Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights study records now available

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The Governor's Special Study Commission Report, 1964 December 30

Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights: The Governor’s Special Study Commission Report, 1964 December 30

Guest post by Katie Burke, graduate student in UMass Boston’s History Department. Burke processed this collection.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights study records are now processed and available for research.

The Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights advocated for the housing rights of minorities, people with disabilities, and other disadvantaged groups in Boston during the 1960s and 1970s. This collection reflects the University of Massachusetts Boston’s commitment to preserving Massachusetts history, supporting community involvement, and advocating for social justice.

Ma Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights: Report on MA Commission Against Discrimination Procedures, 1969 June

Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights: Report on MA Commission Against Discrimination Procedures, 1969 June

The collection contains business records, governance and legal records, photographs, press coverage, and other printed materials related to civil rights advocacy efforts of the organization over its tenure. The majority of material relates to a three-year project undertaken by the Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights between 1968 and 1971. The project documented cases involving housing discrimination in the Boston suburbs that were brought before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and investigated the practices of the agency to make recommendations for improvement. The resources within this collection will benefit researchers interested in suburban housing, housing discrimination, race and neighborhood demographics, and the fair housing movement, particularly in the Greater Boston area.

Materials in this collection are now available for consultation in the Archives Research Room (Healey Library, 5th floor). View the finding aid for this 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.

Washington Street Corridor Coalition records now available

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Auto restricted zone potential in the City of Boston report, Boston Redevelopment Authority, October 1975

“Auto restricted zone potential in the City of Boston” report, Boston Redevelopment Authority, October 1975

Guest post by Caroline Littlewood, graduate student in UMass Boston’s History Department. Littlewood processed this collection.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston is pleased to announce that the records of the Washington Street Corridor Coalition (WSCC) are now processed and available for research.

The records document the WSCC’s community activism and organizing regarding transportation service and corporate development during the late twentieth century. From its inception, the WSCC sought to protect its members’ interests from both government neglect and unchecked or undesirable development along the Washington Street Corridor. The majority of WSCC activities have focused on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s (MBTA) closure of the elevated Orange Line in 1987 and the subsequent decline in service from Washington Street neighborhoods to downtown Boston. Most recently, the WSCC has argued that the MBTA’s Silver Line extension is a harmful and unfair financial burden to low-income residents and communities of color.

Orange Line replacement flyer, 1986

“Orange Line replacement” flyer, 1986

This collection reflects the University of Massachusetts Boston’s commitment to preserving local history, community activism, and social justice. It contains meeting flyers, agendas, notes, and minutes which illustrate the WSCC’s grassroots organizing activities around transportation service. It includes correspondence between WSCC members, community allies, and transit and government officials, mostly advocating for implementation of a Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) system. It also includes materials relating to other Boston-area transit issues, such as the removal of the A-Watertown Green Line, auto-restricted zoning, the Circumferential Transit Feasibility Study Project, and the Southwest Corridor Project.

The resources within this collection will be of special interest to researchers investigating local grassroots activities around transportation service, corporate development, and community activism, particularly in the Greater Boston area.

Materials in this collection are now available for consultation in the Archives Research Room (Healey Library, 5th floor). View the finding aid for this 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.

Mass. Memories Road Show heads to Wilmington on Saturday, September 30

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Wilmington Mass. Memories Road Show flyerWhen: Saturday, September 30, 2017 | 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Location: Wilmington High School Cafeteria | 159 Church Street | Wilmington, Mass. | Click here for directions.

Do you have a connection to Wilmington, Massachusetts? Do you live or work in Wilmington? Are your roots in Wilmington? Share your memories and take your place in Massachusetts history at this free, public event.

Please bring 2-3 photographs in their original format (digital or print photographs) and your stories to be recorded. We will scan unframed pictures and copy digital images and return the pictures back to you. All images will be added to the online collection at openarchives.umb.edu.

Local support for the Wilmington Mass. Memories Road Show is provided by the Wilmington Memorial Library.

For more information about the Wilmington Mass. Memories Road Show, contact Wilmington Memorial Library Assistant Library Director Charlotte Wood at 978-658-2967 or cwood@wilmlibrary.org, or view the Facebook event.

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. It is produced by the Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston and is co-sponsored by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund.

Download the flyer for the Wilmington Mass. Memories Road Show and remember to share it with your friends and family members!

Questions? Email carolyn.goldstein@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. 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 9,000 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.

Marking the 98th anniversary of the 1919 Boston Police Strike

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Striking officers

Four of the more than 1,100 men who went out on strike on September 9, 1919. (Source: Tappen, G. Arthur. The officers and the men, the stations without and within of the Boston Police (1901))

This week, on September 9, 2017, marks the 98th anniversary of the 1919 Boston Police Strike—just two years away from the centennial when the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Boston Police Department Archives plan to have compiled a biographical encyclopedia documenting each of the more than 1,100 police officers who went out on strike. Toward this goal, community volunteers have already made great progress with researching each man’s story.

What was the 1919 Boston Police Strike all about and how should Bostonians plan for its commemoration in 2019? At UMass Boston this semester, students in my History 620 Introduction to Public History and Public Memory course will explore these questions and more. As the students learn about how the past is remembered and interpreted outside of the classroom, they will have opportunities to tackle this tangible public history challenge. One of the students’ major assignments will be to develop ideas for museum exhibits, websites, and site-based programs for engaging public audiences in thinking about the strike and its significance from many perspectives.

At the first class meeting this week, students learned from project partners Joanne Riley, Interim Dean of University Libraries at UMass Boston, and Margaret Sullivan, Boston Police Department Archivist, about the research that is underway and the plans for ongoing engagement of “citizen researchers” over the course of the next two years. In addition, the students discussed one of the major published works on the subject, Francis Russell’s A City in Terror (1975), and identified the larger issues raised by this historical event and why it is important to remember today.

Questions about the course may be posted here or directed to carolyn.goldstein@umb.edu.

Interested in getting involved or learning more about the history of the 1919 Boston Police Strike? Please visit the 1919 Boston Police Strike Project blog at http://blogs.umb.edu/bpstrike1919.

Betty Taymor papers now available for research

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Letter from Hubert H. Humphrey to Betty Taymor, March 24, 1967

Letter from Hubert H. Humphrey to Betty Taymor, March 24, 1967

Guest post by Rachel Sherman, graduate student in UMass Boston’s History Department. Sherman processed this collection.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston is pleased to announce that the papers of Betty Taymor are now processed and available for research. UASC’s recent acquisition of this collection reflects the university’s urban mission and strong support of community service.

Betty Taymor pioneered the path for women entering politics in Boston. This small collection of personal papers documents the activities of Betty Taymor during her democratic political career. The collection includes Taymor’s correspondence with political leaders including John F. Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, and Jimmy Carter. It also includes manuscripts and scrapbooks featuring articles about Taymor’s political work.

Taymor served as a trailblazer for women entering community politics and public policy in the Greater Boston area. From her beginnings with volunteering for the Americans for Democratic Action to combat McCarthyism in the 1950s, to campaigning for both President John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy in the 1960s, Taymor aimed to speak for the voices unheard. She established the Program for Women in Politics in 1968 at Simmons College. Over the subsequent two decades, the program developed into what is today the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP) at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Taymor’s legacy continues as the CWPPP serves to provide education and professional certification and experience for women leaders in politics. This collection sheds light on the political activities of women in Boston and helps document the history of the CWPPP at UMass Boston.

The timeline of the documents ranges from 1955 to 2009, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960 to 1994. The materials within the collection include correspondence such as letters, invitations, and telegrams between local, regional, and national democratic political members. Other documents include four scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and photographs focusing on Betty Taymor’s political career and personal life.

Materials in this collection are now available for consultation in the Archives Research Room (Healey Library, 5th floor). View the finding aid for this 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.