Category Archives: University Archives

Remembering Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Class of 1988

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Mayor Thomas Menino, Verizon's Robert Mudge, UMass Boston Chancellor Sherry Penney, and Ira Jackson at the Business-Higher Education Forum, 1998. UASC-UAPHO-0002-0063-0004

Mayor Thomas Menino, Verizon’s Robert Mudge, UMass Boston Chancellor Sherry Penney, and Ira Jackson at the Business-Higher Education Forum, 1998. UASC-UAPHO-0002-0063-0004

Today, the City of Boston bids farewell to beloved five-term mayor Thomas M. Menino, who passed away last Thursday, October 30.

Menino received his bachelor of arts in 1988 from UMass Boston’s College of Public and Community Service with a concentration in community planning. Menino took part in the 1987 commencement exercises, but received his degree in January 1988. View the commencement program here (his name appears on page 21 of the PDF). Seven years later, in 1994, he was on the commencement platform again, but this time he was giving the principal address to the graduates as The Honorable Thomas M. Menino, Mayor, City of Boston. View the 1994 commencement program here.

Over the years, Mayor Menino visited the campus often in support of the university’s strong programs in urban planning and community service. A number of images in the photograph collections of University Archives & Special Collections document Mayor Menino’s commitment to the mission of UMass Boston. Click here to view photographs of Mayor Menino from our collection.

Mayor Menino views Road Show photographs from Dorchester with University Archivist Joanne Riley.

Mayor Menino views Road Show photographs from Dorchester with University Archivist Joanne Riley.

Finally, the mayor’s office was a strong supporter of the Grub Street Memoir Project, which partnered with UMass Boston’s Mass. Memories Road Show project in 2007 for a reading and photo scanning evening at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square. Learn more about the Grub Street Memoir Project here and view the images collected at the Grub Street Mass. Memories Road Show.

The Healey Library joins the UMass Boston community and the City of Boston in offering condolences to the Mayor’s family on the loss of a remarkable man and a tireless public servant who transformed our city for the better. Mayor Menino will be missed.

College of Liberal Arts, Dean’s Office records: Now available for research

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College of Liberal Arts, Dean’s Office: records, 1971-2009

College of Liberal Arts, Dean’s Office: records, 1971-2009

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce that the College of Liberal Arts, Dean’s Office records, 1971-2009, are now open for research.

This collection, spanning 14.5 linear feet, documents the development and growth of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1971 to 2009, particularly the activities of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Senate, as well as course and program development. Records include carbon copies, photo copies, notes, reports, correspondence, memos, resumes, budgets, strategic  plans, accreditation information, enrollment status reports, program and regents’ reviews, self-studies, statistics, class scheduling, and agenda and meeting minutes for the Faculty Council and the CLA Senate.

Series I includes files that were maintained by Dean Louise Smith, dating from 1971 to 2006. Records from Series V were most likely maintained by Edna Seaman, Associate Dean from 1980 to 1992. Items of note include records for the Writing Proficiency Exam review by the Office of Civil Rights, Senate Actions to improve the exam from 1988 to 1993, and the diversification plan from 1975 to 1979. Also of note is information pertaining to the development of a Black Studies department at UMass Boston from 1974 to 1980.

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

View the finding aid for this collection.

These records have been 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.

Who’s Who? — Chancellor Carlo L. Golino and others look at plan for Columbia Point campus

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As part of UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary celebrations, students working with University Archives & Special Collections have been digitizing, describing, and making available photos from the school’s past. View our collection of University Archives Historic Photographs.

While every effort is made to identify individuals and events pictured, we can always use your help filling in some of the gaps! Every week we will post a new photo with missing information, and if you recognize the people or event simply make a comment below or email library.archives@umb.edu telling us what you know. With your help we can create an even better record of UMass Boston’s history!

In this photo, UMass Boston Chancellor Carlo L. Golino, left, and two unidentified men are photographed in front of a plan for the new Columbia Point campus detailing its different phases of construction. The Columbia Point campus first welcomed students in 1974 after spending the previous decade in Boston’s Park Square.

If you can help identify individuals in the photograph, please comment below or email library.archives@umb.edu.

Chancellor Carlo L. Golino (left) and two unidentified men in front of a plan for Columbia Point campus detailing its different phases of construction.

Chancellor Carlo L. Golino (left) and two unidentified men in front of a plan for Columbia Point campus detailing its different phases of construction. UASC-UAPHO-0003-0048-0003

Tangible Things in University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston

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Laurel Thatcher Ulrich at the Mass. History Conference. Her keynote talk was titled "Upstairs, Downstairs, and All Around the House: Making Work Visible."

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich at the Mass. History Conference. Her keynote talk was titled “Upstairs, Downstairs, and All Around the House: Making Work Visible.” Photograph courtesy Mass Humanities.

At the recent Massachusetts History Conference keynote speaker Laurel Thatcher Ulrich encouraged attendees to consider the “tangible things” in history.

As I look around our collections, several items catch my eye – a 1940 Fun with Dick and Jane reader, an aerial photograph of Columbia Point, c. 1960, and membership lists of the Saturday Evening Girls. Here reside our tangible things that serve as our window into the past.

Fun with Dick and Jane. Library Call #: PE1117.K2 G731 (Special Collections).

Fun with Dick and Jane. Library Call #: PE1117.K2 G731 (Special Collections).

The Dick and Jane reader becomes more than a book on a shelf, it is memories of struggling to unlock the words that will eventually broaden our world; memories of cuddling with a parent or beloved sibling while reading; memories of a world that may have looked very different than our own.

Views of Columbia Point in the 1960s offer insight into Boston’s rural past, urban planning, and the future of higher education.

The Saturday Evening Girls, created in 1899 as a reading group at the North Bennet Street Industrial School and later an educational club of the Boston Public Library, became a progressive movement to educate and socialize young women. Best known for establishing the Paul Revere Pottery, the organization also published a newsletter, sponsored events, and trained women for leadership responsibilities. The Saturday Evening Girls membership lists are more than a series of names on a page; they open for us a world of arts and craft pottery, immigrant life, and reform movements in early 20th century Boston.

Aerial view of Columbia Point, circa 1960s. UASC-UAPHO-0001-0172

Aerial view of Columbia Point, circa 1960s. UASC-UAPHO-0001-0172

We encourage you to explore the tangible things in your own world. You can start with Laurel Ulrich’s free EdX course at Harvard University, called Tangible Things: Discovering History Through Artworks, Artifacts, Scientific Specimens, and the Stuff Around You. In this online and openly available course, Ulrich encourages participants to “discover new ways of looking at, organizing, and interpreting tangible things in your own environment.”

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.

Who’s Who? — Alumni Board of Directors and Alumni Board Officers, February 1978

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As part of UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary celebrations, students working with University Archives & Special Collections have been digitizing, describing, and making available photos from the school’s past. View our collection of University Archives Historic Photographs.

While every effort is made to identify individuals and events pictured, we can always use your help filling in some of the gaps! Every week we will post a new photo with missing information, and if you recognize the people or event simply make a comment below or email library.archives@umb.edu telling us what you know. With your help we can create an even better record of UMass Boston’s history!

This photograph from February 22, 1978, was taken at an alumni reception for the Alumni Board of Directors and the Alumni Board of Officers. Pictured, from left to right: unidentified man, unidentified woman, Franklin Patterson, Chancellor Claire Van Ummersen, Alumni President Albert H. Russell, and an unidentified man.

If you can help identify individuals in the photograph, please comment below or email library.archives@umb.edu.

An alumni reception given for the Alumni Board of Directors and the Alumni Board of Officers. Left to right: unidentified man, unidentified woman, Franklin Patterson, Chancellor Claire Van Ummersen, Alumni President Albert H. Russell, and an unidentified man.

An alumni reception given for the Alumni Board of Directors and the Alumni Board of Officers. Left to right: unidentified man, unidentified woman, Franklin Patterson, Chancellor Claire Van Ummersen, Alumni President Albert H. Russell, and an unidentified man.