Exhibits – Patterson Library

Search through our Special Collections online!

Permanent Exhibits

Patterson Library’s special collection includes several local history documents ranging from the Westfield Republican archives, local photographs, files and genealogy documents. Our collections also includes documents, artifacts and taxidermy from around the world. Scroll down below for a sneak peak. For research assistance or to access special collections in our archives, please call Nancy Ensign at 326-2154.

Birds

Click the rare passenger pigeon below to visit some of our birds online!

In the late 1800′s enormous flocks of Passenger Pigeons flew over North America, by some reports taking 14 hours to pass over head. Estimates put the flock sizes at over 3.5 billion birds. Due to loss of habitat and over-hunting, Passenger Pigeons went extinct on September 1, 1914 when the last surviving specimen died in the Cincinnati Zoo. Visit this guy in our lower level hallway.

WWI Posters

We have one of the largest collections of original WWI posters in the country!

We have over 48 framed World War Posters which were preserved since 1970 by then librarian Miss Emma Phiel. A grant written to frame and catalog this collection enables visitors to view them on our interior walls.

World War I is sometimes referred to as “the poster war,” as propaganda posters were utilized more heavily than in any other war, before or since. In an age before radio, television, or the internet, posters were the most effective way for the government to reach millions of Americans with information, instructions, and requests for help. During the war, posters were used to drum up patriotism, vilify the enemy, recruit soldiers, raise money and supplies, and conserve scarce resources

Visit Patterson Library to see these masterpieces of graphic design.

Model Ships

On loan from Mark and Debra Puckhaber, and now on display in the Reference Room, is a model ship built by George Rubin, the Benjamin W. Latham. This is the second of George’s remarkable ships we have on display. The other, the Essex, can also be seen in the Reference Room. The Benjamin W. Latham was built in the Tarr & James yard at Essex, Massachussetts in 1902, sailing out of Noank, Connecticut as a mackerel steiner. She was lost off the coast of San Juan in 1943. Amazingly detailed, these ships represent years of patient work.

Westfield Portrait Photograph Collections

Patterson Library holds an incredible collection of photographs. Over 12,000 images are in our Westfield Historical Photographs from the Sherman, Mateer, and Alexander Collection. We are still in the process of digitizing our portrait collections. Please contact Adult Program Specialist/curator Nancy Ensign at 326-2154 for information.

Shells We have hundreds of shells, some as old as the 1830s. Our shells came from two sources, John D. Patterson and Rev. Reuben Tinker. Tinker collected shells in the south seas while he was a missionary on the “Sandwich Isles” (Hawaii).