From the Lowell Historical Society Collection: Bust of Benjamin Franklin Butler, Civil War General, Congressman and Governor

The Lowell Historical Society maintains – at the University of Massachusetts Lowell/Center for Lowell History – numerous collections of writings, documents and photographs which are open for public research. Here are more examples of collections available to the researcher and the curious:

Father John’s Medicine Company Collection (Lowell Museum)

In the 1860′s, the Lowell apothecary of Carleton and Hovey began marketing  a proprietary medicine named for a local Irish-Catholic priest, Father John O’Brien. This tonic became so popular that the apothecary was renamed Father John’s Medicine Company. The collection contains business accounts for several years at the turn of the 20th century, sample bottle labels, sound recording advertisements and promotional films.

Butler Collection

Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818 – 1893) was a Lowell lawyer who became a Civil War General, Congressman and Governor. This collection, much of which was purchased with a donation from the Whit Pearson Memorial Fund, includes personal letters, photos and portraits of Butler, Stevens and Ames family members and a series of Thomas Nast political cartoons of Butler. Recent acquisitions include political cartoons from the A.L. Eno, Esquire collection.