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University of Massachusetts at Boston Historical Materials
Table Of Contents:
Brief History of UMASS/Boston
The University of Massachusetts ay Boston: A Brief History
The University of Massachusetts at Boston was established in 1964 as the second campus of the University of Massachusetts system. As the state's comprehensive public urban university, UMass/Boston provides a broad range of graduate and undergraduate academic programs for students of all cultural and economic backgrounds, with a special commitment to traditionally underserved populations of urban areas. The university's mission also commits it to research and service of high quality, with particular focus on urban issues and needs.
In the fall of 1965 the first class of approximately 1,200 students entered the doors of a renovated building in Park Square. Now, a quarter of a century later, the university teaches more than 12,000 students at its Harbor Campus which opened in 1974.
UMass/Boston first concentrated its offerings in the arts and sciences. Programs in public and community service and in management soon followed. In 1982 consolidation with Boston State College brought well-established programs in education, nursing, criminal justice, and physical education to the university. Today, UMass/Boston incorporates five colleges and offers over 100 programs of study.
On the foundations of its fine undergraduate programs, the university began in the 1970's to develop the master's degree programs called for by its mission, and these programs again were substantially augmented by the merger with Boston State College. In 1982 the first doctoral program -- in environmental sciences -- was established. Today UMass/Boston offers more than twenty programs at the master's level and has three doctoral programs, with additional programs ready for approval and implementation.
In keeping with the land grant tradition of the University of Massachusetts, dating from 1863, UMass/Boston's mission calls for research and service as integral components of its activity. Faculty members in all colleges are engaged actively in research, and sponsored research has expanded substantially in recent years. Research and service are given particular emphasis by UMass/Boston's public service institutes and centers; the first was established in 1970, and the campus now has six.
During its first quarter century, the University of Massachusetts at Boston has attracted a distinguished faculty and has become a respected member of the Boston higher education community whose graduates go on to the finest graduate and professional schools and assume positions of leadership in the Commonwealth and the nation. Its research and service programs are firmly established and growing in both size and reputation. With this solid foundation, the university looks forward with confidence to the challenges and opportunities of the quarter-century to come.
From: Convocation Day program, Sept. 13, 1989, available in the department.
Archives and Special Collections Department
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Overview of Archival & Printed Sources
UMASS/Boston Historical Material in the Archives and Special Collections Department
UMass/Boston was founded in 1964 as the second campus of the University of Massachusetts (there are now five campuses). In 1982, Boston State College merged with UMass/Boston. For a brief history of Boston State College and information about historical material in the Archives documenting Boston State, see the Boston State College section, up one WWW page level.
This is an overview of the material in the Archives that documents UMass/Boston.
Archival Records/Collections
NOTE: Although the Archives and Special Collections Department is the official repository for the records of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, there is not yet a records management program and the department does not collect any office records on a regular basis. Since its founding in 1982, the department has made an effort to collect publications produced by university offices. For a description of those publications, see the heading "Institutional Publications."
UMB Archives Collection, 1964-
These collections contain copies of memorandum, reports, proposals, and office records either donated to the department by the office, institute or organization, or (more often) collected by the department. The collections are organized by department or category, using the same numbering system (see the Series Numbering Scheme in the blue notebook) as the UMB Publications Collection. A Series List (overview) of the collections is available in this section of the WWW page.
(For longer descriptions of some of the following collections, see the appropriate entry on this WWW page; others are available in the department)
Max Bluestone Papers, 1947-1980 (bulk, 1965-1978), 13 cartons
UMB Photographs, 1964-1991, 1 file box, 1 half file box
UMB Oral History Project Records, 1989-1990, 1 file box
Clark Edson Taylor College of Public and Community Service
Research Material, 1970-1984 (bulk, 1970-1975), 6 cartons
Institutional Publications
The UMB PUBLICATIONS COLLECTION contains printed or near-print material distributed throughout the campus and often beyond. This includes yearbooks, newspapers, and catalogs. The publications are organized by department or category, using the same numbering system as the UMB Archival Collections (see the Series List in the UMB Collections section). The finding aid to the UMB Publications Collections is in the UMass/Boston notebook under "UMB Publications" and on this WWW page under "UMB institutional publications."
There are a few publications by UMass/Boston departments or institutes about the university cataloged individually in the on-line catalog (do a subject search on University of Massachusetts at Boston). There are also publications by UMB departments not about UMass/Boston that are cataloged individually in the on-line catalog.
Secondary Sources
(This list is by no means exhaustive, consult the on-line catalog)
Richard M. Freeland, Academia's Golden Age: Universities in Massachusetts, 1945-1970 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). Call number: Archives LA306.B7F74 1992
Robert Gabrielsky, compiler, A Research Guide to the History of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst: University of Massachusetts, University History Project, 1989). [incomplete] Call number: Archives LD3234.M22A1 1989
Massachusetts Higher Education in the Eighties series Call number: Archives LC175.M3 Check the OPAC for specific titles and call numbers.
Clark Edson Taylor, Planning an Urban Experimental College: A Case Study of the CPCS, Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers University, 1975. Request in the Archives and Special Collections Department
John Whittaker, Selecting a Permanent Site and Planning an Urban Campus for the University of Massachusetts - Boston, 1964-1973: A Case Study of the Impact of State and Local Politics on Policy Formulation and Planning for an Urban Public University (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1990). Call number: Archives LD3234.M2W5 1989
Ann Withorn, The Manual: A Manual for Assessment, The College of Public and Community Services, University of Massachusetts at Boston (Boston: CPCS, 1986). Call number: General collection LD3234.M2W5 1986
Archives and Special Collections Department
Healey Library
University of Massachusetts at Boston.