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

Collecting area: Massachusetts (East)

Kotts, Norine

Norine Kotts and Cheryl Lewis Papers

Ca. 1982-2013
6 boxes 2.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1177

Longtime partners in work and life, Norine Kotts and Cheryl Lewis met in San Francisco in 1980. Kotts, daughter of a law enforcement officer and a homemaker, whose family who moved frequently, was a freelance photographer; Lewis, a biracial Chicago native and daughter of a furniture maker and a schoolteacher, who grew up in Rockland County, N. Y., was an art student in the Bay Area and a lifelong cook. They moved back to the house Kotts was sharing with a group of lesbians, in Somerville, Mass., and eventually into the world of food collectives, restaurants, and hospitality. In 1982, along with two co-founders, Kotts and Lewis opened the cafe Beetle’s Lunch in Allston, a Boston neighborhood. Named “1983 Best Punk Restaurant” by Boston magazine, Beetle’s Lunch became known as a welcoming alternative community space situated at a convergence of queer and feminist politics, new concepts in art and music, and the changing food scene, with a dash of idealism, especially on the part of its young feminist founders. Relocating to Portland, Me., in 1985 Kotts and Lewis opened Café Always, playing a significant role in fostering and shaping that city’s burgeoning food culture: as Portland’s first restaurant to employ local farmers and incorporate local ingredients into the daily menu, Café Always garnered national attention. After selling the business in 1995, the couple opened Aurora Provisions, a gourmet food and wine shop with an in-store restaurant and catering service, which they ran until selling it in 2001. As consultants they continued to participate in and influence the food scene in Portland, helping to launch Portland favorite El Rayo Taqueria in 2009.

The Kotts and Lewis Papers provide glimpses into the formation and operation of several notable New England food establishments, documenting the creative, professional, and personal aspects, as well as the food itself. The collection contains menus, photographs, business plans, correspondence (including a set of letters Kotts wrote to her mother on the backs of menus), recipes and cookbooks, memorabilia, and a guest book filled with diners’ comments. Kotts and Lewis are also the subjects of a series of oral histories conducted by sociologist Janice Irvine.

Gift of Norine Kotts and Cheryl Lewis, Nov. 2022

Subjects

Lesbian businesswomenLesbian cooksRestaurants--Maine--PortlandRestaurants--New EnglandRestaurants--Social aspectsRestaurateurs

Contributors

Lewis, Cheryl

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)MenusPhotographs
Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston

Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston Records

1937-1997
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 466

The oldest active Polish folk dance ensemble in the United States, the Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston was formed in 1937 by a group of young ladies of Polish heritage interested in promoting Polish culture through the mediums of song and dance. The club opened its membership to young men in 1947, and was offcially incorporated in 1957. Since its formation, the dancers have appeared throughout the U.S., Canada, and Poland, and the group has received recognition and awards worldwide, including a special performance before his Holiness Pope John Paul II in 1983.

The collection includes programs for performances from the club’s earliest days, tickets, newspaper clippings featuring articles about the group, and copies of the organization’s constitution describing the group’s mission and membership.

Subjects

Folk dancing, PolishPolish Americans--Massachusetts

Contributors

Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston
Lawrence-Andover Friends Meeting

Lawrence-Andover Friends Meeting Records

1886-1987
21 vols., 2 boxes 3.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 L397

The Lawrence Monthly Meeting of Friends evolved from Boston Monthly in the late 1880s and 1890s, achieving status as a monthly meeting in 1899. Although they became inactive in 1985, they were revived in 1994, and joined with a preparative meeting in Andover to form the present Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting.

The records of Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting include a relatively complete set of minutes, extending back to the earliest days as a preparative meeting to about the time of its becoming inactive in the mid-1980s. The collection also includes minutes and accounts for its Elizabeth Fry Missionary Circle, its Leprosy Mission, Missionary Society, and Sabbath School, along with records of births, deaths, and marriages in the meeting, 1892-1975.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Lawrence (Mass.)--Religious life and customsMissionaries--MassachusettsQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--Massachusetts

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Vital records (Document genre)
Leonard, Samuel B., b. 1807

Samuel B. Leonard Account Book

1833-1845
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 206 bd

Blacksmith from Foxborough, Massachusetts. Documents the various kinds of work performed, such as mending chain links, shoeing horses, bolting and riveting wagons, repairing stoves, and the prices charged for such work. Includes customers arranged by surname and notations of the settlement of long-standing debts (without mention of the methods of payment).

Subjects

Blacksmithing--Massachusetts--Foxborough--History--19th centuryBlacksmiths--Massachusetts--Foxborough--Economic conditions--19th centuryFoxborough (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryFoxborough (Mass.)--History--19th century

Contributors

Leonard, Samuel B., 1807-

Types of material

Account books
Levy, Donald

Donald Levy Papers

1966-1987
2 boxes 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 878
Depiction of Richie Havens at Krackerjacks, ca. 1968
Richie Havens at Krackerjacks, ca. 1968

The co-owner with Alan Peterson of Krackerjacks, a psychedelic clothing store in Boston, Donald “Jack” Levy grew the boutique he started in 1966 into a staple of the counterculture in the Boston area and eventually a franchise. Levy was at the center of a controversy in Cambridge when the city tried to ban “obscene” buttons. Though several stores removed the buttons, Levy refused and with community support, fought the city’s ban. Levy also opened several clothing stores in the Boston-area: Garbo, a women’s clothing store; Dazzle in 1973, a vintage clothing store; Goods in 1976, a natural fiber and novelty store; and purchased and refurbished the Blue Diner in 1986 (now the South Street Diner). He currently owns diners in Newton, Framingham, and Watertown Mass.

The Donald Levy Papers contain ephemera, photographs, and clippings primarily documenting Krackerjacks as well as Levy’s other clothing stores and the opening of Blue Diner. Of particular interest is a petition circulated by Levy during the city’s attempt to ban “obscene” buttons. Included among the signatures is a 15-year-old Jonathan Richman, who called the button ban, “an example of lingering Victorianism.”

Subjects

Counterculture--United States--20th centuryFashion--United States--20th centuryMassachusetts--Cambridge--History--20th centuryStores, Retail--Massachusetts

Contributors

Richman, Jonathan (Vocalist)

Types of material

ClippingsPetitionsPhotographs
Lincoln, Abisha, 1800-1863

Abisha Lincoln Daybooks

1861-1867
3 vols. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 233

Born in February 1800, Abisha Lincoln kept a general store in Raynham, Mass., selling groceries, hardware, dry goods, shoes, and many other items to residents of the north end of town. Successful in business, Lincoln won election to local and state office and was followed into business by each of his three sons.

These daybooks from Abisha Lincoln record customer names, goods sold (such as groceries, hardware, dry goods, and shoes) and the form of payment: principally cash, with some local trade of agricultural commodities.

Subjects

Barter--Massachusetts--Raynham--History--19th centuryConsumer goods--Prices--Massachusetts--Raynham--History--19th centuryConsumers--Massachusetts--Raynham--History--19th centuryGeneral stores--Massachusetts--RaynhamRaynham (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryRaynham (Mass.)--History--19th century--BiographyShopping--Massachusetts--Raynham--History--19th century

Contributors

Lincoln, Abisha, 1800-1863

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Locke, Samuel A.

Samuel A. Locke Account Book

1821-1829
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 168

Businessman from West Cambridge, Massachusetts with additional dealings in Charlestown, Quincy, Waltham, and Tyngsboro.

The volume includes lists of personal and business purchases, services provided for his family, and business services such as whitewashing, carting coal, sawing wood, carrying letters, collecting debts, relaying a brick fireplace, and “work loading Sloop Rapid,” and barter and cash transactions. References made to Locke’s involvement with Universalism and members of the Tufts family of Cambridge and Middlesex County.

Subjects

Arlington (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryBarter--Massachusetts--HistoryBuilding materials industry--Massachusetts--ArlingtonBuilding trades--Massachusetts--ArlingtonCharlestown (Boston, Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryQuincy (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryTufts familyTyngsboro (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryUniversalismUniversalist churches--United States--History--19th centuryWaltham (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century

Contributors

Locke, Samuel A

Types of material

Account books
Loring, George G. (Gid)

Gid Loring Collection

1947-1996
1 box 1.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1138

Jazz musician and collector George G. Loring, known as Gid, played the cornet with a number of bands including his own (Gid’s Giddy Gang), especially after retiring from a career in the financial industry. Although he never considered himself a professional musician, he kept busy playing professional and semi-professional gigs and casual jam sessions in the Boston area, occasionally in his own home in Manchester, Mass. In addition to jazz, he played swing and Dixieland. Also dedicated to the environment, he was a founder of the Manchester Conservation Trust in 1963.

This collection contains an assortment of material relating to and describing jazz music and performances mainly from the 1940s through the 1960s, including collections of letters by musicians Jim Wheaton and James Weaver (mostly written in the early 1990s), notes about Boston Jazz Society performances, and ephemera including programs and clippings, with an emphasis on Louis Armstrong.

Gift of George G. Loring, Dec. 2020

Subjects

Jazz musicians--Massachusetts

Types of material

CorrespondenceEphemeraNewsclippings
Lyman, Frank

Frank Lyman Papers

1927-1980
6 boxes 9 linear feet
Call no.: MS 735
Depiction of Frank Lyman, ca.1945
Frank Lyman, ca.1945

A manufacturer of electronics and radio communications, Frank Lyman was a native of Northampton and graduate of the Williston Academy and Harvard (class of 1931). The grandson of Joseph Lyman and great-nephew of Benjamin Smith Lyman, Lyman joined Harvey Radio in the late 1930s, during a time when it was building radio transmitting equipment, purchasing the company in 1940 and becoming its president. An investor in Boston-area radio stations, Lyman oversaw the company’s post-transition into the manufacture of of autmomatic machines and tooling and its merger into the electronics firm, Cambridge Thermionic Corporation (later renamed Cambion) in 1968. Lyman died in 1992, followed by his wife, Jeanne (Sargent), in 2005.

The Lyman Papers contain business correspondence and associated documents relating to both Harvey Radio Corporation and Cambridge Thermionic Corporation, along with associated materials pertaining to Frank Lyman’s investments and personal interests. Beginning during his time at the Williston Academy and extending through his adult life, the collection includes Lyman’s diaries and a small amount of personal correspondence.

Subjects

CambionCambridge Thermionic CorporationHarvey Radio CompanyRadio industry and trade--Massachusetts

Contributors

Lyman, Frank

Types of material

DiariesLetters (Correspondence)Photographs
Lyons, Louis Martin

Louis Martin Lyons Papers

1918-1980
9 boxes 4.5 linear feet
Call no.: RG 002/3 L96
Depiction of Louis M. Lyons
Louis M. Lyons

As a journalist with the Boston Globe, a news commentator on WGBH television, and Curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, Louis M. Lyons was an important public figure in the New England media for over fifty years. A 1918 graduate of Massachusetts Agricultural College and later trustee of UMass Amherst, Lyons was an vocal advocate for freedom of the press and a highly regarded commentator on the evolving role of media in American society.

The Lyons Papers contain a selection of correspondence, lectures, and transcripts of broadcasts relating primarily to Lyons’ career in television and radio. From the McCarthy era through the end of American involvement in Vietnam, Lyons addressed topics ranging from local news to international events, and the collection offers insight into transformations in American media following the onset of television and reaction both in the media and the public to events such as the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the war in Vietnam, and the social and political turmoil of the 1960s.

Subjects

Boston GlobeCivil rights movementsFreedom of the PressFrost, Robert, 1874-1963Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973Journalistic ethicsJournalists--Massachusetts--BostonKennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968TelevisionUniversity of Massachusetts. TrusteesVietnam War, 1961-1975WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.)World War, 1914-1918

Contributors

Lyons, Louis Martin, 1897-

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)Speeches