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

Collecting area: Medical

Belchertown State School Friends Association

Belchertown State School Friends Association Records

1954-1986
30 boxes 20 linear feet
Call no.: MS 302

The Belchertown State School Friends Association was established in 1954 to promote improved conditions at Belchertown State School and better treatment of “retarded” or “mentally challenged” citizens in Massachusetts more generally. The School was formally opened in 1922 as an institution to train children with developmental disabilities and prepare them for integration into society. By the 1960s, conditions at the school had deteriorated to a degree detrimental to the residents, precipitating a string of lawsuits, beginning with Ricci v. Greenblatt in 1972, eventually leading to closure of the facility in 1992.

The bulk of the School’s Friends Association collection consists of records of court appearances, briefs, the consent decree, and related materials, along with reports and correspondence relating to Massachusetts v. Russell W. Daniels, Ricci v. Greenblatt (later Ricci v. Okin), and other cases. Accompanying the legal files are clippings and photocopied newspaper articles; speeches; newsletters; draft of agreements; and scrapbooks.

The Massachusetts State Archives has a small amount of records related to Belchertown State School. They are housed under the Health and Human Services division in the archives — see the archives collection guide for Health and Human Services at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcpdf/collection-guides/FA_HS.pdf. There may be more records related to the Belchertown State School under the Dept. of Mental Health and Dept. of Mental Retardation records groups, listed in the same collection guide as above. Note: Mental health client information is restricted by statutory provision MGLA c123, s36. Mental retardation client information is restricted by statutory provision MGLA c123B, s 17. For conditions of access, consult the Massachusetts State Archives.

Subjects

Persons with mental disabilities--Institutional care--MassachusettsRicci, Robert Simpson

Contributors

Belchertown State SchoolRicci, Benjamin
Bishop, Sam

Sam Bishop Bronx-Lebanon (N.Y.) Incinerator Collection

1982-1997
4 boxes 6 linear feet
Call no.: MS 703

A new medical waste incinerator for New York city hospitals became the focal point of drawn-out controversy in the 1990s. After proposals to place the facility in Rockland County and downtown Manhattan were scotched, a site in the South Bronx was selected. Even before it opened in 1991, the Bronx-Lebanon incinerator touched off fierce opposition. Built to dispose of up to 48 tons per day of medical waste gathered from fifteen regional hospitals, the incinerator was located in a poor and densely populated area, and worse, raising charges of environmental racism. Making matters worse, during its years of operation, it was cited for hundreds of violations of state pollution standards. A coalition of grassroots organizations led an effective campaign to close the facility, and in June 1997 the plant’s owner, Browning Ferris Industries agreed. In an agreement with the state two years later, BFI agreed to disable the plant and remove the emission stacks.

Gathered by an environmental activist and consultant from New York city, Sam Bishop, this collection documents the turbulent history of public opposition to the Bronx-Lebanon medical waste incinerator. In addition to informational materials on medical waste incineration, the collection includes reports and legal filings relative to the facility, some materials on the campaign to close it, and a small quantity of correspondence and notes from activists.

Subjects

Bronx (New York, N.Y.)--HistoryIncinerators--Environmental aspectsMedical wastes--Incineration

Types of material

Legal documents
Boston AIDS Consortium

Boston AIDS Consortium Records

1991-2005
12 boxes 18 linear feet
Call no.: MS 458

Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA to request materials from this collection.

In the fall 1987, a working group was formed in Boston to help coordinate planning for HIV-related services, prevention, and education. The Boston AIDS Consortium began operations the following January with the goal of ensuring effective services for people affected by HIV/AIDS and enabling them to live healthy and productive lives. In its eighteen year existence, the Consortium worked with over seventy public and private agencies and two hundred individuals.

The Records of the Boston AIDS Consortium provide valuable insight into community-based mobilization in response to the AIDS epidemic.

Subjects

AIDS (Disease)AIDS activists--MassachusettsAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome--Prevention and control

Contributors

Boston AIDS Consortium
Bucklin, Thomas, 1771-1843

Thomas Bucklin Daybook

1841-1843
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 260 bd

Daybook of physician Thomas Bucklin who, for twenty-three years, practiced medicine in and around Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Accounts are listed chronologically and by surname; patients included women and local Irish laborers. Entries are brief and in medical shorthand. The book contains prescriptions, some for specific patients and some borrowed from other doctors; a list of deaths in Hopkinton for 1841-43, with the age of the deceased and cause of death; and personal notations in the margins of the book, noting holidays, weather conditions and trips.

Subjects

Bowker familyBullard familyClaflin familyHopkinton (Mass.)--Social conditionsMcFarland familyMedicine--Practice--Massachusetts--HopkintonMortality--Massachusetts--HopkintonPhipps familyPhysicians--Massachusetts--HopkintonRockwood familyVaccination of children--Massachusetts--Hopkinton

Contributors

Bucklin, Thomas, 1771-1843

Types of material

Daybooks
Calkins, David

David and Marshall Calkins Account Books

1848-1855
3 vols. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 178

Brothers from Wilbraham, Mass., David and Marshall Calkins received medical degrees together at the Worcester Medical Institution in 1848. Although David died at the age of 31 in 1855 while just beginning a career, Marshall went on to build a considerable reputation in medicine, working with the Springfield City Hospital for many years and teaching at the University of Vermont.

Kept during the Calkins brothers’ years in Monson, Mass., the three daybooks that comprise this collection list patients treated and their origin or race, along with medical class notes, services provided, remedies, and forms of pay, including bartering for goods. Also included is an account of a stay in Wilbraham.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Monson (Mass.)--History--19th centuryPhysicians--Massachusetts--Monson

Contributors

Calkins, DavidCalkins, Marshall

Types of material

Account books
Champion Family

Champion and Stebbins Family Account Books

1753-1865
8 vols. 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 228

Account books from the Champion and Stebbins families of Saybrook, Connecticut and West Springfield, Massachusetts, who were involved in various businesses and professional activities. Includes lists of accounts by surname, services rendered, methods of payment, entries for treatments and remedies, lists of patients, and lists of banking activities. Volumes were kept by Reuben Champion (1720-1777), Jere Stebbins (1757-1817), and Reuben Champion, M.D. (1784-1865).

Subjects

African Americans--Massachusetts--West Springfield--HistoryAgriculture--Economic aspects--Massachusetts--HistoryAtwood, ElijahBarter--Massachusetts--West SpringfieldChampion familyConnecticut River Valley--Economic conditions--18th centuryFarmers--Massachusetts--HistoryGeneral stores--MassachusettsHomeopathic physicians--MassachusettsHomeopathy--Materia medica and therapeuticsMedicine--Practice--Massachusetts--HistoryPhysicians--MassachusettsPottery industry--Massachusetts--HistorySaybrook (Conn.)--HistoryShipping--New England--HistoryStebbins familyWest Springfield (Mass.)--Economic conditionsWest Springfield (Mass.)--HistoryWest Springfield (Mass.)--Social conditionsWomen--Massachusetts--History

Contributors

Champion, Reuben, 1727-1777Champion, Reuben, 1784-1865Stebbins, Jere, 1757-1817

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Conte, Silvio O. (Silvio Oltavio), 1921-1991

Silvio O. Conte Papers

1950-1991
389 boxes 583.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 371
Depiction of Silvio Conte, 1973
Silvio Conte, 1973

Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA to request materials from this collection.

Massachusetts State Senator for the Berkshire District, 1950-1958, and representative for Massachusetts’s First District in the United States Congress for 17 terms, 1959-1991, where he made significant contributions in the areas of health and human services, the environment, education, energy, transportation, and small business.

Spanning four decades and eight presidents, the papers offer an extraordinary perspective on the major social, economic, and cultural changes experienced by the American people. Includes correspondence, speeches, press releases, bill files, his voting record, committee files, scrapbooks, travel files, audio-visual materials and over 5,000 photographs and slides.

Subjects

Massachusetts--Politics and government--1951-Massachusetts. SenateUnited States--Politics and government--20th centuryUnited States. Congress. House

Contributors

Conte, Silvio O. (Silvio Oltavio), 1921-1991

Types of material

PhotographsScrapbooksSound recordings
Davenport, Janina Smiertka

Janina Smiertka Davenport Papers

1918-1990
7 boxes 3 linear feet
Call no.: MS 343
Depiction of Janina Smiertka, 1934
Janina Smiertka, 1934

Raised in a Polish American family from Greenfield, Mass., Janina Smiertka Davenport was the epitome of a life-long learner. After graduating from Greenfield High School in 1933, Davenport received degrees from the Pratt Institute in Food Management and from the Franklin County Public School for Nurses (1937). In 1938, she began work as a nurse in the U.S. Navy, receiving two special commendations for meritorious service during the Second World War. She continued her formal and informal education later in life, receiving degrees from Arizona State University in 1958 and UMass Amherst in Russian and Eastern European Studies (1982). Davenport died in Greenfield in March 2002.
The Davenport Papers contain a thick sheaf of letters and documents pertaining to her Navy service before and during World War II, along with assorted biographical and genealogical data, materials collected during educational trips to Poland and elsewhere, and approximately one linear foot of family photographs and photo albums.

Subjects

Nurses--MassachusettsPolish Americans--MassachusettsUnited States. NavyWorld War, 1939-1945

Contributors

Davenport, Janina Smiertka

Types of material

Photographs
Easton (Mass.)

Easton (Mass.) Physician's Daybook

1831-1833
1 vol. 0.15 linear feet
Call no.: MS 283 bd

The Bristol County, Massachusetts, towns of Easton and Norton had only a small number of trained physicians in the antebellum period tending to a growing population. During the 1830s, that number was probably less and ten, including those with allopathic medical degrees, alternative practitioners, and those who had irregular educations.

The unidentified physician who kept this daybook appears to have practiced in either Easton or Norton, Massachusetts, during the early 1830s. The daybook includes brief records of patient names and dates of visits, medical care dispensed, and minimal records of medical procedures.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1989

Subjects

Physicians--Massachusetts

Types of material

Daybooks
Ebert, George

George Ebert Papers

1972-2018
90 boxes 135 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1049

Since the early 1970s, George Ebert has been a significant national figure in the anti-psychiatry and psychiatric survivors’ movements. Radicalized by three periods of involuntary incarceration, Ebert founded the Mental Patients Liberation Alliance in 1978 as a self-help, mutual support, human rights, and advocacy organization, and he has spoken out consistently against all forms of coercive psychiatry, including electroconvulsive therapy and forced drugging. While serving as director of the Mental Patients Alliance of Central New York, Ebert has also been active in Activists for Alternatives and the Network Against Coercive Psychiatry.

A significant collection for study of the psychiatric survivors’ movement, Ebert’s papers contain a wealth of correspondence from activists throughout the United States and abroad, along with notable runs of newsletters and periodicals from many early ex-patient groups that are now defunct, photographs of demonstrations, and organizational materials relating to the Mental Patients Liberation Alliance.

Gift of George Ebert, Aug. 2018

Subjects

AntipsychiatryEx-mental patientsPeople with disabilities--Civil rightsPeople with disabilities--Legal status, laws, etc.Psychiatric survivors movement

Contributors

Mental Patients Liberation Alliance

Types of material

Photographs