A CENTURY OF GENEALOGICAL PROGRESS

RESS, by William Carroll Hill '02. The NewEngland Historic Genealogical Soc. 1945pp. pp.

An unusual centennial celebration occurred last year, that of the founding of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Not only the exercises of the day, March 17, 1945, but also the narrative of the hundred years leading up to them are ably recorded in ACentury of Genealogical Progress by William Carroll Hill '02, now historian of the society and editor of its quarterly magazine.

Since the first settlers had come here to escape limitations set by landed gentry and restraints imposed by heredity, their descendants for two hundred years had looked with distrust upon any effort to effect an organization whose avowed purpose was remembrance of past deeds and personalities which might foster family prestige and class feeling. Finally by 1845 a small coterie of learned gentlemen with a marked enthusiasm for relating biography and genealogy to history had pleaded their cause successfully. Many joined with them in the effort to rescue records from certain oblivion, to provide funds for housing the anticipated collection of rare and valuable books, documents and antiques and to further the general object of the society to collect, preserve and occasionally publish genealogical and historic matter relative to New England families.

Eventually the home of the society was extended from its original small room on Court Square in Boston to the present five story building at 9 Ashburton Place. An armful of books has expanded into a library of 160,000 volumes, 50,000 pamphlets and hundreds of original manuscripts. Members in every state in the union now number 9359, many of whom are women who have been admitted since 1898, after a half century of careful consideration and the passage of a special legislative act.

With rare discrimination, Mr. Hill has condensed the story of the growth of the institution into a compact volume of a hundred pages treating the subject in quarter century periods for more adequate handling of his wealth of material. There is an appendix containing valuable information for recording and reference purposes.