Spencer Mass. Memories Road Show photographs and stories now online

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Duct tape prom dress, 2007.

Duct tape prom dress, 2007. “My daughter, Christin, worked on this dress for months. She even made the sandals, purse, and necklace out of purple and white duct tape. She wore it to her high school prom. I’m so proud to be her mother.” Contributor: Denise Formosa.

The photographs and stories gathered at the Spencer Mass. Memories Road Show are available online now for research.

Held at the Spencer Town Hall on April 3, 2016, the event was organized by the Richard Sugden Library, Spencer Cable Access, the Spencer Historical Commission, and the Spencer Board of Selectmen.

Over twenty local volunteers collaborated with a team of UMass Boston staff members and “Roadies” from past Mass. Memories Road Shows to welcome nearly 80 adults and children with connections to the small town west of Worcester.

The Andrews family on Easter Sunday, 1969.

The Andrews family on Easter Sunday, 1969. “Pictured, from back to front, left to right: Donna Andrews, Darlene Andrews, Debbie Andrews, Nancy Andrews holding Diana Andrews in her lap, Dale Andrews, Denise ‘Buffy’ Andrews, and Albert ‘Sonny’ Andrews, Jr.” Contributor: Nancy Andrews.

Participants shared photographs and stories of themselves and their families at home in Spencer over the years. Many individuals contributed memories of marching in parades, performing in bands, and participating in sports competitions as well as a variety of other community activities. Images of life at work in local businesses and factories document aspects of town’s industrial heritage.

Several people brought materials documenting places in Spencer that are important to them, such as family farms, Peloquin’s Beach at Lake Whittemore, and St. Joseph’s Abbey. The 1955 flood and the great fire in Joe’s Junkyard in 1988 are among the memorable events represented in the collection.

Peloquin's Beach, c. 1938.

Peloquin’s Beach, c. 1938. “Pictured: my grandfather Albert R. Peloquin, my great uncle Robert Peloquin, and my great grandfather Albert J. Peloquin with an unidentified lifeguard. Location: Lake Whittemore.” Contributor: Vito J. Colonna.

The video interviews from this event are not yet available and will be added to the collection at a later date. Visit blogs.umb.edu/archives for updates.

Browse the Spencer Mass. Memories Road Show collection 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. In partnership with teams of local volunteers, we organize public events to scan family and community photographs and videotape “the stories behind the photos.” The images and videos are indexed and incorporated into an online educational database. Since its launch, the project has gathered more than 8,000 photographs and stories from across the state. It is supported in part by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund at UMass Boston.  

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston was established in 1981 as a repository to collect archival material in subject areas of interest to the university, as well as the records of the university itself. The mission and history of UMass Boston guide the collection policies of University Archives & Special Collections, with the university’s urban mission and strong support of community service reflected in the records of and related to urban planning, social welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, war and social consequence, and local history related to neighboring communities. To learn more, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.

Happy National Poetry Day! Explore the Cid Corman collection of poetry, translations, and edited works

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corman_no-less

Corman, Cid. no less. Elizabeth Press, 1968.

In celebration of National Poetry Day, we’re highlighting our collection of works by local poet Cid Corman. Cid Corman was born in 1934 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and grew up in Dorchester. He graduated from Tufts University in 1941 and did graduate work at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, and the Sorbonne.

A prolific poet, editor, and translator, Corman was the owner of the Origin Press, and he edited and published Origin magazine. While living in Boston he worked to promote the poetry community through events and a radio program. He moved to Japan in the late 1950s and continued to edit Origin, write poetry, and translate Japanese works. He died in 2004.

This collection in University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston consists of volumes of poetry written by Cid Corman, volumes of poetry written by other authors that were edited or translated by Corman, and two series of the periodical Origins, edited by Corman. In addition to the cataloged monographs and serials, the collection contains a small number of broadsides, publicity material, and miscellaneous publications.

Snow drips
into
snow drifts

What less
than this
than this

Rain falls —
nothing else
to say —
but say it

In cylin-
drical
rainwater

azalea
petals:
help
yourself

-Excerpt from no less by Cid Corman, 1968.

View the finding aid for the Cid Corman collection here.

For questions about this collection or to schedule a research appointment, please contact library.archives@umb.edu or 617-287-5469.

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.

Place in the Neighborhood: Pushed Out, Pushing Back – Latest issue of the Trotter Review available on ScholarWorks

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This photograph, from an article by Jen Douglas about gentrification and Jamaica Plain’s Hyde-Jackson Squares, shows Matchstick Man to "symbolize the landlords who burned buildings they found insufficiently profitable in order to collect insurance money" and "Monopoly Man ... proudly admiring his acquisitions with the fires literally behind him.". Photo credit: Diana Shoberg (2004).

This photograph from an article by Jen Douglas about gentrification in Jamaica Plain, shows Matchstick Man to “symbolize the landlords who burned buildings they found insufficiently profitable” and “Monopoly Man … proudly admiring his acquisitions with the fires literally behind him.” Photo credit: Diana Shoberg (2004).

The most recent issue of the Trotter Review, now available on ScholarWorks, explores issues of gentrification and dispossession. As Barbara Lewis, the director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, writes in her introduction to this issue of the journal, this issue of the Trotter Review explores “gentrification and its alternate, dispossession, through the lens of housing policy focused on increasing opportunity; as a strategy of neighborhood displacement; as possible collusion between developers, politicians, and members of an African heritage leadership class eager to keep their pockets jingling with gold; and as local examples of ouster and remake of a neighborhood to suit the tastes of a more moneyed population with a creamier complexion.”

The Trotter Review has been published since 1987 by the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Full issues of the Review are available on ScholarWorks, the open access institutional repository for scholarship and research out of UMass Boston.

Apart from an introduction by Barbara Lewis, the contents of this issue, titled “Place in the Neighborhood: Pushed Out, Pushing Back,” include:

To view the full issue, and to explore back issues of this publication, click here.

ScholarWorks is the University of Massachusetts Boston’s open access institutional repository for scholarship and research. ScholarWorks is a publishing platform, a preservation service, and a showcase for the research and scholarly output of members of the UMass Boston community. ScholarWorks is a service of the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston.

Join us on October 5 for #AskAnArchivist Day!

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l_edward_lashman_jr_writing_on_chalkboardOn Wednesday, October 5, archivists around the country will take to Twitter to answer your questions about any and all things related to archives. This day-long event, sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, will give you the opportunity to connect directly with archivists in your community—and around the country—to ask questions, get information, or just satisfy your curiosity.

To participate, all you need is a Twitter account. Log in and pose questions to the archives community, or tweet directly at an archivist at UMass Boston using our handle @UMB_Archives. Be sure to include the hashtag #AskAnArchivist in your tweets!

We will be closely monitoring our Twitter account all day on October 5 and will happily answer any questions that you send our way. Do you have a specific question about one of our collections? Do you need help locating materials for your research? Is there something you’ve been longing to know about archives in general? Well, now is your chance to ask us!

If you’re not able to participate in #AskAnArchivist Day, you’re also more than welcome to email us at library.archives@umb.edu with any questions that you might have. We would love to hear from you!

Read the Society of American Archivists’ news release about #AskAnArchivist Day here.

Note: The above photograph is an edited and Photoshopped version of an image from our University Archives. The image shows L. Edward Lashman, Jr., a former vice president of development for the University of Massachusetts Boston, writing on chalkboard. View the unedited image here.

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.

Making a History: Columbia Point photographs and memories now available

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Nate, 1970. Photographer: Deborah Goldberg. Contributor: Deborah Goldberg.

Nate, 1970. Photographer: Deborah Goldberg. Contributor: Deborah Goldberg.

The photographs, stories, and videos collected as part of “Making a History of Columbia Point: A Participatory Exhibition” are now available for research online at openarchives.umb.edu. The event, held at the Harbor Point Clubhouse on Saturday, May 9, 2015, was the culminating practicum project of Professor Jane Becker’s graduate public history seminar (History 625) at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

The students presented an informal temporary display exploring the history of this part of Dorchester, and they invited community members, past and present, to help tell the story. Attendees added events to an historical timeline and defined and identified the locations of important places in the community. Ten participants brought a total of 100 photographs and other documents to be scanned and added to the digital collections at UMass Boston. Together, these materials provide a variety of perspectives on how Columbia Point changed from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Conways after First Communion, St. Christopher's Church. 1950s

Eileen Conway’s First Communion, 1960. “My mother worked hard to keep us well dressed. Pictured: Eileen Conway, my mother Marie Conway, and Frank Conway.” Contributor: Jim Conway.

Many former residents shared memories of attending St. Christopher’s Church over the years. They contributed photographs of first communions, Easter Sunday, and other religious occasions. Images of parish sports teams and community events organized by the church are also included.

The Sisters of Notre Dame are documented in many of the photographs gathered. Project Care and Concern, an organization dedicated to serving low-income individuals and families, and the Notre Dame Montessori School, which operated for decades in the basement of St. Christopher’s Church, are documented in the collection.

Easter Junior Gems, 1963 ir 1964.

Easter Junior Gems, 1963 or 1964. “Favorite place ever, PERIOD!!! Pictured, from left to right: Leo Manning, Tom ‘Greek’ Stephens, Joe Steverman, Paul ‘Red’ Chadwick, Jimmy Carter, [?] Donahue, and Peter Connell. Location: probably 100 Monticello Avenue.” Contributor: Jim Chadwick.

In video interviews, contributors shared memories of growing up in the public housing projects. Daily life in the neighborhood is represented in photographs of “gangs” of teenage boys dressed in uniform sweaters and images of older members of the community attending Christmas parties at the Columbia Point Senior Center.

Eleven black-and-white photographs document the early days of the Phillips Brooks House Association summer school on Columbia Point. Through this program, launched in the late 1960s, a number of students from Harvard University lived in the housing project and served as “big brothers” to neighborhood children.

For a reflection on this project by Paige Kinder, one of the students in the class, please visit www.archivespublichistory.org.

25th anniversary celebration at Notre Dame Montessori School, 1994. Contributor: Sister Elizabeth Calcagni.

25th anniversary celebration at Notre Dame Montessori School, 1994. Contributor: Sister Elizabeth Calcagni.

For questions about the practicum project and the public history of Columbia Point, please contact Carolyn Goldstein at carolyn.goldstein@umb.edu and Jane Becker at jane.becker@umb.edu.

Explore the images and stories gathered at this event here.

For more resources on the history and development of Columbia Point, please visit umb.libguides.com/columbia-point.

University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston is actively seeking to build its Dorchester and neighborhood collections. Do you have collections related to the history and development of Columbia Point that you are interested in donating to the Archives? If so, please review our policies and guidelines for collection donations and contact us at library.archives@umb.edu.

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.