By Jeremy Dibbell

To mark the 100th Object of the Month, we’ve decided to go back to our very deepest roots, highlighting one of the first published documents produced by the MHS (and probably my personal favorite of all the things under the roof). It’s the “Circular Letter, of the Historical Society“, in which Jeremy Belknap and the other founders lay out their goals for the organization: “to collect, preserve, and communicate, materials for a complete history of this country.”

Read more about the Circular Letter, Belknap, and the founding of the MHS in Library Assistant Rakashi Chand’s Object of the Month essay. You can also find high-quality scans and a transcription of the Letter there.

You can browse all 100 Objects by clicking here.