And for an even more dramatic juxtaposition, here is an 1862 letter from the Goodwin family papers on our Binder Minder copier ready to be photocopied for a researcher unable to visit the Society in person. Talk about oldgasms.

One of the craziest things about working at an institution that’s been around since 1791 (and in its current location since the 1890s) is that old furniture gets put to new twenty-first century uses: this cabinet once used to store the Parkman Papers now houses our staff microwave.

My friend and colleague Jeremy refers to this portrait hallway on the third floor of the Massachusetts Historical Society as the “Hogwarts Hallway.” It definitely feels like the portraits are watching you as you make your way through it. I get the feeling that at night, after the building is shut down, the probably take a wander around the other floors to socialize.

This is the first in a series of snapshots I took at the MHS recently, when I happened to have my camera in my bag when I went in to work. (Some of them are a bit blurry or dim, due to not using a flash). This is a shot from the third floor looking down the spiral stair to the reception desk in our first floor lobby.