Marblehead Abbot Library Partners With Salem State On Photo Archivist

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Salem State University graduate student Katie Galvin has been named this year's Marblehead Room intern through a partnership with the school and the Abbot Public Library.

Galvin will search local media photography collections from the early 20th century through the 2000s to find images with a connection to Marblehead. She will then digitize the images and create accessible files through the Salem State digital repository.

She will also evaluate and digitize a clipping file that was originally housed in the Marblehead Room. Galvin plans to write a series of blog posts for the library based on her findings.

"I am excited to work on this collaboration between the Salem State University Library and Abbot Public Library to explore collection items and share the information onto the online databases," Galvin said.

The partnership began in fall 2022 when University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Susan Edwards agreed to store the contents of the Marblehead Room during the Abbot Public Library renovation in Frederick E. Berry Library’s Archives.

Galvin earned her bachelor's degree in history at Assumption University in 2022. She begins her master's program in history with a graduate certificate in public history at Salem State University this Fall.

She works as a Historical Interpreter at both the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts and at The House of the Seven Gables in Salem. She said she enjoys the opportunity to connect with guests from all over the world while enriching the storytelling of the Revolutionary War, Salem’s maritime history, and the House’s connection to Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Galvin will be working with Edwards and Abbot Public Library's Head of Technical Resources Lisa Taranto and Adult Services Librarian Rachael Meneades.

"How wonderful to explore this content and discover stories and images of Marblehead," Abbot Library Director Kimberly Grad said.

This project has been made possible by the generous support of the Harold B. and Elizabeth L. Shattuck Memorial Fund.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)