Collections : [Mattatuck Museum]

The collection contains various genealogical records collected and donated by Mary Meli. The collection is largely composed of general genealogical records about the Potter, Willard, and Currie family origins. This includes family photographs, Christmas cards, and a journal. Interesting to note is a family Bible and a pamphlet celebrating the Burlington Centennial.

The Medical and Scientific Collection contains various medical journals and personal documents regarding illness. Documents include various notebooks kept during medical school as well as during practice by several Waterbury doctors. Also included in the collection are city announcements on recent outbreaks of diseases such as Typhoid fever and on the effectiveness of the smallpox inoculation. Also represented are various personal accounts regarding illnesses such as whooping cough.

Minnie Rogers Steele was an artist who was born in Waterbury, CT in 1860. Between 1928 and 1929 she studied art in Paris under Andre Lhote who was known as the "academician cubist." The collection contains 21 letters from Steele during her stay in Paris, largely to her son Norman.

The Pearl Street Neighborhood House Collection contains photocopies and original documents about the founding and activities of the Pearl Street Neighborhood House from the 1920s through the 1970s. The goals of the house were "to a work for the social and moral welfare of the colored people of Waterbury and their friends." Pearl Street Neighborhood House was an active center for the social and political life of African Americans in Waterbury.

The archivists for the Max R. Traurig Library have collected material regarding the inhabitants Waterbury. Document types include letters, deeds, diaries, legal documents, and wills.

The Phillip Kappel Papers contains various correspondence and artwork files documenting Kappel's career. The collection was donated by Elton Hall, who was a museum curator and close friend to Kappel and later head of the Kappel estate. Some of the correspondence includes letters to Phillip Kappel from various colleagues regarding his artwork and letters between Elton Hall and Phillip Kappel. Also, included are re-prints of Kappel's work, various photos of his art work, and exhibit announcements. The collection also contains many photographs of Kappel and his wife, as well as photographs of their home in New Milford, Connecticut. Lastly, the collection includes files from the Kappel estate.

The records document the Plume and Atwood Company, which made sheet brass, wire, lamp parts, rivets, fasteners, and other small brass goods. The collection is largely of composed of correspondence to the Boston office. Ledgers are from the Waterbury office. Ephemera is included at the end of the collection dating through 1957. Additionally, the Lewis J Atwood obituary from 1909 is included in the collection.

The collection contains various records donated by Historian Mary Ellen Matise. The collection is largely research files that Matise collected over the years. The collection contains articles and resources collected on the documentation of pocketknife manufacturing through the 19th century. Also represented in the collection is Matise's research titled, "The American Pocketknife Industry in the 19th Century." Interesting to note is a video compiled by Matise on her research.

Princeton Knitting Mills Records documents employee information and information on flood recovery. This collection gives the viewer an insight onto wages and general employee life/production records. The collection spans from 1943-1960 and is largely composed of employee bulletins.

This collection documents several generations of the Prichard family, who were from Waterbury, CT. Correspondence and ledgers highlight several of the family's businesses. Sarah and Katharine's interest and work in local history can be found in correspondence and professional writings. This collection is entirely paper based, but photographs of the family members can be accessed through the Mattatuck's Photograph Collection.