Martha's Vineyard Museum

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/Historical Note

Scope and Content of Collection

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Index Terms

Collection Inventory

Descriptive Summary

Repository	Martha's Vineyard Museum, Gale Huntington Research Library 59 School Street P.O. Box 1310 Edgartown, MA 02539 (508)627-4441
Call Number	RU 465
Creator	Welch, Basil, 1924-2011
Title	Basil Welch photograph collection
Date	1858-2010, undated
Extent	11 boxes + 32 albums (8.005 cubic feet)
Language	The materials are in English.
Abstract	This collection includes photographic prints of Martha's Vineyard subjects collected and organized by Basil Welch and glass plate negatives photographed by Edward Lee Luce.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use and Reproduction Restrictions

Requests to reproduce material from this collection should be directed to the library's staff. Reproduction fees may apply.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Basil Welch in 1999 (Accession no. 1999.053)
• Gift of Linda M. Voluckas and Laurie C. Clements in memory of Basil Welch in 2013 (Accession no. 2013.009), 2014 (Accession no. 2014.003), and 2015 (Accession no. 2015.003).

Publication Information

Martha's Vineyard Museum

Gale Huntington Research Library
59 School Street
P.O. Box 1310
Edgartown, MA 02539
(508)627-4441

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Lara J. Ullman and machine-encoded by Nathaniel Janick in July 2015.

 Creation of this finding aid was sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Related Materials

Related Materials

• See also, RU 499, Basil Welch Oral History and Sound Recording Collection.

• See also, Digital Commonwealth Basil Welch Collection

Biography/Historical Note

Basil Lambert Welch was born in his grandmother's house in Oak Bluffs on April 16, 1924, to Milton L. Welch and Rose (deBettencourt) Welch. Basil had five siblings: Malcolm, Melvin, Neil, Justin, and Marijane. Basil grew up in Tisbury and graduated from Tisbury High School in 1942. After graduation Welch briefly worked for the Tisbury Highway Department until he moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he drove a supply truck for the United States Air Force. Welch moved back to Martha's Vineyard after the war. In 1950, Welch met Elisabeth J. Hanson and the two were married in November 1950. The couple had two daughters: Linda and Laurie. Welch worked for New England Telephone Company as an installer and repairman for 32 years, until he retired.

During his years with the phone company Basil became acquainted with some of the more remote areas of the island and he began photographing up-island outhouses. His interest in Martha's Vineyard's history continued to grow and along with his friend Stan Lair, Basil started developing old glass plate negatives in the 1970s. Around the same time Welch and Lair began recording their memories of Martha's Vineyard on audio cassettes. During this process, the two amassed collections of others' recordings as well, copying oral history interviews performed by Nancy Safford, Connie Sanborn, and others. Along with his passions for photography and oral histories, Basil Welch's retirement also included becoming the superintendent of Abel's Hill Cemetery. Basil Welch died in 2011 and is buried in Abel's Hill Cemetery.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection includes photographic prints of Martha's Vineyard subjects collected and organized by Basil Welch and glass plate negatives photographed by Edward Lee Luce and developed by Basil Welch and Stan Lair.

A number of glass plate negatives were digitized by the Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth project in conjunction with the The Martha's Vineyard Museum and are accessible online through the link provided above in the "Related Material" section.

Arrangement

Albums are arranged alphabetically by album name and therein chronologically. Albums are listed first followed by boxed loose photographs. The 2015 accession is in boxes and is listed at the end of the collection.