Tag Archives: Grossmann Gallery

Grossmann Gallery exhibit highlights the life and art of Theresa-India Young

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Black and white photo of Theresa-India Young

Theresa-India Young, circa 1972. Courtesy of the estate of Theresa-India Young.

A new exhibit in the Joseph P. Healey Library’s Grossmann Gallery highlights items from the Theresa-India Young collection. The exhibit is entitled The Life and Art of Theresa-India Young: Preserving African American Identity.

Join us for an opening reception on Wednesday, October 17, at 4:00 pm. The event is sponsored by the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston and the William Monroe Trotter Institute and will include remarks by Trotter Institute Director Barbara Lewis, Interim Dean of University Libraries Joanne Riley and by Meghan Bailey, Processing Archivist in the Healey Library and Project Director of the Research Inventory Grant Project funded by Mass Humanities.

Theresa-India Young was a fiber artist, interdisciplinary arts teacher, and education consultant working in the Boston area from 1975-2008. Young taught studio art and museum education at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where a scholarship is endowed in her name. She also taught at the Museum of Fine Arts, Roxbury Community College, Boston Public Schools, Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, Harvard University Museum, Cambridge Friends School, Lesley University, and Wheelock College.

Young was a mentor in her community, helping her colleagues and local youth claim their identities as artists and pursue opportunities related to those roles. She served as an advocate for her fellow artists at the Piano Factory Studios when rising rent threatened to displace resident artists.

Young mentored Boston youth by developing the Kush Club, a teen docent program, and managed Primal Arts, an educational consulting business that specializes in cultural presentations, art workshops, and museum tours. As a teacher and purveyor of cultural heritage, Young worked to preserve and maintain folk art traditions in her artwork, such as the Gullah heritage of basket weaving. Her work was informed by her research into African aesthetics and traditions, particularly weaving and hair braiding. She was also prolific in ceramics, European Tapestry, and ethnic weaving.

Visit the display in the Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library at UMass Boston. The Grossmann Gallery is open during the library’s regular hours: 7:30 am–10:00 pm on Monday through Thursday, 7:30 am–6:00 pm on Friday, 9:00 am–3:00 pm on Saturday, and 11:00 am–5:00 pm on Sunday. The exhibition will run through the spring of 2019.

Additionally, there’s an exhibition of Theresa-India Young’s work and work by recipients of the Theresa-India Young Scholarship Fund in the Thompson Gallery at MassArt, which was recently featured on WBUR.

Learn more about the Theresa-India Young papers here and view a finding aid for the collection here.

For questions about the exhibition, this collection, or to schedule a research appointment, please email library.archives@umb.edu or call 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.

Exhibition celebrates thirty-year history of Joiner Institute’s Writers’ Workshop

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The exhibition includes two wall displays. Pictured here, attendees at the exhibition’s opening reception view mounted translations of Zen poems from early Vietnam.

Earlier this summer, University Archives & Special Collections worked with staff from the William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston on an exhibition celebrating the thirty-year history of the Institute’s Writers’ Workshop.

The display, in the Walter Grossmann Memorial Gallery in the Healey Library, includes a range of materials related to the Writers’ Workshop, as well as archival materials, photographs, and artwork from the Archives’ Joiner Institute collections.

This year’s Writers’ Workshop Festival and Celebration, which was held in June, “celebrated 30 years of community and creative responses to war” and continued the Institute’s “tradition of focusing on the intersections of writing, war, social justice, and peace making.” In this exhibit, we look back on the history of the Writers’ Workshop, as well as the wide range of accomplishments and activities of the Joiner Institute since it was established in 1982. Additionally, this display features materials from a number of archival collections in University Archives & Special Collections that document the history of the Vietnam War (many materials were originally collected by or in collaboration with the Joiner Institute).

Included as part of this exhibition are a number of posters from the archival collections and Vietnamese water puppets. The art and practice of Water puppetry in Vietnam dates back to the 11th century.
Included as part of this exhibition are a number of posters from the archival collections and Vietnamese water puppets. The art and practice of Water puppetry in Vietnam dates back to the 11th century.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers' Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers’ Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers' Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers’ Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers' Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop. In addition, the exhibition documents a major initiative of the Joiner Institute since the late 1980s: the translation of Vietnamese literature, fiction, and poetry, into English. Included in this display is information about Vietnamese author Le Luu, a former soldier in the North Vietnamese army and the first Vietnamese writer to visit the United States since the war ended in 1975. Luu was a guest of the Writers’ Workshop in 1988.
This exhibition features archival materials such as newsletters, photographs, flyers, and more, that document the early years of the Writers’ Workshop, as well as more recent activities of the Workshop. In addition, the exhibition documents a major initiative of the Joiner Institute since the late 1980s: the translation of Vietnamese literature, fiction, and poetry, into English. Included in this display is information about Vietnamese author Le Luu, a former soldier in the North Vietnamese army and the first Vietnamese writer to visit the United States since the war ended in 1975. Luu was a guest of the Writers’ Workshop in 1988.
This exhibition features a range of materials related to the study of war and social consequences that are part of University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston. Pictured here are materials from the Francois Sully collection. Other collections featured include the photographs and papers of Gloria Emerson, photographs by Philip Jones Griffiths/Magnum, and materials related to WGBH's Vietnam: A Television History.
This exhibition features a range of materials related to the study of war and social consequences that are part of University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston. Pictured here are materials from the Francois Sully collection. Other collections featured include the photographs and papers of Gloria Emerson, photographs by Philip Jones Griffiths/Magnum, and materials related to WGBH’s Vietnam: A Television History.
The exhibition includes two wall displays. Pictured here is a display of photographs related to the Writers' Workshop by Melissa Shook.
The exhibition includes two wall displays. Pictured here is a display of photographs related to the Writers’ Workshop by Melissa Shook.
The exhibition includes two wall displays. Pictured here are mounted translations of Zen poems from early Vietnam.
The exhibition includes two wall displays. Pictured here are mounted translations of Zen poems from early Vietnam.

This display was organized in close collaboration with the Joiner Institute.

University Archives & Special Collections has curatorial responsibility for material acquired by the William Joiner Institute (formerly the William Joiner Center) as part of its mission to study the effects of the Vietnam War on our society, as well as the study of war and social consequences more broadly. The collections of archives, manuscripts, photographs, and videos primarily explore veterans’ issues and experiences.

Explore the Joiner Center/Institute collections and collections related to war and social consequences. For a guide to researching the Vietnam War, click here.

Visit the display in the Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library at UMass Boston. The exhibition will run through the fall of 2017.

For questions about the exhibition and these collections, 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.

Exhibition in Healey Library explores Thompson Island histories

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Thompson's Island, 1927. Image from the Thompson's Island collection in University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston.

Thompson Island, 1927. Image from the Thompson Island collection in University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston.

Exhibition: Learning By Doing – Thompson Island Histories: A student curated project

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 12, 2016 | 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Location: Walter Grossmann Gallery, Joseph P. Healey Library (5th floor) | 100 Morrissey Blvd. | Boston, Mass. | Click here for directions.

Since the 1830s, Thompson Island has been home to successive educational institutions that have shared a commitment to “learning by doing.” These schools have left a rich collection of historical materials—today stewarded by the Healey Library at UMass Boston in partnership with Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center.

There is no single way to tell the history of Thompson Island. Five graduate students in the History Department’s “Interpreting History in Public” course each offer a unique approach to the history of UMass Boston’s island neighbor. Our student curators have prepared exhibition proposals and two sample panels exploring a chosen historical theme.

Please join us in exploring Thompson Island history.

Sponsored by the Public History Track in the Department of History and by University Archives & Special Collections in the Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Supported in part by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund.

Download the flyer for this exhibition and the opening reception and help us spread the word.

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.

Exhibition tells story of Carol McEldowney’s anti-war activism and role in Women’s and Gay Liberation movements

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This display of diaries, writings, photographs, and ephemera on the 5th floor of the Healey Library reveals the accomplishments and insights of activist and self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

This display of diaries, writings, photographs, and ephemera on the 5th floor of the Healey Library reveals the accomplishments and insights of activist and self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston is excited to unveil several new exhibitions in the Walter Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library, all of which highlight materials from the department’s extensive archival holdings. I will describe these new exhibitions in a series of news posts over the next week.

The first exhibition I’d like to highlight, in one of the gallery’s upright display cases, is entitled “‘A PERSONAL MANIFESTO … OF SORTS’: The Diaries of Carol McEldowney” and explores the life of activist, writer, and women’s self-defense educator Carol McEldowney.

Although she died in 1973 at the young age of 30, “the spunky Carol McEldowney,” as she was described by Todd Gitlin in his book The Sixties, was outstanding in her accomplishments. In 1967, McEldowney was one of only two women in a small contingent from the U.S. to travel to Vietnam where she studied Vietnamese society and the consequences of war.

Pages from McEldowney's Hanoi journal.

Pages from McEldowney’s Hanoi journal.

The diary that McEldowney kept during this trip was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2007. Elizabeth R. Mock, who co-edited McEldowney’s Hanoi Journal for publication, held several positions in the Healey Library at UMass Boston from 1973 until her retirement in 2010. From 1981 to 2010, Mock was the University Archivist and Curator of Special Collections, having established the archival program for the library. The book is available through the Healey Library here or through the UMass Press here.

In 1971, McEldowney moved to Boston where she immersed herself in the emerging Women’s Movement, playing a central role in the establishment of a Women’s Center in Cambridge. During this time she came out as a lesbian and immersed herself in the Gay Liberation Movement.

McEldowney (center, in tank top) in a martial arts or self-defense class.

McEldowney (center, in tank top) in a martial arts or self-defense class.

From 1971 until the end of her life, McEldowney studied martial arts and taught practical self-defense classes to women and children, becoming one of the founders of the movement to use self-defense for rape prevention. An original contributor to Our Bodies, Ourselves, a source book on women’s health, McEldowney participated in one of the first women’s martial arts exhibitions in the country during International Women’s Day, in 1973, in Boston.

The Carol McEldowney collections in University Archives and Special Collections includes McEldowney’s personal papers relating to her activism, as well as several diaries and journals. The papers range in date from 1960 to 1973.

This exhibition uses selections from the McEldowney’s various diaries and journals – as well as photographs, ephemera, and other writings – to tell the story of a woman at the forefront of anti-war activism and the emerging Women’s and Gay Liberation movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Visit the display in the Grossmann Gallery on the 5th floor of the Healey Library at UMass Boston. The exhibition will run through the spring of 2016.

View the finding aid for the Carol McEldowney collections in University Archives and Special Collections here.

For questions about these collections 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.