Volume from Healey Library’s Special Collections featured in Rose Art Museum exhibition

War Against War

Ernst Friedrich’s War Against War (1924), from University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston recently had the opportunity to broaden exposure to our collections by loaning our copy of Ernst Friedrich’s War Against War (1924) to the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis Museum, as a centerpiece for their current exhibition, 1914: Magnus Plessen. Organized by Rose Art Museum curator-at-large Katy Siegel, 1914:Magnus Plessen incorporates recent work by Berlin-based painter Magnus Plessen (b.1967) alongside the historical materials and documents of World War I that inspired this body of work.

Curator Katy Siegel notes that in 1924, Ernst Friedrich published War Against War, a book of photographs that documented the experience of World War I. In Friedrich’s visual narrative, early German patriotic fervor gives way quickly to terrible consequences, including the injuries that trench warfare inflicted on individual soldiers. The images themselves were controversial, shocking in their force and frankness.

About 75 years after the initial publication of War Against War, contemporary Berlin artist Magnus Plessen obtained a copy. He has been looking at the book for the past decade, turning over in his mind the images of grievously wounded— now dead—soldiers he cannot forget. In 2012, he was impelled to begin paintings and drawings, working with those images. Unlike the original photographs, the subject of these art works is not the literal, graphic depiction of wounds, but the figurative hole in the original self or self-image of the soldier. Velvety black areas mark these blind spots. A dozen of Plessen’s paintings and accompanying drawings are exhibited, alongside selections from Dix’s print series, copies of Friedrich’s book, and a variety of archival and documentary materials.

1914: Magnus Plessen runs from September 10 through December 14, 2014, at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.


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.

“Conversations Between Communities” exhibition opens in Grossmann Gallery

University Archives & Special Collections welcomes the arrival of the exhibition “Conversations Between Communities: UMass Boston Archaeology for and with the Nipmuc Nation and the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation” in the Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Joseph P. Healey Library.  “Conservations Between Communities” combines cultural objects and photographs to showcase two ongoing UMass Boston archaeological projects that have collaborative relationships with local Native American communities in southern New England.  The exhibition is free to the general public and will remain open through the end of November.

Community-engaged scholarship, learning, and service are important parts of university missions, ensuring that academic projects do not just “take” but also give back in meaningful ways. Archaeological projects with, by, and for Native American communities play significant roles in this process. To achieve these goals, two archaeological field projects at UMass Boston—the Hassanamesit Woods Archaeological Field School (Grafton, Massachusetts) and the Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School (North Stonington, Connecticut)—employ different levels of consultation and collaboration to engage the Nipmuc and the Eastern Pequot communities, respectively, in the archaeology conducted on their lands.

Similarities and differences between artifacts unearthed speak to each community’s unique experiences over the last 400 years, providing new insights to spark conversations between these indigenous groups and the archaeologists and students who work with them. The artifacts presented in this exhibition fall into four main categories—connections to a deeper past, foodways, architecture, and daily lives—that broadly encapsulate life at one Nipmuc homesite in Hassanamesit Woods and at several 18th– and 19th-century households on the Eastern Pequot reservation. The photographs capture some of the nature of archaeological fieldwork and interesting moments of community involvement.

There will be a panel discussion on the Healey Library 5th floor on Tuesday, November 12 from 4:00-6:00 pm.


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.

REMINDER: A Conversation with Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo – September 19, 2013

Manifestación. Un policía enfrenta a las Abuelas (colleción de las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo). Translation: “Demonstration. A police officer faces the Abuelas (from the collection of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo).”

When: Thursday, September 19 | 2:00-3:30 pm

Where: Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA

View a map of the UMass Boston campus.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Joseph P. Healey Library, the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department, the Women’s Studies Department, and the Consortium for Gender, Security and Human Rights at the University of Massachusetts Boston are honored to host a conversation with Estela Barnes de Carlotto, president and a founding member, and Buscarita Roa, assistant treasurer, of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.

One of Argentina’s most renowned human rights organizations, Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) exposed the systematic abduction of children and falsification of their identities as a tactic of the “Dirty War.” Since the restoration of democracy in Argentina, the Grandmothers have continued to press to bring human rights abusers to justice. Their search has located scores of their missing grandchildren and restored their identities. The Grandmothers’ commitment to identity as a human right has inspired rights organizations throughout Latin America and the world.

2:00 – 2:15 pm
View the exhibition, “Nunca Más”: Niños Desaparecidos en Argentina y Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
Healey Library, Grossmann Gallery, 5th floor

2:20 – 3:30 pm
Conversation with Estela Barnes de Carlotto and Buscarita Roa of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
Healey Library, Center for Library Instruction (CLI), 4th floor

Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by emailing library.archives@umb.edu or by calling 617-287-5944.

For more information, visit https://blogs.umb.edu/archives/2013/09/17/restitucion-de-ninos-reminder/.

This event is co-sponsored by the Joseph P. Healey Library, the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department, the Women’s Studies Department, the Consortium for Gender, Security and Human Rights, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

SAVE THE DATE! Restitución de niños: A Conversation with Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo

When: Thursday, September 19 | 2:00-4:00 pm

Where: Joseph P. Healey Library (5th Floor), University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA

View a map of the UMass Boston campus.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

The Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston is honored to host a conversation with Estela Barnes de Carlotto and Buscarita Roa, of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo).

One of Argentina’s most renowned human rights organizations, Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo exposed the systematic abduction of children and falsification of their identities as a tactic of the “Dirty War.” Since the restoration of democracy in Argentina, the Grandmothers have continued to press to bring human rights abusers to justice. Their search has located scores of their missing grandchildren and restored their identities. The Grandmothers’ commitment to identity as a human right has inspired rights organizations throughout Latin America and the world.

Estela Barnes de Carlotto

The Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to welcome Estela Barnes de Carlotto, president and a founding member, and Buscarita Roa, assistant treasurer, from Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo to speak about their important work. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.Please RSVP by emailing library.archives@umb.edu or by calling 617-287-5944.

Buscarita Roa

For more information, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.

This event is co-sponsored by the Joseph P. Healey Library, the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department, the Women’s Studies Department, the Consortium for Gender, Security and Human Rights, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Anyone requiring disability-related accommodations, including dietary accommodations, should visit http://www.ada.umb.edu before September 10, 2013.


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.

Exhibition features interviews, photographs about Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo

On Monday, April 22, 2013, University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston opened an exhibition in the Library’s Grossmann Gallery about the history and work of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo).

The exhibition, titled “Nunca Más”: Niños Desaparecidos en Argentina y Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (“Never Again”: Disappeared Children in Argentina and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo), opened as part of an event celebrating of the life and work of biologist and human rights activist Rita Arditti and the many donations made by Arditti and her Executors to the Library at UMass Boston.

The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a human rights organization founded in 1977 to search for disappeared children who were abducted or born into captivity during the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983. The Grandmothers’ goal was to find these children and return them to their biological families. The Grandmothers’ work led to the creation of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and the establishment of a National Genetic Data Bank.

In the early 1990s, Arditti traveled to Buenos Aires to interview the Grandmothers. She incorporated the interviews into her book Searching for Life: The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the Disappeared Children of Argentina (1999). Two additional interviews with the Grandmothers were conducted in 2011 by Estelle Disch, Professor Emerita at UMass Boston and Executor of the Estate of Rita Arditti.

The Rita Arditti Collection contains audio files, interview transcriptions, and photographs of the Grandmothers. The materials were donated to University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston in 2011.In this exhibition, sponsored by University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston, are photographs of the Grandmothers who were interviewed by Arditti and Disch. Accompanying each photograph is an excerpt from that Grandmother’s interview in the original Spanish as well as an English translation.

The exhibition will be on display in the Healey Library’s Grossmann Gallery through the fall.

Explore this collection at openarchives.umb.edu.

For additional information, email library.archives@umb.edu or call 617-287-5944.


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.