Category Archives: University Archives

Moving from Park Square to Columbia Point: Records document the search for a permanent UMass Boston campus

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Buildings on the newly opened Columbia Point Campus of UMass Boston, circa 1974.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the availability of a set of records that document the search in the late 1960s for a permanent campus site for the University of Massachusetts Boston.

The University of Massachusetts Boston was established in 1964, with its first campus opening in downtown Boston at Park Square. Shortly thereafter, the University began a search for a permanent campus location elsewhere in the Boston area. The search culminated with the establishment of the Columbia Point campus in 1974. These records document the search for a new campus, the various sites that were considered, and the public’s reactions to the move away from Park Square.

Materials span 1966-1969 and include consultants’ reports, maps, memoranda, press releases, correspondence, and statements for and against the establishment of a University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point.

View the finding aid for this collection.

These records have been reprocessed and reorganized by Jessica Holden, Special Projects Archivist/Librarian, as part of the University Archives & Special Collections’ activities in preparation for the University’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations.

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.

Interviews with UMass Boston founding faculty: Now online

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Founding faculty from UMass Boston, circa 1965. Included are Eisenmann Oral History Project interviewees: Thomas Brown (second row from the front, seventh from the left); Paul Gagnon (third row, on the far left); Don Costello (third row, fourth from the left); George Goodwin (fourth row, on the far left); and Shaun O’Connell (fourth row, third from the left). Click on the image to learn more.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the online availability of interview transcripts and audio files from the Linda Eisenmann UMass Boston Oral History Project.

In the fall semester of 1998, students in the Higher Education Administration Doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, under the direction of Professor Linda Eisenmann, completed a series of oral history interviews with founding faculty members at UMass Boston.

Faculty members were identified and invited to participate by Paul Gagnon, former dean and professor at UMass Boston, and Don Costello, the first admissions director of UMass Boston. Students in the Higher Education History course made arrangements directly with the faculty and conducted the interviews. Interviewees were informed that the oral histories would be used first in class, but would later become part of the permanent archives of the institution. Students followed a defined protocol in conducting the interviews; therefore, questions and topics are consistent across the interviews.

Browse this collection.

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.

Records documenting the planning and establishment of UMass Boston: Newly available for research

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Frederick S. Troy, John W. Lederle, Joseph P. Healey, Robert D. Gordon, Hugh Thompson, Louis M. Lyons, and Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody (seated) at the signing of the bill establishing the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1964.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the availability of materials documenting the planning and establishment of the University of Massachusetts Boston almost 50 years ago.

These records document the University of Massachusetts’ planning activities for a Boston campus, including dealings with the legislature and copies of the founding legislation. Items in the collection include planning documents, consultants’ reports, state acts, statements of purpose, minutes of meetings, memoranda, and materials documenting the Founding Convocation. The University of Massachusetts Boston was established in 1964 as the second campus of the University of Massachusetts system (after Amherst), which now includes campuses in Lowell, Dartmouth, and Worcester (Medical School).

View the finding aid for this collection.

These records have been reprocessed and reorganized by Jessica Holden, Special Projects Archivist/Librarian, as part of the University Archives & Special Collections’ activities in preparation for the University’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations.

Stay tuned: University Archives & Special Collections will soon be launching a site to enable members of the University community to share their stories about UMass Boston. Subscribe to email updates at blogs.umb.edu/archives for up-to-date information.

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.

Topping Out the ISC

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Topping Off – Signing the Beam

The topping out of a construction project is a ceremonial event long observed by ironworkers and others in the construction trades marking the end of steel construction by putting into place a final, signed beam.

On February 16, 2012, hundreds of UMass Boston faculty, staff, students, construction workers and local dignitaries signed the beam to mark this milestone in the construction phase of the $155 million Integrated Science Complex.

Everyone who signed the beam also signed a list that will be preserved in the University Archives.