Archives and Special Collections Department
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts at Boston.
The Archives and Special Collections section of the Healey Library WWW site provides general information about the department, detailed information about its collections, and an introduction to its policies. If you have questions about the files contained on the WWW site, or about the Archives and Special Collections in general, please contact Elizabeth Mock at:
Archives and Special Collections Department
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts at Boston
Boston, MA 02125
(617) 287-5944
E-mail: elizabeth@delphinus.lib.umb.edu.
The www page is organized as follows:
A history of the Archives and Special Collections Department, its collecting mission, and an overview of the eight categories into which the collections fall.
Information about the printed guide to the collections, and how to obtain it.
Information about the hours, access, and location of the Archives and Special Collections Department.
The Application and Rules of Use for Materials form, the department's Collection Policy, the Permission to Publish Agreement form, and the Photocopying Policies and Fees are provided to inform researchers and potential donors of our policies and forms, and so that other institutions may easily review them.
Brief descriptions of all the collections, as well as fuller finding aids for several. It is important to note that what is on the WWW page does not represent all the descriptive information that exists for the collections. For additional information, please consult the "About collection descriptions" file in the "Collection descriptions" menu.
OTHER ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS INTERNET RESOURCES.
The UMass/Boston Archives, housed in the Joseph P. Healey Library at the Harbor Campus, was established in 1981 as a repository to collect archival material in subject areas of interest to the university. The mission and history of the university guide the collecting activities of Archives and Special Collections. The department also gathers material that is complementary to our neighboring archival institutions, the Massachusetts State Archives and the John F. Kennedy Library. The university's urban mission and strong support of community service is reflected in the department's collections of records of urban planning, social action, alternative movements, and community organizations. Archives and Special Collections has also built collections to support student and faculty research interests. Additionally, the location of the campus in the Dorchester section of Boston has prompted the department to make available sources for the study of Dorchester history.
The Archives and Special Collections Department has also assumed curatorial responsibility for the archival and manuscripts collections acquired by the university's William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences that relate to the study of the Vietnam War.
The collections in the archives may be divided into eight categories. We offer the following overview of each category to invite potential researchers to explore our collections. If you are interested in knowing more, the Guide to Archives and Special Collections, which includes an index to collections and organizations, is available in the department. In addition, bibliographic records for all of the monographs in the department and collection-level descriptions of the archival and manuscripts collections appear in the campus on-line catalog.
The records of local 19th and early 20th century private social welfare and charitable organizations provide us with a history of the work of these agencies and of the people they served. The agencies include orphanages, settlement houses, and social welfare institutions in the Boston area. Also available in the department is a resource guide that lists more than four hundred such agencies and indicates the location of any extant records.
In Boston, as in other urban centers, people often respond to the social issues and conditions of the day by organizing into voluntary community- based organizations. The community can be defined as either a geographical community (responding to an issue in a neighborhood for instance) or as a community of shared interest responding to contemporary social issues. The collections document these aspects of the recent and contemporary history of Boston, its citizens and its neighborhoods.
A collection of books, publications, ephemera, and family papers primarily about the Dorchester section of Boston, its citizens and its neighborhoods, has been established from contributions of Dorchester residents and organizations. These collections document the history of Dorchester as a twentieth century urban community and how it has responded to changes in mid and late twentieth century society. Other local history collections document various aspects of Boston history.
Archives and Special Collections provides various printed and archival material for the study of the history, policies, and programs of UMass/Boston. This includes catalogs (1966-), yearbooks (1969-), the student newspaper (1965-), and doctoral dissertations, master's theses, and reports and monographs published by many departments, programs and institutes of the university.
Boston State College merged with UMass/Boston in 1982. The department has a collection of college records, photographs, and publications relating to the history of Boston State, including catalogs (1953/54-1980/82), yearbooks (1917, 1927-1982), and newspapers (1954-1981).
In 1985 the university and its Joiner Center acquired the archives of WGBH's Vietnam: A Television History. The collection provides information about the Vietnam War era and the making of a television documentary.
Archives and Special Collections has curatorial responsibility for the material acquired by the center as part of its mission to study the effects of the Vietnam War on our society. The collections of archives, manuscripts, photographs, and videos primarily explore veterans' issues and experiences.
The department maintains a special collections room of first editions, finely printed books, donated collected works, and books on fine arts.
Archives and Special Collections Department
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125.
Although this page contains more in-depth descriptions of most of the department's collections (see "Collection descriptions") than are available in our printed guide, some may find hard copy useful. And we will send it to you for free!
The Guide to Archives and Special Collections, Second Edition, by Kimberly H. Brookes and Elizabeth Mock, contains an introduction to the Archives and Special Collections Department and summaries of the department's holdings. Each entry includes a collection level description, including title, dates, quantity, history or biography, scope and content note, collection number and the level to which the department has described the collection.
The Guide is available upon request by calling to:
Elizabeth Mock
University Archivist
(617) 287-5944
or
writing to her at:
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts at Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
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