A large collection of posters, pennants and pins fill the drawers, many of them dating back to the turn of the century.
Shea opens a nondescript box on top of another filing cabinet.
“It’s kind of morbid,” she says, as she displays a mold taken of author Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s face after her death in 1935.
Heading into the shelves, Shea pulls out a small box, labelled A-129. Inside is a small white book, embossed with gold letters that read “Baby’s Kingdom.” Within its pages, the meticulous script of a mother documents her daughter’s early days.
Her first word? Papa. Her first steps? August 27. Her name? Amelia Earhart.
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—Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.