Saturday Evening Girls talk at North End Branch of Boston Public Library

Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

When: Wednesday, June 4, 2014 | 6:00 pm

Where: North End Branch of the Boston Public Library | 25 Parmenter Street, Boston, Mass. 02113

Click here to view a map.

On Wednesday, June 4, at 6:00 pm, the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library will host a talk by Dr. Dorothy E. King, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Harrisburg, titled “SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS: Jewish and Italian Immigrant Artists and Scholars of Early 1900s Boston.”

The Saturday Evening Girls, created in 1899 as a reading group at the North Bennet Street Industrial School and expanded into an educational club of the Boston Public Library, became a progressive movement to educate and socialize young women on the North End. Best known for establishing the Paul Revere Pottery, the organization also published a newsletter, sponsored ethnic and cultural events, and trained women for leadership responsibilities in local and broader arenas.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston recently acquired the Barbara Maysles Kramer Collection, courtesy of the family of Barbara Kramer. Kramer spent many years researching the history of the Saturday Evening Girls, gathering recollections and documentation of the turn-of-the-20th century group. The collection is currently being processed by UMass Boston archivists and will be fully open for research soon. Keep visiting this blog for updates about the status of this exciting new addition to the Healey Library at UMass Boston’s special collections.


University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston collects materials related to the University’s history, as well as materials that reflect the institution’s urban mission and strong support of community service, notably in collections of records of urban planning, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities, including the Boston Harbor Islands. To learn more about University Archives & Special Collections, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.

State Library of Massachusetts to host presentation on “Great Molasses Flood”

John Callahan was among the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood. Callahan was a member of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections.

The death certificate of John Callahan, who was among the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood. Callahan was a member of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections.

When: Thursday, January 23, 2014 | 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Where: State Library of Massachusetts | Room 442, State House

Bring your lunch to the State Library of Massachusetts (in the Massachusetts State House) on Thursday, January 23, and listen to John Horrigan, host of the 2013 Boston/New England Emmy Award™-winning historical television program “The Folklorist,” as he presents a short presentation on “The Great Molasses Flood.”

The Great Molasses Flood of January 15, 1919, as it’s come to be known, is perhaps one of the oddest disasters in New England history, and one that continues to capture the interest of historians and the general public alike. Read more about this presentation, part of the State Library’s Brown Bag discussion series, here…

Of the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood, at least two, James Lennon and John Callahan, were members of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston. The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was founded in 1879 by a group of Irish immigrants to provide life insurance benefits for its members. A Foresters member record includes an Application for Membership, health examination information, a Death Certificate, a Death Benefit Payout (with information about beneficiaries), and other supporting documents.

The Death Certificate for John Callahan, seen above, lists his cause of death as “Mult[iple] injuries including fracture of pelvis with consequent infection caused by the bursting of a molasses tank.”

Learn more about the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters and the Foresters Mortuary Records here.