The roadmap of U.S. Education: History being preserved by Colleen Previte, University Archivist

By Dylan Pichnarcik

Associate Editor

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

Walking across Framingham State’s historic campus and seeing the large brickstone buildings of May, Peirce, Horace Mann, and Crocker halls can invoke the question for passersby: if these walls could talk, what would they say? One librarian, Colleen Previte of the Henry Whittemore Library, is giving FSU its voice and preserving its longstanding history as the birthplace of public education with every periodical, artifact, and painting she archives for future generations. Previte, the University’s archivist and special collections librarian, has been working at FSU since 2004 and has assisted in the archiving and research of anything related to FSU, dating back to its 1839 establishment in Lexington. Previte holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Worcester State University and a master’s of Library and Information Studies from the University of Rhode Island. She said she found the job at FSU and applied with the intention of moving to Framingham, as her husband lived in the city. She added that when searching for a career, she “really had to soul-search to figure out what I wanted to do for a living - I wanted to keep and preserve something. So I feel like I have a greater purpose of preserving things for future generations, which includes students and anyone else.” Previte said the University Archives and Special Collections are made up of an estimated 2,000 printed materials spanning multiple specialized collections. Among the categories of printed materials in the Special Collections, many are the namesakes of notable figures in the history of FSU, including the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Collection, the Ruth Graves Wakefield Collection, and the Martin F. O’Conner Collection. Previte said students may not expect her role to be exciting. However, through the University’s stewardship of the McAuliffe Collection, she was able to meet notable people and contribute to the accounts of McAuliffe's life. “I've got to meet astronauts. I was able to meet Barbara Morgan, who was Christa McAuliffe's stand‑in or alternate if Christa got sick. She came around, and I got to meet her. So I was really excited for that,” she said. Previte added she has also been interviewed by WCVB Channel 5’s Chronicle in regard to Challenger’s past anniversaries. Among the other items in the special collections is The Dial, the University’s yearbook, which was printed from 1915 to 2005. The archives now hold virtually every issue, including a long‑missing 1917 volume that was later recovered via eBay. “I don't know if it was because of the war or anything, but 1917 was the hardest to find. We didn't have it for a good portion of my career here, and then I found it on eBay, so we purchased it, and it was a great addition to complete the collection,” Previte said. Additionally, the special collections hold every copy of another student publication dating back to its first issue in 1932 - a weekly student newspaper featuring campus news, opinions, sports coverage, features, and reviews entirely run by a group of students in their McCarthy Center Office. Sources say they are always looking for new members! Among the other specialized collections, the archives feature a faculty collection - books by and about FSU’s faculty, an alumni collection, books by and about alumni, and a general education collection that outlines the history of the U.S. education system - along with a plethora of FSU-related artifacts and ephemera. Within the Special Collection Reading Room sits a globe, which, according to Previte, once sat in the office of FSU’s first principal, Cyrus Peirce. Previte said this globe, along with another, was the technology of the day and was likely used for lessons. In addition to the globes that once belonged to Peirce, the collection also holds Peirce’s personal Bible and journal, which are currently on display in a case just outside of the Special Collections Reading Room. Peirce, the first principal, is known for coining the University’s motto, “Live to the Truth.” An early rendition of this phrase is written in the journal of one of Peirce’s pupils, Mary Swift, according to Previte. Swift’s journal remarks that Peirce would end each lecture with the phrase “Live to truth.” This journal is also held in the special collections. Other FSU ephemera includes class rings from the early 1900s, commemorative plates and cups, paintings, campus maps, and the previous, and slightly creepy iterations of Sam the Ram. The collection also features historic photographs, including original daguerreotypes of Ellen Hyde, Class of 1862, who was the second female principal of FSU. Daguerreotypes are photographs taken by an early photographic process employing an iodine-sensitized silvered plate and mercury vapour. Like the eerie Sam the Ram costumes, the collection features a set of marionettes and puppets based on fairy‑tale characters, including the mother of Snow White and The Witch from Hansel and Gretel. The puppets were created by alumna and faculty member Louise Kingman, class of 1917. While at FSU, she taught speech, drama, and physical education, including tennis and golf. She also shot films depicting campus life during the 1930s and 1940s, according to Previte. The University Archives and Special Collections are available to be viewed online at the Whittemore Library’s website, and the reading room can be visited Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. Previte said she often gets visitors who are seeking information about FSU or education in the United States. “Our collections are basically related to Framingham State,” she said. “We get alums, sometimes we have friends or family of alums that want to learn more about their ancestors. We've had scholars come and do research on normal schools and education.” She added, “I feel like I have a greater purpose of preserving things for future generations so that others can continue their research or work, or say, ‘Oh, they did this back then, that's really cool.”