Libraries hold millions of stories on every imaginable subject, but the institutions themselves also have histories and stories to tell, from why they were founded to who has kept them going. The Boston Public Library (BPL) is one such institution. Founded in 1848, the library is the oldest free and full-scale municipal library in the United States.
Since its creation, the story of the BPL has grown with its collection of books; its story is, in part, told by the people of Boston who were part of the library's community and who left a reminder of their connection to the BPL behind them.
The final portion of "Cool + Collected: Treasures of the Boston Public Library" helps to tell part of the story of the library's long history. On display until June 30 in the Johnson Lobby of the BPL's central branch at Copley Square, "Cool + Collected" is the third and final part of a year-long exhibit meant to showcase some of the library's more unusual and interesting acquisitions over the years.
Set up in the entranceway of the newer portion of the library, the show isn't particularly structured, but still holds some interesting objects. The pieces in the exhibit range from a stamped copper griffin that once stood atop the library roof to letters by such literary and political greats as Henry David Thoreau and Harriet Beecher Stowe. All of the donations are from Boston-area residents to the BPL, so despite their widely varied nature, the objects are all connected by the common thread of a Boston heritage.
One of the most interesting objects in the exhibit is a painting titled "Our Lady of the MBTA" by Allan Rohan Crite from 1953. The dynamic, bright gouache and gold leaf painting shows people exiting the T. In the middle of the normal crowd of people who hurry down the stairs and into the city are Mary and Jesus. Mary protectively shelters her son in her cloak as the two hurry down the stairs like all of the other passengers, differentiated only by their dress and halos. In fact, the image of the young Jesus is remarkably similar to the image of the young boy right next to him — placing the two on
Crite was active in Boston, and in his art he communicated both religious and progressive social imagery. He was a champion of African American rights and, through his religious imagery, sought to convey the common tie that binds all of humanity. Through showing Mary and Jesus hurrying down the stairs, as much a part of the crowd as any of the other people depicted, Crite makes a statement about the equality of humanity in the eyes of God. Furthermore, he asserts God's continued importance in the modern age through his incorporation of religious figures into a modern setting.
Another interesting object from the exhibit is an original draft in the hand of Walt Whitman. The draft is of Whitman's poem "To a Locomotive in Winter" and is dated Feb. 23, 1874. Numerous revisions to the poem can be seen scrawled on the page, and Whitman continued to revise it until it was published in "Two Rivulets" (1876). The poem would later be included in an edition of his famous "Leaves of Grass" (1855), and in this manuscript, the numerous re-workings of the poem — which has portions that are crossed out, written over and commented on — display the literary genius' thought process.
Another object of interest is a woodcut by Käthe Kollwitz titled "Self-Portrait, Face Front" from 1923. Kollwitz, a German artist, used her art to comment on the social unrest that she saw around her, as well as to champion the cause of the oppressed masses. Although she achieved considerable critical acclaim during her lifetime, she asserted that her art was for everyone, not for the artistic elite.
The BPL acquired a number of her works in the 1950s. Her style is unapologetically realistic, and she makes no attempts to beautify her imagery. In "Self-Portrait, Face Front," she brutally represents her own face with harsh lines and jarring contrast; her face emerges from a black background and is framed with no hint of the body to which it is connected. Her expression is grim and unforgiving, as if she tried to put the struggles and the bleakness of the lifestyle of the masses into her own portrait.
"Cool + Collected: Treasures of the Boston Public Library" is a fun and interesting exhibit filled with a variety of objects. At times it seems that in the exhibit descriptions, the library is simply plugging its connections to various famous figures. Despite this fact, the objects on display are undoubtedly worth seeing. The exhibit makes no effort to unify the objects that it holds, other than the fact that all are connected to a group of people who have flowed in and out of the BPL community over its long history.
