Suzanne Gall Marsh with her husband, George Marsh, on Little Brewster Island, 2007
We are deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Suzanne Gall Marsh last month. Suzanne has been a pioneering advocate for the Boston Harbor Islands since her first visit to Gallops Island in 1978. In 1979 she founded the Boston Harbor Islands Volunteer Corps, later called the Volunteers and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, Inc., to provide direct services to the Boston Harbor Islands State Park (now the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park) and conduct public education programs, including boat trips and advocacy efforts. She facilitated the donation of that organization’s records to the UMass Boston Archives in 2012, and has worked with us over the years to bolster our growing collections in this area—including collecting community stories about the Harbor Islands.
Faculty, staff, and community members observe the Boston Harbor Islands as part of the university’s 20th anniversary celebrations, 1984. Suzanne Gall Marsh is second from the left.
Suzanne worked for the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park as an interpreter and ranger and for Boston Harbor Cruises as a narrator. She conducted tours on different islands and was involved in starting trips to Boston Light on Little Brewster Island in 1986. In an administrative capacity, Suzanne was a member of the Advisory Council for the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership, an organization comprised of multiple government and nonprofit agencies that manage the islands. Beginning in 2010, Suzanne became an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) member and later Program Facilitator at the University of Massachusetts Boston, teaching the course “Exploring the Boston Harbor Islands.” Suzanne received a BA from UMass Boston and participated in the university’s Women in Politics and Public Policy Program.
Author: Amanda McKay, Archives Assistant and graduate student in the English MA program at UMass Boston
Samuel Kaymen demonstrates gardening techniques to urban farmers Martha Walker and Sue Naiman, circa 1978-1986.
In the 1970s, Charlotte Kahn watched the Black school-aged children in her neighborhood integrate with previously white-only schools. Many of the children faced violent and verbal abuse. Kahn, inspired by the young children’s bravery during this time, decided to plant beautiful gardens in hopes of uplifting their spirits as they walked to their bus stops. This act by Kahn led to the Boston Urban Gardeners (B.U.G.) organization. In 1976, the organization was run by volunteers in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and the South End. Soon after, the organization grew and had a number of paid employees with various funding sources. However, the organization’s focus wasn’t just gardening, it was also the community. University Archives and Special Collections houses the Boston Urban Gardeners records, which include insightful information on the organization. Records relating to administration, projects, photographs, and other various media are available in the collection. Healey Library’s Open Archives website provides access to digitized photographs from the collection, showcasing the incredible work that B.U.G. was doing in the different Boston communities.
Charlotte Kahn and Governor Michael Dukakis speak at an Earth Moving event, 1985.
As B.U.G. grew, so did their community impact. They worked in partnership with low-income community members, the Boston Housing Authority, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, among many other state organizations, in order to provide resources for families and members of Boston neighborhoods. While working on the wellness of their community, there was a bonus of the beautification of the neighborhoods. According to Boston Urban Gardeners: Grassroots Community Development (1996), the organization had a large range of accomplished projects, such as “community gardens, playlots, wildflower meadows, a job training program in landscape contracting and management, studies for the landscape of public housing, low maintenance landscapes for highway rights-of-way, and an open space study for Roxbury.” While there was a lot of support for B.U.G., finding consistent funding was a large problem and called for a need of creativity among members in order to fundraise.
In 1990, the organization merged with Southwest Corridor Community Farm (SCCF), becoming Boston Urban Gardeners at the Community Farm. SCCF has very similar values and mission to B.U.G., which made the merger easier for both organizations. Their everlasting impact on the Boston communities in which they worked can be researched through their records in Healey Library. View the collection’s finding aid or browse the digital photographs to get a sense of the work they were doing and the community they were building.
Boston Urban Gardeners records, SC-0043. University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://archives.umb.edu/repositories/2/resources/238.
Author: Amanda McKay, Archives Assistant and graduate student in the English MA program at UMass Boston
Participant with Marilyn Nelson, 2000. Photo by Melissa Shook.
In the early 1980s, UMass Boston’s William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences launched a writers’ workshop focused on war and its aftermath. The workshop included classes, discussions, readings, and much more. Since the start of the workshop, the Joiner Institute has worked to transform thoughts, feelings, and experiences relating to war into artistic expression through writing, but these workshops soon became more than that.
After a lecture at the Yenching Library in Cambridge, Mass., circa 1996-2000. Photo by Melissa Shook.
Digitized photographs of the writers’ workshop are available through Healey Library’s Open Archives website. These photographs, taken by long-time UMass Boston faculty member Melissa Shook between circa 1996-2001, reveal the personal and collaborative efforts of the writers’ workshop, and of the Joiner Institute as a whole. The workshop became more than it set out to be; it created connections among members and provided a sense of community. Shook’s long-standing connection to and intimate documentation of the university program show how art and memory were powerfully intertwined. Shook’s life and legacy live on through Healey Library’s Melissa Shook papers.
Four women, seated on a couch, are having a conversation, 2000. Photo by Melissa Shook.
The Joiner Institute’s writers’ workshop series was incredibly important for participants, but it was only one part of the institute’s mission, which is “to inform, develop, and implement equitable policies, programs, and pathways to help ensure the health, safety, well-being and success of veterans, their families, and others impacted by war or military service, without exception.” Be sure to check out the Joiner Institute website to learn more, and visit the University Archives and Special Collections department to view the Joiner Institute records and learn about their fascinating history and writers’ workshop.
“Joiner Institute Writers’ Workshop Photographs.” University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://openarchives.umb.edu/digital/collection/joiner.
University Archives and Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the launch of its inaugural Artist Unresidency Pilot Program — a unique artist residency model that supports creative engagement with archival materials without requiring a physical residency. This initiative reflects the UMass Boston Archives’ commitment to fostering innovative approaches to archival engagement while exploring the intersections of art and archives. This pilot program is supported by an Innovation Grant awarded by Art+Everywhere, a global, artist-led foundation that supports creative experimentation, collaboration, and care.
Five local artists have been selected for this pilot program to explore the UMass Boston Archives and create original artwork inspired by their research. Working independently in their own studios, the artists will draw inspiration from the archives through in-person visits throughout the summer and fall of 2025.
To support their work, artists will receive an orientation to the UMass Boston Archives and the collections they have selected to use, with archivists available to support their research throughout the process. Each artist will receive a small stipend to support the development of their project.
The resulting artworks will be featured in a public exhibition in the Grossmann Gallery at UMass Boston’s Healey Library, on view from January 20 to May 15, 2026. The exhibit will be co-curated by Jeremy Andreatta, board member of Art+Everywhere, Art History Professor Carol Scollans, and UMB archivist Meghan Bailey.
As part of the exhibition programming, a public artist panel will be held on campus, offering the community an opportunity to hear directly from the participating artists about their creative processes and the role archival materials played in shaping their artwork.
For questions about the Artist Unresidency Pilot Program or the UMass Boston Archives, contact library.archives@umb.edu.
In Between Middle: Where Stories Reside, an exhibition opening June 10, 2025, in the Grossmann Gallery on the fifth floor of the Healey Library, features photographs by Lisa Kessler, and artwork and textual narratives collaboratively created by students and staff of the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester, MA. The exhibit is hosted by the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston. The Frederick, the last standalone middle school in the Boston Public School system, will close this year as part of a broader district-wide restructuring. This project captures the final year of the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, a community located in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Boston.
The exhibition will be on display through December 5, 2025. A reception will be held in the Grossmann Gallery of the Healey Library on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, from 4:00-5:30 p.m. Members of the university community and the general public are welcome to attend.
As a restorative justice school, the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School is rooted in community and collective responsibility. Its foundation rests on the five pillars of PRIDE: Personal Responsibility, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Empathy. Students and staff have long strived to embody the values championed by the school’s namesake, Ms. Lilla Frederick—a Grove Hall resident, tireless community advocate, and passionate believer in the potential of every child.
While the Frederick will no longer serve as a middle school, the community views this transformation with cautious optimism. The shift to a more unified K-6 and 7-12 school model represents an opportunity to address the long-standing systemic inequities and create more equitable access for all of Boston’s children. The building will continue to serve the children and families of Grove Hall as an elementary school—and it will continue to carry the name Lilla G. Frederick, a lasting tribute and a powerful reminder that “someone you never knew believed fiercely in you.”
This project was made possible with support from Unity Circles whose commitment to centering communities most impacted by carceral systems and for their leadership in cultivating intergenerational networks grounded in the principles of Restorative Justice and Transformative Justice. Their support has been instrumental in helping Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School document and archive the powerful community and justice efforts taking place across our learning community. This work reflects our shared vision of supporting young people in developing to their full potential in a welcoming and nurturing environment and creating positive connections to the larger community and the world they will lead.
University Archives and 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 welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.
University Archives and Special Collections welcomes inquiries from individuals, organizations, and businesses interested in donating materials of an archival nature that that fit within our collecting policy. These include manuscripts, documents, organizational archives, collections of photographs, unique publications, and audio and video media. For more information about donating to University Archives and Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.
