“Conversations Between Communities” exhibition opens in Grossmann Gallery

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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.

Mass. Memories Road Show looks at the Irish Immigrant Experience

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When: November 16, 2013 – 10 a.m – 2 p.m.

Location: The Irish Cultural Centre of New England  |  200 New Boston Drive, Canton, Mass.

View a map. Get Directions.

Are you an Irish immigrant? Was your ancestor an immigrant? Share your story as part of the Mass. Memories Road Show!

Every Irish immigrant and all of their descendants have personal stories. This program on November 16 at the Irish Cultural Centre of New England in Canton, Mass., celebrates each person’s family history and contributions to their community — whether you have lived here for generations or have just arrived. Community members are invited to bring 2 or 3 photos to be scanned and included as part of the Mass. Memories Road Show collection at UMass Boston, available online at openarchives.umb.edu.

Read more about the Irish Immigrant Experience Mass. Memories Road Show in this article from the Boston Irish Reporter.

The Irish Immigrant Experience Mass. Memories Road Show is co-sponsored by The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA), the Irish Cultural Centre of New England, the Eire Society of Boston, and the Consulate General of Ireland.

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.

RSVP are requested but not required. Please email massmemories@tiara.ie or call TIARA: 617-244-3050.

Questions about the Road Show? Email carolyn.goldstein@umb.edu.

Early UMass Boston records: Now available for research

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A news release from the Office of Public Relations, September 5, 1974

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston announces the availability for research of three record collections documenting the activities of the University of Massachusetts Boston during the 1960s and 1970s.

Office of Admissions records, 1967-1976
These records document the activities of the Office of Admissions at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1967-1976. Formats include data sets, lists, maps, meetings minutes, memoranda, statistical charts, and working papers. Included in the collection are a Ten Year Review covering 1965-1974, the meeting minutes of the Admissions Committee from 1967-1976, and summaries of admissions data.
View the finding aid for this collection.

Facilities Planning Office records, 1964-1979
This collection documents the activities of the Facilities Planning Office (previously known as the Planning and Development Office) at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1964-1979. Topics include the UMass Boston campus in Park Square in the mid-1960s as well as the negotiations and planning behind the permanent site selection of Columbia Point in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formats include articles, building floor plans, bulletins, correspondence, invoices, lease drafts, lists, maps, memoranda, newspapers clippings, photographs, proposals, and reports.
View the finding aid for this collection.

Office of Public Relations news releases, 1971-1977
This collection contains news releases published by the Office of Public Relations (currently known as the Office of Communications) at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1971-1977.
View the finding aid for this collection.

These records have been processed as part of University Archives & Special Collections’ Save Our History! campaign. In preparation for UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary, University Archives & Special Collections is calling for the transfer of founding documents and organizational records from all units on campus. These units include (but are not limited to) academic departments, administrative units, institutes, centers, and student groups. Read more about transferring University records to UASC.

Accreditation Steering Committee records: Now available for research

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University of Massachusetts Boston: Accreditation Steering Committee records, 1990-1995

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce that the University of Massachusetts Boston: Accreditation Steering Committee records, 1990-1995, are now open for research.

The collection documents the activities of the Accreditation Steering Committee at the University of Massachusetts Boston following an evaluation of the University by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), on April 12-14, 1992. An Accreditation Steering Committee was appointed in August 1993 and their self-study activities concluded in April 1995. The majority of the collection comprises the records of Martin Quitt, Professor Emeritus of History at UMass Boston, including memoranda, drafts of standards for accreditation, and self-study reports.

View the finding aid for this collection.

These records have been processed as part of University Archives & Special Collections’ Save Our History! campaign. In preparation for UMass Boston’s 50th anniversary, University Archives & Special Collections is calling for the transfer of founding documents and organizational records from all units on campus. These units include (but are not limited to) academic departments, administrative units, institutes, centers, and student groups. Read more about transferring University records to UASC.

Las Abuelas draw crowd of 100 at UMass Boston, discuss human rights work in Argentina

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Estela Barnes de Carlotto, with Buscarita Roa (at left). Photo credit: Colleen Locke.

“We think it’s very important that our story not be forgotten,” said Estela Barnes de Carlotto, president and co-founder of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, through a translator.

On Thursday, September 19, 2013, 100 people (including many UMass Boston students, as well as members of the general public) attended a conversation with Estela Barnes de Carlotto and Buscarita Roa of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, one of Argentina’s most renowned human rights organizations. The event was co-sponsored by the Joseph P. Healey Library, the Latin American & 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.

Barnes de Carlotto went on to describe the events that led to the formation of the Abuelas in 1977: “[W]e’ve had since 1930 in the Argentine republic a permanent succession of civic-military dictatorships. […] The last civilian-military dictatorship that came to power on March 24, 1976, was not just another in the succession of dictatorships. It was the worst and the most ferocious of them all. […] There were similar dictatorships in power in other countries, but the most ferocious of them all was in Argentina. Its goal was the physical elimination of anyone who opposed them. They made no distinctions between age or economic status or religion. Very young people from our secondary schools disappeared, because they were activists. University students like you disappeared. Their teachers, their professors disappeared. Religious base communities … trade unionists. Thirty thousand people that are no longer there and we don’t know where they are to this day. And a new word was coined. They are: disappeared. That is, to the present day, neither alive or dead.”

Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) is a human rights organization that works to find disappeared children who were abducted or born into captivity during the Argentine military dictatorship of 1976-1983. The goal of the Abuelas is to reunite these children with their biological families. The work of the Abuelas led to the establishment of the Banco Nacional de Datos Genéticos (National Genetic Data Bank) in Argentina in 1987, which permanently stores the genetic information of families who are looking for their missing relatives.

Over 100 people, including UMass Boston students and members of the general public, attended this conversation with the Abuelas in the Joseph P. Healey Library. Photo credit: Teresa Maceira.

“To date we have found 109 grandchildren,” noted Barnes de Carlotto. “That’s worthy of a toast and a celebration.”

This event also highlighted an exhibition organized by University Archives & Special Collections in the Healey Library. 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 in April as part of an event celebrating of the life and work of biologist and human rights activist Rita Arditti, and particularly Arditti’s work with the Abuelas. The exhibition will be on display in the Library’s Grossmann Gallery through October. Read more about the exhibition and the Rita Arditti collection here.

During this most recent event, another member of the Abuelas, Buscarita Roa, discussed the future of the the organization. “Our struggle continues…” she said, “and that’s true even of the grandmothers who, like me, have found their grandchildren. We have to be in solidarity with our compañeros because this road is too long. We’re still missing almost 400 young people. We’re going to continue this struggle for many years and I hope we can find them all. It will be hard on us because some of us probably won’t live to see it. But we have other people to relieve us. The grandchildren we’ve gotten back are going to follow the same path, the path that we began. And they will go on looking for their brothers and sisters, as they call them.”

Buscarita Roa (at left) and Estela Barnes de Carlotto. Photo credit: Colleen Locke.

And when their grandchildren, those abducted or born into captivity, “come back to the lives they always should have had,” Roa went on to say, “they don’t feel alone anymore. They’re happy to get their families back. And those who don’t have any grandparents, because the grandparents have died, find that we, the Abuelas, are waiting for them with open arms.”

Click here to view a video of this event.

Click here to learn more about the ongoing efforts of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.

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.