UMass Boston archivists give presentation at ACRL/NEC annual conference

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Meghan Bailey, Processing Archivist in the Healey Library at UMass Boston (left), and a conference attendee discuss the department’s poster.

Last week, archivists from University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston headed to the ACRL/NEC Annual Conference in Worcester, Massachusetts. At this year’s conference, called Spacing Out with the Library: An Exploration of Collaboration Across the Physical, Virtual and those Places in Between, Meghan Bailey and Andrew Elder presented as part of the poster session on the department’s efforts, sparked by the 50th anniversary of the founding of the University of Massachusetts Boston, to carry out a wide range of initiatives, all focused on locating, accessioning, preserving, and sharing the physical evidence of the university’s history.

Meghan and Andrew represented the department at the conference, but the poster was developed and designed collaboratively by the full staff of University Archives & Special Collections.

acrl posterOur poster, titled “‘Save Our History!’ Collaborating to Preserve the Past at UMass Boston,” outlines the various collecting activities, outreach methods, digitization projects, and dogged detective work that resulted in the addition of more than 2,500 linear feet of unique historic materials to the University Archives, as well as a number of well-received public events and exhibitions. We highlight our planning processes, marketing efforts, outreach and collecting endeavors, and our work to share the history of UMass Boston with members of the university community and beyond. We also highlight a number of our successes and identify ways other institutions and archives can work collaboratively to launch similar initiatives.

View the poster and handout here.


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.

May4Matters: Remembering the 45th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State

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Second page of the Mass Media, May 20, 1970. University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

In May 1970, students, faculty, and staff at the University of Massachusetts Boston joined more than 1,250 colleges in protesting the shootings at Kent State on May 4 and, later, at Jackson State on May 15.

On May 5, UMass Boston’s student Senate, according to the Boston Globe, “voted to strike in memory of the four killed at Kent, pending a referendum [on May 6] by the 3600 students …” This resolution was passed amid nationwide demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and, in particular, the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a national address on April 30.

With the events at Kent State the previous day, the protests took on a new, expanded meaning and May 5 became the first day of a student strike that shut down (either partially or completely) more than 450 high school, college, and university campuses across the country.

According to UMass Boston’s student-run newspaper Mass Media – reporting in a “Special Strike Issue” of the publication on May 7, 1970 – students, faculty, and staff at the university passed a resolution earlier that week stating, in part:

We, the faculty, students, and staff of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, hereby call a limited strike, to continue through the final examination period, with the objective of educating ourselves and the urban community about the issues raised by the faculty motion adopted on May 7 1970: American presence in Southeast Asia; political imprisonment of blacks and others; and repression of political dissidents, epitomized by the murder of students at Kent State University…

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Vol. 1, Iss. 1 of the Mass Media’s Special Strike Issue. University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

Weeks of building frustrations – on the UMass Boston campus, around the city, and across the country – preceded this limited strike. In March, plans for the new campus of the university – to be located on Columbia Point, in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood – were unveiled, to considerable community and student resistance. There were efforts in the legislature (ultimately unsuccessful at the time) to dramatically increase tuition at the university. Many faculty members and students expressed concerns that a UMass Boston faculty member had been fired, allegedly because of her involvement in political actions.

And then, on April 30, the U.S. announced that it would invade Cambodia, and just 5 days later at Kent State University, forty-five years ago today and after days of protest and demonstrations against the invasion of Cambodia, members of the National Guard opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators, wounding 9 and killing 4 Kent State students, including bystanders not involved in the demonstrations. In an eerily similar incident 11 days later at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi (now Jackson State University), in the early hours of the morning, police shot and killed 2 students and injured 12 during an anti-war demonstration.

Click here to see how other colleges and universities across the country are showing that #May4Matters.

Learn more about the Kent State shootings here.


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.

Archival collection documents 50 years of UMass Boston

IMG_1068UMass Boston has come a long way since first opening its doors to students in 1965 — something we were thrilled to see highlighted in a recent Boston Globe article about the opening of the Integrated Sciences Complex.

But there’s so much more to the story of UMass Boston. To that end, University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library is pleased to announce that the records of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (1964-2012) are now open for research. The bulk of this collection contains long-range plans and five-year plans from 1964 to 1989 and enrollment reports from 1982 to 2000. Formats and document types range from photocopies and reports to correspondence and memoranda.

Though spanning only one linear foot, the contents of this collection document the founding objectives and activities of the university and are of particular significance as we look back on fifty years of UMass Boston. One highlight within the records includes the “Original UMB Plan 1964” from September 1964, which was prepared by the Office of the Director of Planning. The plan indicates the need to establish a new Boston-area campus to “meet the educational needs of the metropolitan area for the next fifty to sixty years” and “accommodate 10,000 to 20,000 college students within a decade or two.” This document outlines proposed curricula, evaluation of enrollment projection, a list of site locations for the new university, and space requirements for faculty and students. The plan also includes minutes of various committees and subcommittees. The original plan was for the university to be open for 1,000 students by September of 1965. The records within the folder entitled “Who Are Our Students? 2002-2012” indicate that by fall 2012,  15,874 students were enrolled, an amazing mark of progress for the university!

If you have any questions or if you would like to schedule a time to explore this or any of our collections, email library.archives@umb.edu or call 617-287-5469.

View the finding aid for this collection here.


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.

Publications Office photographs now available for research, online and in person

Chancellor Carlo Golino greeting students as they arrive on campus. UASC-UAPHO-0004-0293-0006

Chancellor Carlo Golino greeting students as they arrive on campus, circa 1974-1975. UASC-UAPHO-0004-0293-0006

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is excited to announce that the University of Massachusetts Boston Publications Office photographs, ca. 1966-2000, are now open for research. Additionally, a number of photographs from the collection have been digitized and are available online at openarchives.umb.edu.

The UMass Boston publications office produced the majority of the university’s publications for many years. On August 1, 1998, Chancellor Sherry H. Penney reorganized several departments at the administrative level, creating one unit that was responsible for enrollment and communication services.

This collection includes photographs and slides from the publications office at UMass Boston from 1966 to 2000. The images in this collection deal broadly with issues related to the university, such as student and staff life, campus buildings, and events. Most people in the photographs are unidentified, though several individuals have been identified, including James Blackwell, Bernard Kramer, Governor Francis W. Sargent, Roger Prouty, Daisy Tagliacozzo, Herbert Lyken, Barbara Buchanan, and Bettina Harrison. Additional photograph subjects include Edward “Ted” Kennedy, Thomas P. (“Tip”) O’NeillMartin Luther King III, and President Bill Clinton. Photographs of university events include the dedication of Phillis Wheatley Hall and an image from the Founding Day Convocation in 1966.

In the Special Arts Festival (1978) folder is a photograph of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis presenting a document proclaiming the weekend of May 6-7, 1978, to be Arts Festival Weekend. In the photo, Governor Dukakis is pictured with Dean Michael Richards, Joan Hobson, and … a mime?

Promotional photographs of performers at the Harbor Festival in 1980 include the Children’s Ethnic Dance Co. of the Elma Lewis School, Krakowiak Polish Dancers, Boston punk band The Neighborhoods, choreographer Danny Sloan, performer Mr. Slim, and the Old Time Music and Vaudeville Revival.

We invite you to assist us in identifying faculty, staff, students, community members, and events by commenting on digitized photographs from the collection or by emailing library.archvies@umb.edu with information.

View digitized photographs from this collection here and view the finding aid for this collection. To make an appointment to view the collection, email library.archives@umb.edu.


These records were processed as part of University Archives & Special Collections’ Save Our History! campaign. As part of UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary, University Archives & Special Collections is calling for the transfer of founding documents and organizational records from all units on campus. These units include (but are not limited to) academic departments, administrative units, institutes, centers, and student groups. Read more about transferring University records to UASC.

UMass Boston newsletters from 1965 to 2009 now available online

University Newsletters

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the University of Massachusetts Boston, University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library is pleased to announce that we’ve digitized nearly 50 years of campus newsletters and have posted the full, searchable run online here.

These newsletters, starting with the Bulletin in 1965 and ending with the University Reporter in 2009, show how our campus has evolved since our early years in Park Square. What began as a simple, single-page leaflet announcing campus events and news over time evolved into a twelve page publication like the University Reporter, with photographs, longer feature stories, and more. These newsletters cover a wide range of topics from campus BBQs, to faculty hirings and retirements, to book releases, to information about new programs and community-focused initiatives.

The University Reporter was replaced in 2009 by The Point, a biweekly e-newsletter featuring faculty achievements, student successes, and Campus Notes.

If you’d like to learn more about the history of UMass Boston, or if you simply want to take a walk down memory lane, visit scholarworks.umb.edu/university_pubs.


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.