Chew on This: 11th annual Mass History Conference explores the history of food in Massachusetts

2015 bannerWhen: Monday, June 1, 2015 | 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

Where: Hogan Campus Center, College of Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.

Online registration is open. Visit www.masshumanities.org.

Click here for directions.

At this, the eleventh annual Mass History Conference, conference organizers will welcome the many small historical organizations and practitioners preserving, interpreting, and deepening the exploration of Massachusetts history.

You are what you eat! Or are you? At this year’s conference, we will explore the meaning and availability of food in Massachusetts History: what we grow, what we eat, food and identity, scarcity and quality. We will once again present a program that is chock-full of excellent hands-on examples of, and workshops in, the best practices in public history. We are planning workshops on topics like doing food demonstrations; conducting oral histories that focus on food and identity; and using public history in reinventing the food system. The conference will also include sessions on 20th century food production; archives with cookbook and other food-related collections; the history of and current strategies for feeding the hungry in Massachusetts cities and towns; multicultural food ways and local practices; how to interpret account books; Native American food practices; and interpreting agricultural landscapes.

This year’s conference, Chew on This: Presenting the history of food in Massachusetts, will feature a keynote address by filmmaker Ian Cheney, creator of The Search for General Tso, a 2014 documentary film about Chinese food in America, and co-founder of Food Corps.

Conference organizers are happy to welcome the 2015 MA SHRAB Forum to the Mass History Conference! MA SHRAB is holding two free sessions in the afternoon to which any Mass History Conference participant may attend. If you would like to ONLY attend these two SHRAB sessions, register for free on the MA SHRAB Forum Registration Page.

The Mass History Conference, widely celebrated as the best networking and skill-sharing opportunity for historians of our state culture, is co-presented by Mass Humanities, New England Archivists, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Public History Program, Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board (MA SHRAB), the University of Massachusetts Boston Public History and Archives Track, and the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston.

Online registration is open. Visit www.masshumanities.org.

You’re Invited! — Making a History of Columbia Point: A Participatory Exhibition

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Title: Columbia Point Community Leaders, 1965. Contributed by Richard Scobie. ID: UASC-0140-0036-0106-0001. Image from the Mass. Memories Road Show, which is produced by University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston.

When: Saturday, May 9, 2015 –  9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location: Bay Vista Room, Harbor Point Clubhouse, 1 North Point Drive, Boston, MA 02125.

Click here for directions.

Everyone with a connection to Columbia Point—past and present—is welcome to attend this free, public event, sponsored by University Archives & Special Collections, the Joseph P. Healey Library, and the Department of History (Public History Program) at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Graduate students in UMass Boston’s spring 2015 public history seminar will interpret parts of local history through time, objects, photos, and physical sites.

Community members are invited to to review the students’s work and to participate in the process of making a history of Columbia Point. Together, a community history will be created and materials for a future exhibition on the neighborhood identified.

Bring photos, stories, objects, documents, and questions to include in an interactive timeline and in other historical media designed by the student project team.

Download and share the flyer for this event here.

Light refreshments will be served. Free parking is available.

Contacts

Jane Becker, PhD
Graduate Internship Coordinator and Lecturer
History Department, UMass Boston
Jane.Becker@umb.edu | 617-287-6885

Carolyn Goldstein, PhD
Public History and Community Archives Program Manager
University Archives & Special Collections, UMass Boston
Carolyn.Goldstein@umb.edu | 617-287-5929

For disability-related accommodations, including dietary accommodations, please visit www.ada.umb.edu two weeks prior to the event.

Mass. Memories Road Show heads to Hingham on Sunday, May 17

Hingham Mass. Memories Road Show final flyerWhen: Sunday, May 17, 2015 –  10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Location: Hingham Town Hall, 210 Central Street, Hingham, Mass. Click here for directions.

Do you have a connection to Hingham, Massachusetts? Do you live or work in Hingham? Are your roots in Hingham? 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 neighborhood! 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.

For more information call 781-741-1492 or visit the Hingham Mass. Memories Road Show planning committee’s website at www.hingham-ma.gov/events/MAMemories/index.html.

Download the flyer for the Hingham Mass. Memories Road Show here.

Visualizing Historical Data with the MetroBoston DataCommon

historic mapping

Late last year, the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass., offered a workshop titled “How to Do History with Online Mapping Tools” as part of a series related to the Museum and Library’s collection of historic maps. The workshop was sponsored by the Ruby W. and LaVon P. Linn Foundation.

In the workshop, participants learned how to use online tools to consult and create maps that chart Metro Boston area history. The presenters were Jessie Partridge from the MetroBoston DataCommon, a provider of free applications that make it possible to map data, and Joanne Riley, University Archivist and Curator of Special Collections in the Healey Library at UMass Boston.

Both presenters helped lay historians, data fans, and map enthusiasts discover how visualizations of data and space related to our region can help us understand our history.

Workshop materials: Joanne Riley’s presentation and handout; Jessie Partridge’s presentation.

One collaborative example from the workshop, using data from the records of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters:


View Larger Visualization


View Larger Visualization


View Larger Visualization


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.

Mass. Memories Road Show heads to Boston’s West End this Saturday

westendmemories_pic2When: Saturday, November 15, 2014 –  10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Location: The West End Museum, 150 Staniford St. (on Lomasney Way), Boston, Mass. Click here for directions.

Do you have a connection to the West End in Boston, Massachusetts? Share your memories and take your place in Massachusetts history at this free, public event.

Please bring 1-3 photos in their original format 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 neighborhood! 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.

The West End Mass. Memories Road Show is being hosted by the West End Museum and partners include The Vilna Shul, West End Civic Association, and the West End Branch of the BPL.

Questions: Contact Kim Whitaker at 845-270-2188, 617-723-2125, or kim@westendmuseum.org.