Category Archives: Announcements

Announcements from University Archives & Special Collections.

Photographs, stories, and interviews from West End Mass. Memories Road Show now available

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West End Irregulars shirt. Worn picketing the developments in the West End during the 1990s. Contributor: Jim Capano.

West End Irregulars shirt.
Worn picketing the developments in the West End during the 1990s. Contributor: Jim Campano.

The images, stories, and video interviews gathered at the West End Mass. Memories Road Show on November 15, 2014 are now available for research.

Organized by the West End Museum and held at its location at 150 Staniford Street, the event was also sponsored by the Boston Public Library West End Branch, the West End Civic Association, and the Vilna Shul. Nearly twenty local volunteers collaborated with a team of UMass Boston staff members and “Roadies” from past Mass. Memories Road Shows to welcome adults and children with connections to the Boston neighborhood.

Both my parents are in this pictured. The club taught Yiddish. They had plays. Jewish "almost Communist" club. Contributor: Arthur Geller.

Social club on Causeway Street, 1930s. Both my parents are in this picture. The club taught Yiddish. They had plays. Jewish “almost Communist” club. It was above a cafeteria. Contributor: Arthur Geller.

Approximately 50 individuals contributed 76 photographs and 24 video interviews documenting personal memories of life in the West End. Most of these materials relate to late 19th and early 20th century when the neighborhood was home to a wide range of immigrant families–and before the it was completely razed in the late 1950s. A large number of contributors shared photographs of themselves and their relatives engaged in the neighborhood’s vibrant community life–attending social club meetings, participating in sports and other youth activities at the West End House, and celebrating first communions and other religious milestones. In addition, the collection includes photographs of families relaxing at home and at Charles River Park, and attending informal gatherings.

Several individuals contributed images and stories of the West End’s more recent history. These materials provide a record of efforts to remember the past and revive community as new residential developments were constructed in the 1990s.

Barcyn family on Charles River, 1956. Storrow Drive in background between Revere and Pinckney Streets (across from boat house). My family was part of the Ukrainian community in the West End. Contributor: Linda Barczyn.

Barczyn family on Charles River, 1956. Storrow Drive in background between Revere and Pinckney Streets (across from boat house). My family was part of the Ukrainian community in the West End. Contributor: Linda Barczyn.

Browse the West End Mass. Memories Road Show collection.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is a statewide digital history project that documents people, places and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories. In partnership with teams of local volunteers, we organize public events to scan family and community photographs and videotape “the stories behind the photos.” The images and videos are indexed and incorporated into an online educational database. Since its launch, the project has gathered more than 8,000 photographs and stories from across the state. It is supported in part by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund at UMass Boston.  

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.

In the Archives: Eagle Forward, Newspaper of the 24th Infantry Regiment

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First issue of Eagle Forward. Originally titled Eagle's Flight. September 14, 1950.

First issue of Eagle Forward. Originally titled Eagle’s Flight. September 14, 1950.

The 24th Infantry Regiment was one of the last segregated units in the United States Army. It was formed in 1869 by consolidating the 38th and 41st Colored Infantry Regiments, and all of its enlisted soldiers were African-American. The regiment was engaged in a number of military conflicts and wars throughout its history, including the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, World War II, and the Korean War. It was disbanded in 1951, and then re-instituted in 1995, and served in the Iraq War from 2004-2005. For a useful history of the 24th Infantry Regiment, see Black Soldier, White Army: The 24th Infantry Regiment in Korea, published by the United States Army Center of Military History.

During the Korean War, the regiment published Eagle Forward (originally called Eagle’s Flight in its first issue), a two-page newspaper known as a “foxhole daily,” which had a circulation of about 600 copies which were distributed to soldiers in the Army. From September 1950 until September 1951, Eagle Forward published news items from the Armed Forces Radio Services, the Armed Forces Press Services, the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), and the International News Service (INS). The paper also ran stories about individual soldiers and companies, advice columns, cartoons, and humorous items. AP journalist Hal Boyle wrote of Eagle Forward, “[It was] put out by candlelight, Korean gaslight and flashlight. It has gone to press in bombed-out buildings, abandoned factories, in open fields, in tents and in creek beds… [I]ts editors sometimes have to melt the frozen ink on the stove to publish, but no difficulty yet has stopped them.”

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Newspaper article on Quentin Chavous. [Columbus Dispatch, 1951.]

Quentin Chavous was a member of the 24th Infantry Regiment and served as editor of the newspaper from May-September 1951. Chavous later joined the faculty of the Africana Studies Department at UMass Boston and a board member of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of African American Culture and History. He donated a nearly complete run of Eagle Forward to University Archives & Special Collections in 2006. In addition to issues of the newspaper, the collection also includes Army reports and news clippings on Eagle Forward and Chavous. The entire collection has been digitized and is available on UASC’s website here.

View the finding aid for this collection here.

For questions about this collection or to schedule a research appointment, please contact library.archives@umb.edu or 617-287-5469.

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 welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.

University Archives & 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 & Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.

In the Archives: Women’s Studies Program Records

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Women's Studies course listing brochure, 1981-1982.

Women’s Studies course listing brochure, 1981-1982.

Women’s Studies emerged in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s as a national curriculum and higher education institutional reform movement that addressed issues of gender bias, gender inequality, and sexism in the academic canon and society at large. One of the first Women’s Studies programs in New England was founded at UMass Boston. In the late 1960s, UMass Boston students, faculty, and staff organized a Women’s Association that addressed a variety of feminist issues.

International Women's Day reception flyer, March 1983.

International Women’s Day reception flyer, March 1983.

Faculty in the humanities and social sciences developed courses focused on women and gender. In 1972, a student-faculty committee proposed a Women’s Studies concentration, and the group gathered hundreds of signatures in support of this proposal on a petition to the University Assembly and UMass Boston administration. In 1973, the proposal was approved, and in the fall of that year, the 18-credit interdisciplinary concentration was official.

Over the years, the Women’s Studies faculty at UMass Boston grew, and a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies was proposed in the late 1980s. Chancellor Sherry H. Penney championed the B.A. program during her first year at UMass Boston in 1988, and the program was approved by the Board of Regents in 1989. That fall, Women’s Studies offered a major and minor, but remained as a “program” in order to encourage faculty across disciplines to participate in curriculum development and teaching. The program became a department in 2006, and is now the Women’s and Gender Studies Department.

Founding program faculty members Ann Froines and Jean Humez, circa 1998.

Founding program faculty members Ann Froines and Jean Humez, undated.

From the 25th anniversary commemorative booklet, Women’s Studies at UMass Boston Celebrates 25 Years, 1973-1998, a note from Program Director Jean Humez:

The program has grown and evolved in many ways in this quarter century. We grew to five full-time faculty lines; we evolved from a concentration into a full-fledged academic major (with a minor); and we have continued to develop our curriculum in response to new student and faculty interests (always constrained by resource realities, of course!). Through all the changes, we have remained dedicated to the best goals of feminist education, still enunciated in our handbook:
• To bring the history and critical perspectives of women of different cultures, races, and social classes into the university curriculum;
• To stimulate and support new, nonsexist research and writing on women and gender by students and faculty;
• To help promote a nonsexist university environment.

Women's Studies newsletter, 1981.

Women’s Studies newsletter, 1981.

University Archives & Special Collections holds the records of the Women’s Studies Program from 1972-2006. The records document the program’s governance and growth, including faculty appointments and student enrollment; curriculum development; and special projects and associated organizational work. Formats include proposals, by-laws, meeting minutes, budget information, correspondence, curricular materials, and publications.

View the finding aid for the Women’s Studies Program records here. Browse publications by the Women’s and Gender Studies Department here.

For questions about this collection or to schedule a research appointment, please contact library.archives@umb.edu or 617-287-5469.

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 welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.

University Archives & 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 & Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.

Allston Brighton Mass. Memories Road Show collection now available

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This is an annual spring clean-up of the Penniman Road Community Garden in Union Square. It was a former paved parking lot, converted into a community garden by the Allston Brighton Community Development Corp. in 1985, and contains 28 plots gardened by Boston residents. Gardeners reflect the diversity of the Allston community. Contributor: Robert J. Pessek.

This is an annual spring clean-up of the Penniman Road Community Garden in Union Square, 2012. It was a former paved parking lot, converted into a community garden by the Allston Brighton Community Development Corp. in 1985, and contains 28 plots gardened by Boston residents. Gardeners reflect the diversity of the Allston community. Contributor: Robert J. Pessek.

The images, stories, and video interviews gathered at the Allston Brighton Mass. Memories Road Show on October 26, 2014 are now available for research.

Held at the Veronica B. Smith Multi-Service Senior Center, the event was organized by the Brighton-Allston Historical Society, Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation, Allston Village Main Streets, Boston Public Library Faneuil Branch, and Brighton Main Streets. Two dozen local volunteers collaborated with a team of UMass Boston staff members and “Roadies” from past Mass. Memories Road Shows to welcome adults and children with connections to the Boston neighborhood.

Some of the 1956 graduating girls of St. Columbkille High School. Soon to graduate, we were allowed to go off campus for lunch. This photo was in front of Fitzie's Diner (now Citizen's Bank) in Brighton Center. Contributor: Anne Mahoney.

Some of the 1956 graduating girls of St. Columbkille High School. Soon to graduate, we were allowed to go off campus for lunch. This photo was in front of Fitzie’s Diner (now Citizen’s Bank) in Brighton Center. Contributor: Anne Mahoney.

Approximately 80 individuals contributed nearly 150 photographs documenting personal memories of friends and relatives in Allston, Brighton, and beyond. A large number of contributors shared photographs of themselves and their relatives relaxing at home and attending informal family gatherings and milestone events. The collection also includes images documenting graduation ceremonies, sports competitions, and musical performances.

Many photographs and stories portray residents at work enhancing the quality of life in a changing Boston neighborhood: preserving and renovating historic structures, eliminating invasive plants from Chandler Pond, and campaigning to save the local library. Contributors further shared memories and images of school days, the transportation system, and local businesses.

20 years later my first community involvement in Brighton was working to save this school, which led to my current involvement with many Allston-Brighton civic groups. Contributor: Charlie Vasiliades

Me in Oak Square, first grade, 1964. Twenty years later my first community involvement in Brighton was working to save this school, which led to my current involvement with many Allston-Brighton civic groups. Contributor: Charlie Vasiliades.

Browse the Allston Brighton Mass. Memories Road Show collection.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is a statewide digital history project that documents people, places and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories. In partnership with teams of local volunteers, we organize public events to scan family and community photographs and videotape “the stories behind the photos.” The images and videos are indexed and incorporated into an online educational database. Since its launch, the project has gathered more than 8,000 photographs and stories from across the state. It is supported in part by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund at UMass Boston.  

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.

Exhibition tells story of Carol McEldowney’s anti-war activism and role in Women’s and Gay Liberation movements

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This display of diaries, writings, photographs, and ephemera on the 5th floor of the Healey Library reveals the accomplishments and insights of activist and self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

This display of diaries, writings, photographs, and ephemera on the 5th floor of the Healey Library reveals the accomplishments and insights of activist and self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston is excited to unveil several new exhibitions in the Walter Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library, all of which highlight materials from the department’s extensive archival holdings. I will describe these new exhibitions in a series of news posts over the next week.

The first exhibition I’d like to highlight, in one of the gallery’s upright display cases, is entitled “‘A PERSONAL MANIFESTO … OF SORTS’: The Diaries of Carol McEldowney” and explores the life of activist, writer, and women’s self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

Although she died in 1973 at the young age of 30, “the spunky Carol McEldowney,” as she was described by Todd Gitlin in his book The Sixties, was outstanding in her accomplishments. In 1967, McEldowney was one of only two women in a small contingent from the U.S. to travel to Vietnam where she studied Vietnamese society and the consequences of war.

Pages from McEldowney's Hanoi journal.

Pages from McEldowney’s Hanoi journal.

The diary that McEldowney kept during this trip was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2007. Elizabeth R. Mock, who co-edited McEldowney’s Hanoi Journal for publication, held several positions in the Healey Library at UMass Boston from 1973 until her retirement in 2010. From 1981 to 2010, Mock was the University Archivist and Curator of Special Collections, having established the archival program for the library. The book is available through the Healey Library here or through the UMass Press here.

In 1971, McEldowney moved to Boston where she immersed herself in the emerging Women’s Movement, playing a central role in the establishment of a Women’s Center in Cambridge. During this time she came out as a lesbian and immersed herself in the Gay Liberation Movement.

McEldowney (center, in tank top) in a martial arts or self-defense class.

McEldowney (center, in tank top) in a martial arts or self-defense class.

From 1971 until the end of her life, McEldowney studied martial arts and taught practical self-defense classes to women and children, becoming one of the founders of the movement to use self-defense for rape prevention. An original contributor to Our Bodies, Ourselves, a source book on women’s health, McEldowney participated in one of the first women’s martial arts exhibitions in the country during International Women’s Day, in 1973, in Boston.

The Carol McEldowney collections in University Archives and Special Collections includes McEldowney’s personal papers relating to her activism, as well as several diaries and journals. The papers range in date from 1960 to 1973.

This exhibition uses selections from the McEldowney’s various diaries and journals – as well as photographs, ephemera, and other writings – to tell the story of a woman at the forefront of anti-war activism and the emerging Women’s and Gay Liberation movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Visit the display in the Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library at UMass Boston. The exhibition will run through the spring of 2016.

View the finding aid for the Carol McEldowney collections in University Archives and Special Collections here.

For questions about these collections or to schedule a research appointment, please contact library.archives@umb.edu or 617-287-5469.

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 welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.

University Archives & 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 & Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.