The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Collecting area: Civic organizations

Girls Club of Greenfield (Mass.)

Girls Club of Greenfield Records

1895-1995
21 boxes 27 linear feet
Call no.: MS 379

Founded in 1895, the Girls Club of Greenfield provides high quality early care and educational services to the girls of Franklin County, Massachusetts, and advocates for the rights of children and their families. During the school year, the Club offers diverse programming, ranging from an infant room and preschool to after school activities that promote teamwork, community spirit, social skills, and confidence. Since 1958, they have also operated a summer camp, Lion Knoll, in Leyden.

The records of the Girls Club of Greenfield include by-laws, annual reports, reports and meeting minutes of the Board of Directors, correspondence, and ledgers and account books. Also contains program files for daycare, summer camp, education worker programs, and others, personnel records, membership and committee lists, newsletters, press releases, ledgers, account books, scrapbooks, news clippings, photographs, slides, and artifacts.

Subjects

Girls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Social conditionsGirls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Social life and customsGirls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Societies and clubs--HistoryGreenfield (Mass.)--Social conditionsGreenfield (Mass.)--Social life and customs

Contributors

Girls Club of Greenfield (Greenfield, Mass.)

Types of material

Account booksPhotographsScrapbooks
Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. Total Community Development Committee

Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce Total Community Development Committee Records

1968-1970
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 154

Formed by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce in 1968, the Total Community Development Committee was assigned the task of assessing the city’s needs and resources in an effort to guide the community in making and remaking its physical shape. Drawn from local business leaders, academics, and city planners, the Committee addressed issues relating to the city’s public assets including the state of the Hampshire County Courthouse, City Hall, schools, and housing, as well as economic and industrial development, recreation and youth, and urban renewal.

The collection consists of minutes and memos of the Total Development Committee, notes kept by Committee member Harvey J. Finison, and supporting material, including a copy of the 1963 master plan for the city and a series of maps. The Committee’s work contributed to a new comprehensive plan for the city by the firm Metcalf and Eddy (1972) and a survey of needs for proposed Hampshire County courthouse prepared by Reinhardt and Associates (1969).

Subjects

City planning--Massachusetts--NorthamptonNorthampton (Mass.)--Economic conditions--20th centuryUrban renewal--Massachusetts--Northampton

Contributors

Finison, Harvey J., 1916-1987Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. Total Community Development Committee

Types of material

Comprehensive plans (reports)Maps
Greenwich (Mass.)

Greenwich (Mass.) Collection

1734-1940
3 folders (plus digital) 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 011

Granted in 1737 and incorporated in 1754, Greenwich, Mass., was the first town in the Swift River Valley settled by Europeans. Sitting astride the East and Middle branches of the Swift River and forming the eastern boundary of Hampshire County, Greenwich was primarily an agricultural town with light manufacturing and, beginning in the later nineteenth century, an active tourist trade. The town’s population peaked at over 1,100 early in the nineteenth century, declining slowly thereafter.

The records of Greenwich, Mass., offer a long perspective on the history of the region inundated to create the Quabbin Reservoir. The core of this collection consists of the records of town meetings and the Selectmen of Greenwich from the Proprietary period in the 1730s through disincorporation in 1938, but there is some documentation of the town’s Congregational Church, a local school, the library, and the Greenwich Improvement Society. This finding aid reflects both materials held by SCUA and materials digitized in partnership with the Swift River Valley Historical Society in New Salem, Mass.

Subjects

Congregational churches--Massachusetts--Greenwich--HistoryEducation--Massachusetts--Greenwich--HistoryFires--Massachusetts--Greenwich--HistorGreenwich (Mass.)--HistoryGreenwich (Mass.)--Politics and governmentGreenwich (Mass.)--Religious life and customsGreenwich (Mass.)--Social life and customsLibraries--Massachusetts--GreenwichQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--HistoryQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--Social life and customs

Contributors

Greenwich (Mass. : Town)Greenwich (Mass. : Town). School CommitteeGreenwich (Mass. : Town). TreasurerGreenwich Improvement Society

Types of material

Account booksChurch recordsPhotographs
Hampshire Community Action Commission

Hampshire Community Action Commission Records

1965-1984
25 boxes 10.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 056

A private, non-profit corporation founded in 1965 in Northampton, Massachusetts to finance community action programs for eliminating poverty and assisting low income people. Programs included day care centers, Neighborhood Youth Corps, Summer Head Start, a drug addiction clinic at the jail, Legal Services, and the Foster Grandparent Program.

Records comprise bylaws and organizational charts, annual reports, board of directors minutes; administrative directors’ records, including correspondence with the federal agencies and state agencies granting funds, grant applications and awards, program plans, financial and legal documents, personnel records and staff training directives; the agency newsletter County Voice, Noticero Latina; and newsclippings about welfare programs.

Subjects

Hampshire Community Action CommissionHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsSocial service--Massachusetts--Hampshire County
Hampshire Community United Way

Hampshire Community United Way Records

1969-1985
8 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 047

Nonprofit organization with representatives from sixteen Western Massachusetts towns that raised funds for and distributed funds to local and national social service organizations in their communities. Records include minutes of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, financial and other standing committees; annual reports, correspondence, ledgers, budget worksheets, agency reports, campaign materials, including solicitation lists and letters, campaign studies and reports; brochures and surveys; and printed materials and photographs.

Subjects

Charities--Massachusetts--Easthampton--History--SourcesFederations, Financial (Social service)--History--SourcesHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditions--SourcesHuman services--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--History--SourcesUnited States. Combined Federal CampaignUnited States. Combined Federal Campaign--Correspondence

Contributors

Hampshire Community United Way (Hampshire County, Mass.)--ArchivesHampshire United Fund (Hampshire County, Mass.)--ArchivesUnited Way of America

Types of material

Photographs
Hampshire Council of Governments

Hampshire Council of Governments Records

1677-1974
90 volumes, 17 boxes 80 linear feet
Call no.: MS 704
Depiction of Title page, Volume 1 (1671)
Title page, Volume 1 (1671)

The Hampshire Council of Governments is a voluntary association of cities and towns and the successor to the former government of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, that was abolished in 1999. A body politic and corporate, its charter ratified by Massachusetts General Law 34B, S20(b), the Council oversees roadways, the electricity supply, building inspection, tobacco control, cooperative purchasing, and other services for member communities.

The Hampshire Council collection contains a dense record of county-level governance in western Massachusetts from the colonial period through the mid-twentieth century with extensive documentation of the actions of the County Commissioners, and before them the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions. Rich in documenting the development of the transportation infrastructure of western Massachusetts, the collection offers detailed information associated with the planning and construction of highways, canals, ferries, and railroads, but the early records offer a broad perspective on the evolution of the legal and cultural environment, touching on issues from disorderly conduct (e.g., fornication, Sabbath breaking) to the settlement of estates, local governance, public works, and politics.

Subjects

Bridges--Massachusetts--Hampshire CountyDams--Massachusetts--Hampshire CountyHampshire County (Mass.)--HistoryHampshire County (Mass.)--Politics and governmentIndians of North America--MassachusettsNorthampton (Mass.)--HistoryNorthampton (Mass.)--Social life and customsRailroads--MassachusettsRoads--Massachusetts--Hampshire CountyTaverns (Inns)--Massachusetts--Hampshire County

Contributors

Hampshire County (Mass.). County CommissionersMassachusetts. Court of General Sessions of the Peace (Hampshire County)Massachusetts. Inferior Court of Common Pleas (Hampshire County)

Types of material

Civil court recordsMaps
Hampshire Regional YMCA

Hampshire Regional YMCA Records

1891-1978
16 boxes 11.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 009

In February and March 1890, Smith College Professor J.H. Pillsbury organized several meetings for Northampton citizens interested in the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association. Within a month, prominent local men, including C.H. Lyman, A.L. Williston, George Washington Cable, and F.N. Kneeland, established an Executive Board and committees with representatives from all the Protestant churches to raise funds and secure a building to begin the Northampton YMCA. Incorporation shortly followed, in January 1892.

In its first decade, the YMCA established a Boy’s Department under the direction of Robert L. Williston, started a Women’s Auxiliary, and began a building fund that resulted in the purchase of property from A.L. Williston on King Street. Throughout its history, the YMCA responded to local needs during periods of crisis or transition. During World War I and II, it established recreation programs for factory workers and soldiers stationed in the area, and, from 1942-44, was heavily involved in U.S.O work. In the 1950s and 1960s the YMCA began special programs on civil rights and desegregation. Over the years, a number of prominent local figures played a role in Hampshire Regional YMCA’s history including Robert L. Williston, Oliver L. Bradley, and Errol V. Ridgewell, Executive Director from 1943 through 1969.

Records of the Hampshire Regional YMCA document the Association from its first meetings in 1891 through 1978. The collection contains minutes, constitution and by-laws, reports, board correspondence, ledgers, publications, scrapbooks, and youth, recreation, and wartime program files. Also includes material relating to building campaigns and properties. Additionally documents the long career of Errol V. Ridgwell.

Subjects

Associations, institutions, etc.--Massachusetts--Northampton--HistoryNorthampton (Mass.)--Social conditionsPeople's Institute (Northampton, Mass.)Recreation--Massachusetts--Northampton--HistorySocial service and race relations--Massachusetts--Northampton--HistoryWorld War, 1939-1945

Contributors

Hampshire Regional YMCA (Northampton, Mass.)Ridgwell, Errol VYoung Men's Christian Association (Northampton, Mass.)

Types of material

MinutesScrapbooks
Haymarket People’s Fund

Haymarket People's Fund Western Massachusetts Records

1975-1983
4 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 336

A granting agency that advises and provides funding for grass roots, non-profit projects and organizations in order to bring about broad social change by addressing local issues and community needs. Records include minutes, reports, correspondence, successful and unsuccessful grant applications from Western Massachusetts organizations, grant source information, and grantee materials including organization reports, publications, member lists, clippings, and other materials.

Subjects

Berkshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsCitizen's associations--Massachusetts--HistoryCommunity power--Massachusetts--HistoryEndowments--Massachusetts--HistoryFranklin County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHampden County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsPolitical activists--Massachusetts--HistorySocial action--Massachusetts--History

Contributors

Haymarket People's Fund (Boston, Mass.)
League of Women Voters of Amherst (Amherst, Mass.)

League of Women Voters of Amherst Records

1939-2001
60 boxes 33 linear feet
Call no.: MS 296

Non-partisan political organization based in Amherst, Massachusetts that influences public policy through education and advocacy by registering voters, organizing candidate forums, publishing voting guides, and disseminating general information on the legislative process and the functioning of government on the local, state, and federal levels.

Includes minutes, annual reports, financial records, publications, extensive files on specific programs, photographs, video- and audio-tapes, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings. Also contains information on two league members who rose to national prominence: Lucy Wilson Benson (Under Secretary of State in the federal government in 1977) and Jane F. Garvey (Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1997).

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--Politics and governmentEducation--Massachusetts--Amherst--HistoryHousing--Massachusetts--Amherst--HistoryMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-

Contributors

Benson, Lucy WilsonGarvey, Jane FLeague of Women Voters of Amherst (Amherst, Mass.)

Types of material

Oral historiesPhotographsScrapbooks
League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire

League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire Records

1959-2001
9 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 478

First founded as a chapter for Pittsfield and later for all of central Berkshire county, this local league is one of many Massachusetts chapters of the national non-partisan political organization, League of Women Voters, that influences public policy through education and advocacy by registering voters, organizing candidate forums, publishing voting guides, and disseminating general information on the legislative process and the functioning of government on the local, state, and federal levels.

The bulk of the collection documents the activities and topics of interest to members of the League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire during the last three decades of their work before disbanding in 2001. The chapter consistently served to educate the public on voter registration, the voting process, and on the functioning of local and state government. Other issues of importance included child care and rights, prison reform, clean water, and health care.

Subjects

Berkshire County (Mass.)--Politics and governmentDrinking water--MassachusettsMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-Prisons--Massachusetts

Contributors

League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire