Category Archives: Events

Historian and UMass Boston alumnus Anthony M. Sammarco ’79 publishes Lost Boston

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With Lost Boston, historian and UMass Boston alumnus Anthony M. Sammarco ’79 takes readers on a nostalgic journey back in time to visit some of Boston’s  disappeared buildings and places in all their grandeur, before the wrecking ball and decline set in. For information about upcoming book talks featuring Sammarco, click here.

From the 1870s up to the present day, 68 different losses are represented in Lost Boston, including schools, churches, theaters, grand mansions, dockyards, racetracks, parks, stores, hotels, offices, and factories. Organized chronologically starting with the earliest losses and ending with the latest, Lost Boston features much-loved institutions that failed to stand the test of time, along with old-fashioned hotels and sports facilities that were beyond updating or refurbishment. Losses explored include Franklin Place, Boston City Hall, Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Hancock House, Gleason’s Publishing Hall, Fort Hill, Franklin Street, Boston Coliseum, Boylston Market, Merchants Exchange, Haymarket Square, Boston Public Library, Horticultural Hall, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Revere House (Hotel), Huntington Avenue Grounds, Charlestown City Hall, Molasses Tank, Cyclorama, Readville Trotting Park and Race Track, East Boston Airport, Boston Latin School, East Boston Ferries, Braves Field, Massachusetts State Prison, Boston Opera House, Boston Aquarium, The Howard Athenaeum, and Dudley Street Station.

Well known locally for his community service in disseminating local history, Anthony M. Sammarco has donated his archives to University Archives & Special Collections in the Healey Library at UMass Boston. Sammarco intends to donate a copy of Lost Boston, along with his research materials and photographs, to University Archives & Special Collections.

For information about upcoming book talks featuring Sammarco, click here. Books will be available for purchase for $18.95 at these events and will be signed by the author.

10th annual Mass History Conference explores the history of women at work in Massachusetts

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Contribution by Sarafina Collura to the Waltham Mass. Memories Road Show, an initiative of University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston.

Contribution by Sarafina Collura to the Waltham Mass. Memories Road Show, an initiative of University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston.

When: Monday, June 2, 2014 | 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

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

Online registration is open through Friday, May 30th by visiting https://go.masshumanities.org/.

Click here for directions.

On June 2nd, staff and volunteers from historical organizations, public historians, and interested individuals are invited to join with historians from across the state in exploring the history of women at work in Massachusetts at the tenth annual Mass History Conference. This day-long conference will welcome the many small historical organizations that preserve, interpret, and deepen the exploration of Massachusetts history.

The stories of lesser-known women change-makers get lost in the larger narrative of industry, politics and conflict, but the timing is right for an examination of their tales of great and compelling variety, of lives lived with courage and determination. This anniversary conference, Never Done: Interpreting the History of Women at Work in Massachusetts, features noted Harvard scholar Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who will present the keynote.

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, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Public History Program, the University of Massachusetts Boston Public History and Archives Track, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth & Ned Bacon.

Online registration is open through Friday, May 30th by visiting https://go.masshumanities.org/.

Saturday Evening Girls talk at North End Branch of Boston Public Library

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Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

When: Wednesday, June 4, 2014 | 6:00 pm

Where: North End Branch of the Boston Public Library | 25 Parmenter Street, Boston, Mass. 02113

Click here to view a map.

On Wednesday, June 4, at 6:00 pm, the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library will host a talk by Dr. Dorothy E. King, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Harrisburg, titled “SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS: Jewish and Italian Immigrant Artists and Scholars of Early 1900s Boston.”

The Saturday Evening Girls, created in 1899 as a reading group at the North Bennet Street Industrial School and expanded into an educational club of the Boston Public Library, became a progressive movement to educate and socialize young women on the North End. Best known for establishing the Paul Revere Pottery, the organization also published a newsletter, sponsored ethnic and cultural events, and trained women for leadership responsibilities in local and broader arenas.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston recently acquired the Barbara Maysles Kramer Collection, courtesy of the family of Barbara Kramer. Kramer spent many years researching the history of the Saturday Evening Girls, gathering recollections and documentation of the turn-of-the-20th century group. The collection is currently being processed by UMass Boston archivists and will be fully open for research soon. Keep visiting this blog for updates about the status of this exciting new addition to the Healey Library at UMass Boston’s special 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 action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities, including the Boston Harbor Islands. To learn more about University Archives & Special Collections, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.

Mass. Memories Road Show heads to Wayland

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Wayland Mass. Memories Road ShowWhen: Saturday, March 8, 2014 – 10 a.m – 2 p.m.

Location: Wayland Middle School, 201 Main Street, Wayland, Mass. Click here for directions.

Do you have a connection to Wayland, Massachusetts? Share your memories and take your place in Massachusetts history at this free, public event. Please bring up to three photographs related to your experience of Wayland. The photos will be scanned and immediately returned to you at the event. All images and stories collected at Mass. Memories Road Shows are available online at openarchives.umb.edu.

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 Wayland Mass. Memories Road Show is also sponsored locally by the Town of Wayland, 375th Anniversary Planning Committee.

Read more about the Wayland Mass. Memories Road Show here and here.

In the event of a snow storm, this Road Show will take place on Sunday, March 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Questions? Email carolyn.goldstein@umb.edu.

State Library of Massachusetts to host presentation on “Great Molasses Flood”

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John Callahan was among the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood. Callahan was a member of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections.

The death certificate of John Callahan, who was among the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood. Callahan was a member of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections.

When: Thursday, January 23, 2014 | 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Where: State Library of Massachusetts | Room 442, State House

Bring your lunch to the State Library of Massachusetts (in the Massachusetts State House) on Thursday, January 23, and listen to John Horrigan, host of the 2013 Boston/New England Emmy Award™-winning historical television program “The Folklorist,” as he presents a short presentation on “The Great Molasses Flood.”

The Great Molasses Flood of January 15, 1919, as it’s come to be known, is perhaps one of the oddest disasters in New England history, and one that continues to capture the interest of historians and the general public alike. Read more about this presentation, part of the State Library’s Brown Bag discussion series, here…

Of the 21 people who lost their lives in the Molasses Flood, at least two, James Lennon and John Callahan, were members of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, the records of which are held in University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston. The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was founded in 1879 by a group of Irish immigrants to provide life insurance benefits for its members. A Foresters member record includes an Application for Membership, health examination information, a Death Certificate, a Death Benefit Payout (with information about beneficiaries), and other supporting documents.

The Death Certificate for John Callahan, seen above, lists his cause of death as “Mult[iple] injuries including fracture of pelvis with consequent infection caused by the bursting of a molasses tank.”

Learn more about the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters and the Foresters Mortuary Records here.