Lizzie Borden Society Forum

First of all (I'll try to not make this a novella), let me begin by saying that my name is Rachel, I live in Shreveport, LA and I have recently requested to become a member of the Lizzie Borden Society for advice and guidance.
I am not a Lizzie Borden history buff, nor did I really know the intrigue surrounding the case until I started researching the Borden murders for a colleague. I must admit that I got somewhat sidetracked from my original agenda and have read and learned more than I ever thought I wanted to know about the case. I am now totally undecided as to Lizzie's innocence or guilt and never expected to care, but I've been fascinated by the inconsistencies and the total lack of concrete evidence of anything!
This colleague of mine who started me on this quest has come into possession of a scrapbook of original newspaper articles believed to be the collection of David Kent, who lived in Shreveport, Louisiana. And, of course, now the dreaded news. My colleague is interested in selling this collection but neither they nor I know where to begin or even if the scrapbook would be considered an item of interest.
I read through some of the archives of the Lizzie Borden Society and saw mention of the Fall River Historical Society. Should I contact them, and what is the correct etiquette to do so?
I realize in mentioning correct etiquette that I may not have followed it in joining here and posting here; please forgive me if I've overstepped any boundary. But I would appreciate your guidance; this is the only resource that I have been able to find that might point me in the right direction.
I am not soliciting interest from the Lizzie Borden Society, just asking for some educated advice.
Thank you for your time,
Rachel

Hello!
Here is the info on how to reach the Fall River Historical Society.
I suppose you would contact them maybe by mail, with some photos of what the item looks like.
If you want an e-mail address which they will answer, you can write to Stefani and request that at
koorey@lizzieandrewborden.com

This is their web-site:
http://lizzieborden.org/

Here is their physical address:
The Fall River Historical Society • 451 Rock Street • Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 • (508) 679-1071


This is a good introduction to them thru Stefani.
I would caution you, that if you truly are not soliciting interest for the item here, that you not respond to personal messages here but post your needs openly as you have. Your etiquette instinct is just fine!

What I think you may have, and I emphasize may, is Kent's articles used in his "The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook" published in 1992.

This book is a series of news clippings from various newspapers, primarily the Fall River Herald, The Boston Daily Globe, The N.Y. Times and The N.Y. Herald.

Without knowing the actual content it's just a guess on my part.

Harry, wouldn't Kent have had some sort of scrapbook of articles (maybe xeroxed) upon which to base the sourcebook? Two things could make this worthy of interest, I would think: possibly deleted dates of articles (very frustrating in the sourcebook) and possible additional articles not included in the sourcebook--articles that might have peripheral interest. Neither of these would apply if it's a scrapbook of Kent's own articles, of course.

Rachel, have you been able to compare it to the sourcebook?

--Lyddie

Wasn't Robert Flynn a good friend of Kent's? He would know what she has.
The FRHS could put you in touch with Mr. Flynn, Rachel.

The Sourcebook is partly "The Emery Scrapbook", isn't it?

I agree with Kat. Robert A. Flynn would be a good person to contact about this. He and David Kent collaborated on the Sourcebook. It appears from Kent's preface to the book that they used the Emery scrapbook (which Flynn owned) for most of the trial stuff -- and that Kent also had a personal scrapbook of clippings covering the murders and the events leading up to the trial.

Flynn is a dealer in rare books, ephemera, etc. and I assume would also have seen David Kent's scrapbook -- so he could probably provide the information your friend is looking for, Rachel.

Thank you all for the advice and the information. It is greatly appreciated.