Category Archives: Collections

Posts about our collections.

Mass. Memories Road Show heads to Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday, Oct. 25

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Martha's Vineyard MMRS final flyerWhen: Sunday, October 25, 2015 | 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Location: Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center | 130 Center Street | Vineyard Haven, Mass.

Do you have a connection to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts? Do you live or work in Martha’s Vineyard? Are your roots in Martha’s Vineyard? Do you spend summers in Martha’s Vineyard or do you vacation there? Share your memories and take your place in Massachusetts history at this free, public event.

Please bring 1-3 photos in their original format (digital or print photographs) and your stories to be recorded. We will scan unframed pictures and copy digital images and return the images back to you. All images will be added to the online collection at openarchives.umb.edu. Preserve your memories of this wonderful island!

Read more about this event here.

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.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is produced by the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston and is co-sponsored by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund.

Local funding for the Martha’s Vineyard Mass. Memories Road Show is provided by Friends of Island Libraries, and a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council. Additional support provided by The Mansion House Inn and Twin Oaks Inn.

For more information, contact Amy Ryan at 508-696-4211 (ext. 11) or by email at amyryan@clamsnet.org. Or visit the the Martha’s Vineyard Mass. Memories Road Show planning committee’s informational website at www.vhlibrary.org/MMRS.shtml.

Download the flyer for the Martha’s Vineyard Mass. Memories Road Show here and remember to share it with your friends and family members!

In the Archives: The People and Animals of Thompson Island

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aam_c_0To celebrate Archives Month, I will be posting highlights from our collections throughout October, beginning with this first post about one of our most popular collections, the Thompson Island collection. I hope that this will turn into a regular series. To learn more about Archives Month, visit the Society of American Archivists website.

As the reference archivist in University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston, I get to work with a wide range of interesting historic materials and want to share some of what I find in the archives. One of our most heavily-used collections is the Thompson Island collection. One of 34 islands in Boston Harbor, Thompson Island has a long history of education and social welfare. The island has been home to several schools since the early nineteenth century: the Boston Farm School Society (1833-1835), the Boston Asylum and Farm School (1835-1907), the Farm and Trades School (1907-1956), and Thompson’s Academy (1956-1975). Learn more about the records of these schools and the history of education on Thompson Island here. The island is currently home to the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, which was established in 1988.

In addition to human residents, Thompson Island has seen a number of animal inhabitants over the years, from dogs and cats to various livestock. Browse the gallery below for a selection of historic critter-related photographs from our Thompson Island collection.

Horses, 1913
Family of ducks, 1917
Dog, 1917
Cow, 1932
Pig, undated [circa 1913-1942]
Goat, undated [circa 1913-1942]
Cat, undated [circa 1913-1942]
Two geese, undated [circa 1913-1942]
Cow and calf, undated [circa 1913-1942]

View the finding aid for the Thompson Island collection here, digitized photographs here, and digitized copies of the Thompson Island Beacon, a student-produced newspaper, 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.

League of American Wheelmen collection comes to the Healey Library at UMass Boston

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John Allen, part of the Board of Directors for the Charles River Wheelmen, unloads one of 200 boxes donated to University Archives and Special Collections on Tuesday. Photo credit: Colleen Locke/UMass Boston

On Tuesday, September 22, University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston received a large donation of material (approximately 200 boxes) from the League of American Wheelmen.

The League of American Wheelmen (now called the League of American Bicyclists) is a national bicycling organization founded in 1880 that played and continues to play an important role around issues of bicycle safety, design standards, promoting bicycling and the rights of bicyclists, and (early in the organization’s existence) advocating for paved roads before the presence of automobiles.

A number of individuals and organizations were involved in the acquisition of the LAW records, including the Charles River Wheelmen (CRW) and member John Allen; Cycling Through History, the Massachusetts African American Heritage Bike Network; and Lorenz Finison, the author of Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport, and Society, which was published in 2014 by the University of Massachusetts Press.

Prior to the donation to the Archives at UMass Boston, Tom Helm, a League member and former board member, stored the collection in his Pennsylvania home for many years, after the League moved to smaller offices and could no longer accommodate the large collection. The transfer of this collection from Helm’s home to UMass Boston has been a real labor of love for those involved, and the financial commitments made by some to secure the safe arrival of these materials at UMass Boston is worth noting. For example, Cycling Through History received a grant from the CRW earlier this year that funded the transportation of these materials to UMass Boston.

The Healey Library at UMass Boston is fast becoming a national resource on bicycling history. We’ve taken in a total of eleven collections over the past few years that tell the stories of bicycling in Boston and around the country. Materials related to the League can be found among the department’s existing collections, as well – notably in the papers of Ralph Galen and Phyllis Harmon. Read more about these collections here.

The extensive records of the League will make a great addition to these existing collections and plans for an exhibition are in progress. We’re currently working with an intern, Sara Davis, a graduate students from Simmons School of Library and Information Science. The exhibit will be on display in 2016.

Keep visiting this site to stay informed about our work with these 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 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.

Internet Scout and the Sumner Tunnel construction photographs in University Archives & Special Collections

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Shield_in_final_positionI’ve been following Internet Scout since 1994 and have long found the site to be a wonderful digital compendium of high quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and humanities resources on the Web, selected by a “team of librarians and subject matter experts who select, research, and annotate each resource.”

The other day I was browsing the site and was excited to find an entry for the Sumner Tunnel construction photographs that noted local historian Anthony Mitchell Sammarco purchased and donated to University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston several years ago. The experts at Internet Scout describe the collection as “a remarkable digital archive” and I couldn’t agree more.

Bracing_of_light_pole_in_North_SqThe photographs, taken from 1929 to 1933, document the construction of the first Boston Harbor tunnel, later called the Sumner Tunnel (after William H. Sumner) when it opened to travelers and commuters. The tunnel, which opened on June 30, 1934, was constructed to handle automobile traffic from the North End of Boston to East Boston. The Boston Globe reported, on July 1, 1934, that approximately 13,000 automobiles passed through the tunnel in the first 24 hours of operation.

View the finding aid for the Sumner Tunnel construction photographs here and view the digital 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.

UMass Boston archivist discusses Mass. Memories Road Show at Society of American Archivists annual meeting

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UMass Boston archivist Jessica Holden (center) with (from left to right) Caitlin Christian-Lamb, Anne Morgan, Kelsey Duinkerken, and Caitlin Brennecke.

UMass Boston archivist Jessica Holden (center) with (from left to right) Caitlin Christian-Lamb, Anne Morgan, Kelsey Duinkerken, and Caitlin Brennecke.

Last week, Jessica Holden, the reference archivist in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston, headed to Cleveland, Ohio, for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists (SAA). On Friday of this year’s conference, Jessica was a co-presenter in a session focused on nontraditional outreach methods used by archives and museums and “how archivists and museum curators can forge connections with a wide variety of communities and grow our profession via new and creative approaches to outreach programs.” See the full listing in the online conference schedule here.

In her presentation – titled “Forging Connections and Building Collections: The Mass. Memories Road Show at UMass Boston” – Jessica discussed the Healey Library’s successful statewide digital history project, the Mass. Memories Road Show, and described aspects of the project that are of unique interest to archivists and museum professionals. In particular, Jessica described how the project brings archival resources out into communities (rather than expecting communities to come to an archives) and how this outreach model helps us reach new audiences and establish richer partnerships within those communities.

In addition to Jessica, other presenters in this session were Caitlin Brennecke from Troy Historic Village, Caitlin Christian-Lamb from Davidson College, Kelsey Duinkerken from Thomas Jefferson University, and Anne Morgan from the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. The session was moderated by Michelle Ganz from Lincoln Memorial University.

View Jessica Holden’s presentation here.

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 was established in 1981 as a repository to collect archival material in subject areas of interest to the university, as well as the records of the university itself. The mission and history of UMass Boston guide the collection policies of University Archives & Special Collections, with the university’s urban mission and strong support of community service reflected in the records of and related to urban planning, social welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, war and social consequence, and local history related to neighboring communities. To learn more, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.