). A copy of the pamphlet lives at Burns Library along with typescripts of his speeches and other publications from Foreman.

Cover of pamphlet "Liberation Will Come From a Black Thing" by James Forman. Cover is white, with a black printed image of a boy with one arm stretched out and the other pulled back holding a rock, as if getting ready to throw it. The title of the speech appears in black text under the boy’s outstretched arm, with the author’s name in the grass at his feet.

On Nov 23, 1967, civil rights activist and SNCC member James Forman spoke at the Western Regional Black Youth Conference in LA. A longtime member of SNCC, Forman hoped to encourage greater alliances between Black and white radicals and was working to negotiate a merger with the Black Panthers.

Newspaper photograph of two women on skis with caption "Tow Fair Skiers at Boston College Carnival, They are left to right, Misses Anna and Mary Doyle, sisters and experts on skis"

Newspaper photograph of two warmly dressed woman with a shovel full of snow and headline "Winter Sports at the BC Carnival"

Page from The Boston Post newspaper showing line of women dressed for winter

Step back in time to the 1920s when BC held a Winter Sports Carnival! The carnival drew attendees from off campus and included skiing, skating, and a toboggan slide.

The carnival is documented in this scrapbook, findingaids.bc.edu/repositories...

Portrait of Constance Markievicz dressed as Joan of Arc

Happy Birthday to suffragist and Irish revolutionary Constance Markievicz, depicted on this postcard as Joan of Arc. Did you know we have two collections with records documenting Markievicz?'s life?

See more here: findingaids.bc.edu/agents/peopl...

@bc-irish-studies.bsky.social

Cover of catalog of snow plows made by the Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Company with image of snow plow

Page showing an electric snowplow with a steel nose

If you live in Boston, you’ve seen snowplows clearing the street, but have you ever seen them clear above ground #MBTA tracks? This catalog from the Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Co lives in our collection and shows railway snow plows used to plow rail and trolley tracks in Mass and beyond!

You can see this book or one of many others owned by Robert and Catharine if you visit us! bc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

Morris attended e Church of the Immaculate Conception, a Jesuit-run church, that was associated with BC in its early years. He and Catharine were early supporters of BC and gave a portion of their library to the college. Their books formed the basis for the College’s first library.

signature of Robert Morris with date "1855"

This was just one of many books purchased by Morris; he and his wife Catharine were dedicated readers and amassed a large collection of books in their home.

Title page of "The colored patriots of the American Revolution : with sketches of several distinguished colored persons : to which is added a brief survey of the condition and prospects of colored Americans.”

engraving of Boston Massacre showing Crispus Attucks

We’re kicking off #BlackHistoryMonth with a very cool Black History book. In 1855, Robert Morris, Boston civil rights leader and the country’s second Black lawyer, purchased a copy of “The colored patriots of the American Revolution : with sketches of several distinguished colored persons"🧵

engraved image of Charles I with Latin text from the volume Eikon Basilike

Martyr Alert! otd in 1649, England executed Charles I. But while he waited in prison for his final day, Charles wrote a lengthy justification for his life and deeds. Published only days after his execution, it moved many to sympathize with the former king. We hold a copy. Visit to to check it out.

Group of individuals working with leather tools in the Burns Library conservation lab

Group of individuals working with leather tools in the Burns Library conservation lab

We recently hosted an evening with the BC Printers Guild! Guild members spent a cozy evening in our conservation lab learning hot press techniques from the BC Libraries Conservator, Nora Dempsey. We’re looking forward to more of these creative evenings with the Printers Guild community!

Students pose with a t-rex sculpted out of snow

In 1978 27 inches of snow fell on the Boston College campus and these students put it to good use. What are you creating with today’s snowfall?

blue "save the date" ticket for the Junior Philomatheia Club Winter Sports Carnival

In the 1930s, the Junior Philomatheia Club, a women’s booster organization for BC, sponsored a Winter Sports Carnival for its friends and members. 

Gentlemen welcome and bridge for those who prefer!

Mr Verdent Green review posted!!