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Speaker Series: “Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Fields in Amherst”

Before making their names in the Midwest, Roswell and Eugene Field were nurtured by deep New England roots. The Special Collections department at the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts, is home to a collection of over 1,000 artifacts that span four generations of Field Family history. Speaker Katherine Whitcomb, who serves as Interim Head of Special Collections at the Jones Library, will use the Field Family collection to explore the Fields’ connection to Amherst and bring the 19th-century town that the Field children knew to life.   

This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance through Eventbrite, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.

About the Speaker

Katherine Whitcomb is currently the Interim Head of Special Collections at the Jones Library in Amherst, Mass. A 2019 MLIS graduate of Simmons University in Boston, she has been working in the Special Collections department for five years and, as a result, has many random tidbits of Amherst history wandering around her brain! A native of Western Massachusetts, she lives in her small hometown, which has ties to another branch of the Field Family.

Amherst’s public library, The Jones Library, was incorporated in 1919 after the Town of Amherst received a bequest from Samuel Minot Jones. Originally located on the second floor of the old Amherst House hotel, the Jones commenced operation in 1921. Construction on a separate building began in 1927 after a devastating fire forced the library to move to temporary quarters in the nearby Whipple House. On November 1, 1928, the Jones Library opened its doors at its current location, which was built to look like a residence. Renovations of the building took place in the late 1960s, and an addition was added in 1993. They are currently in the design process for their latest expansion and renovation project.