Tag Archives: National Endowment for the Humanities

“I EMCEE What You Did There”: Join the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive for a free event this Saturday

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"I Emcee What You Did There" Hip Hop Event flyerWhat: “I EMCEE What You Did There” Hip-Hop Event

When: Saturday, September 15, 2018 | 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Where: Boston Public Library, Central Library in Copley Square, 700 Boylston Street, McKim Courtyard

Boston Public Library and UMass Boston invite hip-hop enthusiasts of all ages to attend a free hip-hop event in the courtyard of the Central Library on Saturday, September 15, from 1-4 p.m.

“I EMCEE What You Did There” is the first in a series of hip-hop programs to take place at the Central Library and branches. Courtney Boston will host the event, with music by DJ Drew and performances by Red Shaydez, Mark Merren, First Lady Sarita, Sondro Castro, BYTC, Dasan Ahanu, and The Hangaz.  The event includes a live hip-hop Jeopardy game.

Additional hip-hop programs are scheduled for Saturday, November 10, at Teen Central at the Central Library, and at the Codman Square and Grove Hall branches in spring 2019.

“Boston Public Library welcomes artists and hip-hop enthusiasts to one of the Central Library’s most beautiful and inspiring spaces to celebrate Boston’s hip hop legacy and gather as a community to share experiences, both new and old,” said David Leonard, President of Boston Public Library. “I am grateful to UMass Boston, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Hip Hop & The Bostonians curating committee for their commitment to promote Boston’s intergenerational hip hop presence locally and beyond, while also preserving this important piece of living history.”

“As we continue to build a collection at UMass Boston related to the history of hip-hop in Boston and Massachusetts,” said Carolyn Goldstein, “we are pleased that this grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities is providing opportunities for Boston’s hip-hop artists to share the legacy of these four hip-hop elements—music, dance, DJs, and graffiti—with a broad citywide audience at the Boston Public Library’s Central and branch libraries.” Goldstein is the grant’s principal investigator and Public History and Community Archives Program Manager in the Healey Library at UMass Boston.

Since 2016, Boston Public Library and UMass Boston have been working together to preserve and share the history of hip-hop in Boston and Massachusetts. They continued their collaboration to expand awareness and access to the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and hosted the “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” hip-hop digitization event on Saturday, May 19, at the Central Library. Attended by more than 200 members of the local hip-hop community, items collected for digitization included photos, clothing, videos interviews, and more, and will be available to view this month via openarchives.umb.edu. [Update: This collection is now online. Read more and view the digital collection here.]

The Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive is a collective of creatives, hip-hop enthusiasts, innovators, and community and state organizations united by a common passion and purpose to provide resources and opportunities to Boston’s urban arts community. The Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive includes a collection of almost 300 demo tapes featuring the biggest artists from Boston’s early hip-hop scene, which were digitized thanks to the support of the Boston Public Library. University Archives and Special Collections in the Healey Library at UMass Boston is currently working to expand the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive and welcomes donations of archival materials from musicians, DJs, breakdancers, graffiti artists, producers, promoters, and fans that will help document the rich heritage and legacy of hip-hop culture in Boston and Massachusetts. Download this flyer to learn more about what we collect.

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This event is presented in partnership through Boston Public Library and the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston, and made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this program do not necessarily express those of the National Endowment of the Humanities.

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.

“Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” Mass. Memories Road Show: The Hip-Hop Edition travels to the Boston Public Library this Saturday

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hip hop flyerTime: Saturday, May 19, 2018 | 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Location: Boston Public Library | Central Library in Copley Square| 700 Boylston Street | Johnson Building | Boston, Mass. | Click here for directions.

Are you a member of the Massachusetts hip-hop community? Artists, producers, DJs, and fans from 1970s through the present day are invited to share photographs, objects, and memories at the “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” Mass. Memories Road Show: The Hip-Hop Edition. Record your memories and take your place in Massachusetts history at this free, public event.

Bring three items (photos, flyers, posters, or clothing) that tell your hip-hop story! We will scan photos, copy digital images, and record your story. All images will be added to the online collection at openarchives.umb.edu.

Download the flyer for the “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” Mass. Memories Road Show and remember to share it with your friends and family members! View the event listing on Facebook.

This event is supported by a Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. It is part of a larger project called “Local Rappers, DJs, B-Boys, and Graff: Documenting the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Community from the 1970s to the present.” In addition to enabling UASC and project partners at the Boston Public Library to work with the local hip-hop community and scholars to host this thematic Mass. Memories Road Show, the grant will further support four public programs at the BPL showcasing the four original elements of hip-hop culture—music, dance, DJs, and graffiti–to be held later in 2018 and in 2019. Read more here. 

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Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this program do not necessarily express those of the National Endowment of the Humanities.

 

Questions? Email Carolyn Goldstein, Public History and Community Archives Program Manager, UMass Boston, at 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 10,000 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.

Healey Library receives two National Endowment for the Humanities grants in support of archival collections and community collaboration

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The Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston is proud to announce that it has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Division of Preservation and Access to support the work of the library’s University Archives and Special Collections department.

Logo for National Endownment for the HumanitiesThe Preservation Assistance Grant will allow University Archives and Special Collections in the Healey Library (UASC) to contract with the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) to assess the physical condition of the department’s extensive archival holdings. In addition, the grant will support a public photograph preservation training workshop that will be open to volunteers and professionals working in local historical societies and museums. UASC will use the assessment, resultant recommendations, and knowledge gained in the workshop to develop a 5-year preservation plan to ensure continued access to the unique collections.

“This support from the NEH is a tremendous opportunity to enable us to continue to improve how we preserve our collections,” explained Patricia Bruttomesso, the grant’s principal investigator and the department’s Archival Collections Project Manager. “We are grateful for the funding that will allow us to benefit from NEDCC’s expertise and share knowledge about preserving archival collections with other cultural institutions in the Boston area and across the Commonwealth.”

Edo G, Tony Rhome, Lisa Lee, and Pacey Foster speak on a panel as part of the launch event for the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive in November 2016.

Edo G, Tony Rhome, Lisa Lee, and Pacey Foster speak on a panel as part of the launch event for the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive in November 2016. Photo courtesy of Michael R. Colford.

UASC also received funding through NEH’s Common Heritage grant program to support a project called “Local Rappers, DJs, B-Boys, and Graff: Documenting the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Community from the 1970s to the present.” This funding will enable UASC and project partners at the Boston Public Library to work with the local hip-hop community and scholars to host a digitizing day event to collect photographs, stories, and other materials that will be added to the Healey Library’s Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive. It will further support four public programs at the BPL showcasing the four original elements of hip-hop culture—music, dance, DJs, and graffiti.

“We are looking forward to holding a thematic Mass. Memories Road Show event where everyone connected to hip-hop—musicians, DJs, dancers, graffiti artists, producers, and fans—can bring materials to document their experiences and share personal stories,” says Carolyn Goldstein, the grant’s principal investigator and the department’s Public History and Community Archives Program Manager. “The event will allow UMass Boston’s Healey Library to continue to build a unique collection documenting hip-hop in Massachusetts and, in collaboration with the Boston Public Library, engage a broad public in learning all about this important culture and its place in the Commonwealth.”

“Development of public programs is underway, which will further enable discovery of this important and historic hip hop archive, and Boston Public Library invites all to celebrate Boston’s unique music culture with us beginning this spring,” said Gianna Gifford, Boston Public Library’s Chief of Adult Library Services.

UMass Boston professor and hip-hop historian Pacey Foster notes that “Boston has had a vibrant Hip-Hop scene since the very early 1980s but never quite got the recognition it deserved from the popular press or commercial outlets. As a result, perhaps more than any other major metropolitan area in the nation, the story of Boston hip-hop remains relatively unknown. This project presents an incredible opportunity for the Hip-Hop community in Boston to share their stories and ensure that they remain accessible for generations to come.”

For more information about these grant-funded programs and about University Archives and Special Collections, email library.archives@umb.edu or call 617-287-5469.

About University Archives and Special Collections in the Healey Library at UMass Boston

UMass Boston logoUniversity Archives and Special Collections in the 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.

To carry out its mission, UASC is committed to working with, promoting, and assisting community archives in the Greater Boston area through facilitating cross-organization collaboration and access to informational, educational, and practical resources relevant to archival procedures and best practices.

For more information about these grant-funded programs and about University Archives and Special Collections, email library.archives@umb.edu or call 617-287-5469.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these initiatives and programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.