Phyllis Harmon: League of American Wheelmen (LAW) Collection – Now open for research

Guest post by Lindsay Sprechman

Phyllis Harmon: League of American Wheelmen (LAW) Collection

Phyllis Harmon: League of American Wheelmen (LAW) Collection

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is happy to announce that the Phyllis Harmon: League of American Wheelmen (LAW) Collection is now open and available for research. This collection documents Phyllis Harmon’s work in the bicycling community, especially her work with the League of American Wheelmen, a prominent bicycling organization.

The League of American Wheelmen was founded in 1880 to address bicyclists’ needs. In their early days, they advocated for bicyclists’ access to roads at a time when many laws and ordinances were written keeping them off the road. LAW was also instrumental in the Good Roads Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which advocated for improved road conditions. The League became inactive twice during periods from 1924 to 1939 and from 1955 to 1964, but reorganized in 1964 and still continues to advocate for bicyclists today. LAW was renamed the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) in 1997.

League of American Wheelmen newsletter, June 1940

League of American Wheelmen newsletter, June 1940

Phyllis Harmon is known as the “Grande Dame of American Bicycling” for her work with LAW and other bicycling organizations. Harmon became a member of LAW in 1939 and served numerous roles in the organization, including treasurer, executive vice president, historian, office manager, executive director and honorary director. However, her most prominent position was her role as writer and editor of LAW’s magazine, LAW Bulletin. Harmon volunteered to publish the magazine from her home and edited it from 1939 to 1945 and again from 1964 until 1979. For her contribution to the bicycling world in Chicago and around the country, Harmon was inducted into the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Hall of Fame in 2006 and the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2009.

This collection includes many of LAW’s organizational records, including Board meeting minutes, constitutions, by-laws, correspondence and memos. It also includes materials on LAW’s conventions and rallies, membership directories and surveys, collected research and articles about bicycling, and more than 30 years of issues of the LAW Bulletin, and its successor, Bicycle USA.

View the finding aid for this collection.

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.

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) records: Now available for research

PRIM&R 20th Anniversary poster

PRIM&R 20th Anniversary poster, 1984

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the availability of the Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) records (1972-2008) for research.

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1974 in response to increasingly complex and sensitive problems facing research and related clinical practice, such as the indictment of four doctors conducting fetal research at the Boston City Hospital, the Controlled Substances Act, and the United States Public Health Services Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, resulting in the passage of the National Research Act in 1974 and enacting regulations governing the protection of human subjects and mandating institutional review boards (IRBs).

This collection, spanning 39 linear feet, documents the activities of PRIM&R and the organization’s longtime executive director (from 1975-2014), Joan Rachlin, covering the years 1972 through 2008. In particular, the material in this collection documents the planning and arrangement of conferences, including research and the study of relevant topics such as the ethics of medical study and research on human subjects and animals. The collection also documents the member activities of ARENA, the board of directors of PRIM&R, and WISH-net.

The PRIM&R collection includes original documents, correspondence, photocopies, notes, conference proceedings, newsletters, pamphlets, books, serials, posters, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, Betacam tapes, cassettes, mini-DV cassettes, and micro cassettes. The resource PRIM&R Through the Years: Three Decades of Protecting Human Subjects, which consists of almost thirty years of key talks from PRIM&R conferences, can be found in the special collections of the University Archives & Special Collections department, and in the Healey Library main stacks.

If you have any questions or if you would like to schedule a time to explore the collection, email library.archives@umb.edu or call 617-287-5469.

View the finding aid for this collection.


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.

Notes from a Processing Archivist: Playlists from the WUMB-FM Records, 1969-2012

WUMB Playlist (ca 1971-1972)

WUMB Playlist (ca 1971-1972). Click to view larger image.

As part of my work as the Processing Archivist in University Archives & Special Collections, I’ve been processing 175 linear feet of records and other materials related to UMass Boston’s WUMB-FM radio station. For those unfamiliar with the term, “processing” a collection means conducting research and arranging and describing collection materials in an effort to facilitate access for researchers, historians, scholars, students, and the public. This also includes stabilizing the documents for the long-term preservation of the records. To put it simply, a collection should be organized to help researchers find what they’re looking for by using what archivists call a finding aid, which is like a table of contents for a collection.

WUMB Playlist (1971-04-07). Click to view larger image.

WUMB Playlist (1971-04-07). Click to view larger image.

This may sound like a daunting task, but once I’d surveyed the collection and created a processing plan, I saw a clear view from start to finish. I started processing the WUMB collection in January and have at this point “conquered” most of the paper records. What remains to be dealt with are audio and visual recordings, as well as photographs and ephemera from the radio station. The audio and visual recordings include in-studio interviews and performances as well as recordings of WUMB’s programs. It’s been an enjoyable experience to learn how the radio station is run and sustained – from its humbler beginnings in 1968 to the present.

With this blog entry, I’d like to share some gems I found while processing the WUMB collection. The playlists from the early 1970s are fun and capture the feeling of the time period through the drawings in the margins, which include comic book characters, a talking microphone called Monty, and radio station announcers. The artist, who signed his name as Dave FitzPatrick, was likely a student working at the radio station. Students have had the opportunity to work in the radio station throughout much of its history and these drawings are an example of the energy these students brought to the station.

WUMB Playlist (1971-12-06). Click to view larger image.

WUMB Playlist (1971-12-06). Click to view larger image.

I also want to mention that many of the playlists and staff memos in the WUMB collection were created with a Ditto machine. The Ditto machine (also called a “spirit duplicator” because of the presence of alcohol in the ink)was used to print copies. The Early Office Museum describes that full process here (scroll down to “Hektograph and Spirit Duplicators”).

The solvent used in the Ditto machine makes the blue ink unstable and is a concern for archivists. The ink is sensitive to ultraviolet light and will fade over time if not properly stored. The paper itself is also acidic and will yellow and crumble over time. To prevent the loss of information on the Ditto copies, I’ve photocopied each page onto archival bond paper, which is acid-free and pH neutral. These photocopies are now in the collection as access copies while the originals have been stored in boxes away from sunlight.

Since I am not only an archivist but also an artist, you can see why I am attracted to these drawings. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do. Please stay tuned for updates on the WUMB collection as work progresses and contact us if you are interested in exploring the WUMB collection, or if you’d just like to learn more about the holdings in University Archives & Special Collections.


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.

Saturday Evening Girls talk at North End Branch of Boston Public Library

Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

Ethel Epstein Maysles, Anna Cooper Levin, and Lea Ginsberg Dektor. Image courtesy University Archives & Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston.

When: Wednesday, June 4, 2014 | 6:00 pm

Where: North End Branch of the Boston Public Library | 25 Parmenter Street, Boston, Mass. 02113

Click here to view a map.

On Wednesday, June 4, at 6:00 pm, the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library will host a talk by Dr. Dorothy E. King, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Harrisburg, titled “SATURDAY EVENING GIRLS: Jewish and Italian Immigrant Artists and Scholars of Early 1900s Boston.”

The Saturday Evening Girls, created in 1899 as a reading group at the North Bennet Street Industrial School and expanded into an educational club of the Boston Public Library, became a progressive movement to educate and socialize young women on the North End. Best known for establishing the Paul Revere Pottery, the organization also published a newsletter, sponsored ethnic and cultural events, and trained women for leadership responsibilities in local and broader arenas.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston recently acquired the Barbara Maysles Kramer Collection, courtesy of the family of Barbara Kramer. Kramer spent many years researching the history of the Saturday Evening Girls, gathering recollections and documentation of the turn-of-the-20th century group. The collection is currently being processed by UMass Boston archivists and will be fully open for research soon. Keep visiting this blog for updates about the status of this exciting new addition to the Healey Library at UMass Boston’s special collections.


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 action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities, including the Boston Harbor Islands. To learn more about University Archives & Special Collections, visit blogs.umb.edu/archives.