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.

Robert H. Quinn and UMass Boston history

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Robert H. Quinn in 1998, at right, with State Representative (and current Mayor of Bostoin) Marty Walsh.

Robert H. Quinn in 1998, at right, with State Representative (and current Mayor of Boston) Martin Walsh.

We are saddened to learn of the passing of former speaker of the house, attorney general, and chair of the UMass Board of Trustees Robert H. Quinn. From his involvement in the establishment of UMass Boston in 1964, to his leadership of the UMass Board of Trustees, Quinn’s commitment to public higher education played a crucial role in the history, growth, and success of UMass Boston.

We looked through our University Archives Historic Photographs collection and found the above photograph from 1998 of then-Massachusetts State Representative (and current Mayor of Boston) Martin Walsh with Robert Quinn at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

We’ve been digitizing photographs from our University Archives since early in 2013 in anticipation of UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary celebrations and we’re certain that more images of Quinn will come along.

Conversations with Enrique Dussel on Anti-Cartesian Decoloniality and Pluriversal Transmodernity: Latest issue of Human Architecture available on ScholarWorks

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The most recent issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, entitled and dedicated to “Conversations with Enrique Dussel on Anti-Cartesian Decoloniality and Pluriversal Transmodernity,” is now available on ScholarWorks, the open access institutional repository for scholarship and research out of UMass Boston.

Human Architecture has been published since 2002 by the Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science (Utopystics) and has been edited by Mohammad H. Tamdgidi, Associate Professor of Sociology at UMass Boston, since that time.

Apart from an introductions by Tamdgidi and issue co-editors George Ciccariello-Maher and Ramón Grosfoguel, the contents of this issue include:

To view the full issue, and to explore back issues of Human Architecture, click here.

ScholarWorks is the University of Massachusetts Boston’s online, open access institutional repository for scholarship and research. ScholarWorks serves as 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.

Reclaiming Humanity in and out of the Cell: Latest issue of the Trotter Review available on ScholarWorks

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Gary Little, mentor coordinator at Span, Inc., (center) makes a forceful point during a discussion on prisoner reentry issues, held at the Boston Center for the Arts. Other participants, from left, were moderator Andrea Cabral, then sheriff of Suffolk County; Daniel Cordon, director of transitional employment at Haley House; Lyn Levy, founder and executive director of Span, Inc.; and Janet Rodriguez, founding president and CEO of SoHarlem in New York. The panelists spoke from the stage where a play about the trials of reentering society after incarceration was being performed in the fall of 2012. Photo courtesy of Boston Center for the Arts.

The most recent issue of the Trotter Review, which focuses on the impact of incarceration on prisoners and their families after they are released, is now available on ScholarWorks, the open access institutional repository for scholarship and research out of UMass Boston.

The Trotter Review has been published since 1987 by the William Monroe Trotter Institute at UMass Boston.

Apart from an introduction by Barbara Lewis, director of the Trotter Institute at UMass Boston, and the proceedings of a community forum featuring Andrea J. Cabral, Daniel Cordon, Lyn Levy, Gary Little, and Janet Rodriguez, the contents of this issue, titled “Reclaiming Humanity in and out of the Cell,” include:

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

ScholarWorks is the University of Massachusetts Boston’s online, open access institutional repository for scholarship and research. ScholarWorks serves as 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.

UMass Boston and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting

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The history of and access to public broadcasting recordings dating back to the 1950s (from radio broadcasts to television shows) is the focus of a recent article in the Boston Globe. The article describes the partnership between the Library of Congress and WGBH to establish the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. Through this partnership, the Library of Congress and WGBH are working to digitize and make openly available over sixty years of public broadcasting history.

University Archives & Special Collections in the the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston was an early contributor to this project. In early 2013, University Archives & Special Collections allowed a sample set of recordings from the archives of WUMB, the radio station of the University of Massachusetts Boston, to be digitized for inclusion in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. First established in 1968, WUMB has been a public radio affiliate of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) since 1986.

Radio broadcasts that University Archives & Special Collections contributed for inclusion in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting include talk radio show recordings such as Black Perspectives, Commonwealth Journal, and From the Source, as well as live in-studio and concert performances by a number of musicians.

The digitized recordings are still being processed by the American Archive and University Archives & Special Collections. Keep visiting this blog for more 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.