The collection contains images gathered during the “Westborough: Your Town – Your History” Scanning Day held on February 4, 2017. The Westborough Public Library asked residents to bring in historical and cultural items relating to Westborough for it to scan and digitize. Printed material includes posters, plans, and newspaper articles relating to the event. The event was made possible by a Common Heritage Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Official collection name: “Westborough: Your Town – Your History” Scanning Day, 2017
Location: Shelving and online
Local identifier: LH.059
Creator: The Westborough community
Date: 2017-02-04
Extent: 98 digital items/297 files; .25 linear feet
Subject: Local history–Westborough (Mass.); Westborough (Mass.)–Pictorial works; Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs
Online access:
About forty manuscript plays written by Alice Clark Gilmore. The plays appear to have been performed at various functions and for various organizations around Westborough.
Official collection name: Alice Clark Gilmore Papers, ca. 1930
Location: Shelving
Local identifier: LH.041
Creator: Alice Clark Gilmore
Date: ca. 1930
Extent: 1.5 linear feet (one box)
Subject: Alice Clark Gilmore–Plays
Architectural drawings of 18 West Main Street, the Forbes Building, and one for a Post Office that apparently was never built.
Official collection name: Architectural Drawings Collection
Location: Roll Box
Local identifier: LH.057
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: 1891-1950
Extent: 2 linear feet
Subject: Architectural design–Westborough (Mass.)
Online access:
Video casettes, film rolls, DVDs, casette tapes, reel to reel tape. Miscellaneous films, videos, and audio tapes documenting Westborough life and history, plus the Westborough Public Library Oral History Project. Also includes a CD published by the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings of a folk program recorded live at The Old Vienna Kaffeehaus in Westborough in 1993 (Box 2).
Official collection name: Audio-Video Collection
Location: Elevator Room and online
Local identifier: LH.004
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: Undetermined
Extent: 2 linear feet (4 boxes)
Subject: Westborough (Mass.)–Motion pictures; Westborough (Mass.)–Audiocasettes
Online access:
A miscellaneous collection of digitized images relating to Westborough. Created as a digital equivalent of the “Local History By Subject” (LH.001) vertical file collection.
Official collection name: Digitized History Collection.
Location: Westborough Digital Repository
Local identifier: LH.056
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: Undetermined
Extent: N/A
Subject: Local history–Westborough (Mass.); Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs
Online access:
Managed by the Westborough Center for History and Culture at the Westborough Public Library, The Ebenezer Parkman Project is a unique collaborative effort on the part of the Westborough Public Library, the Congregational Library’s New England’s Hidden Histories, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts to digitize, transcribe, and make accessible the remarkable writings of the most eminent clergyman in central Massachusetts.
The work of Prof. Ross W. Beales, Jr., who has dedicated much of his academic career to studying Parkman, sits at the core of this project. His transcription of Parkman’s 4000-page diary is the heart of the project, and his transcriptions of other works by Parkman and his research on the people who lived in Westborough during Parkman’s time help to fill out the body of this website, which is rich in content about Westborough and colonial life in rural New England.
Dr. Ross W. Beales, Jr. (Professor Emeritus, College of the Holy Cross), Dr. James F. Cooper (Director, New England’s Hidden Histories), and Dr. Anthony T. Vaver (Local History Librarian, Westborough Public Library) together direct The Ebenezer Parkman Project.
Official collection name: Ebenezer Parkman Project
Local identifier: LH.080
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: 1724 – present
Subject: Westborough (Mass.) — Social life and customs;
Massachusetts — Social life and customs — To 1775;
Parkman, Ebenezer — 1703-1782 — Diaries;
Parkman, Ebenezer — 1703-1782;
Online access:
Photocopies of house surveys that are held at the Westborough Historical Commission and some administrative documents that were sent to the Library for the convenience of the public during the process of nominating sections of town for Historic District status.
Official collection name: Historic District Surveys and Documentation, 1978-2008
Location: Filing cabinet
Local identifier: LH.002
Creator: Westborough Historical Commission and the Westborough Public Library
Date: 1978-2008
Extent: 6 file folders
Subject: Historic buildings–Westborough (Mass.)
Historical objects whose purpose is to give a general sense of history in a hands-on and visual way. The collection includes stereoscopes, a band uniform, and linen calendar and tea towel marking Westborough’s 275th anniversary.
Official collection name: Historical Objects
Location: Westborough Room, Shelving, and the Elevator Room.
Local identifier: LH.058
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: 1900 – 1992 (approximate)
Extent: 4 linear feet (3 boxes)
Subject: Antiques
Newspaper clippings, brochures, pamphlets, manuscripts, photograph, and other materials about Westborough history gathered by Kristina Nilson Allen. Includes the manuscript for her book, On the Beaten Path. The collection also includes “The Suppers of the Club” cookbook, “A Collection of Historical Articles” written by Helena Engberg of the Evangelical Congregational Church,” gravestone rubbings, and Lyman School materials.
Official collection name: Kristina Nilson Allen Papers
Location: Shelving and Map Case
Local identifier: LH.032
Creator: Kristina Nilson Allen
Date: Undetermined
Extent: 1.75 linear feet (4 boxes) + map case folder
Subject: Local history–Westborough (Mass.); Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs
Photocopies, newspaper clippings, documents, pamphlets, booklets, periodicals. A miscellaneous collection of information and primary sources relating to Westborough local history, organized by subject.
Official collection name: Local History By Subject
Location: Filing cabinet; Map case (A5).
Local identifier: LH.001
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: Undetermined
Extent: 3 filing cabinet drawers
Subject: Local history–Westborough (Mass.); Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs
