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

Collecting area: Religion

Catholic Church

Book of Hours (Use of Rome)

ca.1465
1 vol. 144 fol. linear feet
Call no.: MS 963
Depiction of Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Books of hours are the most common surviving form of the medieval book and are as diverse as the patrons who commissioned them. Beginning in the mid-thirteenth century, they flourished as part of a rich array of devotional works used to frame the temporal structure of a community’s spiritual lives. In keeping with individual spiritual and aesthetic preferences, books of hours were often customized to appeal to the particular purchaser, and they vary greatly through time and from region to region.

This diminutive and comparatively austere book of hours (Use of Rome) appears to have been produced near Bruges between about 1460 and 1470, possibly influenced by the prolific illuminator Willem Vrelant. Written in Latin in a skilled Gothic Italic Rotunda hand, the book lacks a calendar and miniatures of any kind, nor is there any evidence that any were ever present.

Acquired from Scott Gwara, Feb. 2017
Language(s): Latin

Subjects

Books of hours--Belgium--Early works to 1800

Contributors

Catholic Church--Liturgy--Texts--Early works to 1800Catholic Church--Prayers and devotions--Latin--Early works to 1800Hammer, Christian, 1818-1905Virgin, Thore, 1886-1957

Types of material

Books of hoursIlluminated manuscripts
Catholic Church

Dominikanerinnenkloster St. Gertrud (Cologne, Germany) Book of Hours

ca.1481-1488
1 vol. 0.2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1057
Depiction of Close-up of King David
Close-up of King David

The Dominikanerinnenkloster St. Gertud (Dominican Convent of Saint Gertrude) operated in Cologne, Germany, for nearly five and half centuries. An important center in connection with German mysticism in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Kloster survived the Reformation, however persistently poor finances led to its decline in the 18th century. After it was abolished during a wave of secularization on October 14, 1802.

This diminutive book of hours was prepared by Dominican nuns at the Kloster St. Gertrud during the 1480s. Like some other German books of hours it lacks the calendar, Gospel lessons, and the two prayers to the Virgin, Obsecro te and O intemerata, however it includes additional liturgical texts, such as Offices for major feasts, as well as music for the funeral service. This copy may have been made for or by the prioress Magdalena Frankengruenerin (1481-1488), and remained in the convent until the eighteenth century.

Acquired from Les Enluminures, Nov. 2018
Language(s): Latin

Subjects

Books of hours--Germany--Early works to 1800Catholic Church--Liturgy--Texts--Early works to 1800Catholic Church--Prayers and devotions--Latin--Early works to 1800Dominikanerinnenkloster St. Gertrud (Cologne, Germany)

Contributors

Drieschen, Maria CatharinaFrankengruenerin, Magdalena

Types of material

Books of hoursIlluminated manuscripts
Catholic Church

Ordo ad consecrandum virginum [Order for the consecration of nuns]

ca.1360
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1060
Depiction of Ordo ad consecrandum virginum
Ordo ad consecrandum virginum

Founded in 1067, the Benedictine convent of San Pier Maggiore was an ecclesiastical center of medieval Florence, and socially one the city’s most prestigious religious houses for women. A Gothic church was completed at the convent in 1352, featuring an elaborate multi-paneled altarpiece by Jacopo di Cione. The convent remained active until its razing in 1784.

A utilitarian, but ritually significant work, this manuscript contains the text and music used in celebrating the consecration of nuns at the Benedictine convent of San Pier Maggiore. The acanthus border on the first folio suggests a mid-fourteenth century date of origin, though likely prior to the commissioning of Cione’s Coronation of the Virgin altarpiece.

Acquired from Les Enluminures, Dec. 2018
Language(s): Latin

Subjects

Benedictine nuns--Italy--FlorenceCatholic Church--Liturgy--Texts--Early works to 1800Consecration of nuns--Italy--FlorenceFlorence (Italy)--Religious life and customsSan Pier Maggiore (Florence, Italy)

Types of material

Illuminated manuscriptsRituals (liturgical books)
Chadbourne, Paul A. (Paul Ansel),1823-1883

Paul A. Chadbourne Papers

1865-1883
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: RG 003/1 C43
Depiction of Paul A. Chadbourne
Paul A. Chadbourne

After distinguishing himself as a chemist on the faculty at Williams College and serving one term in the State Senate, Paul Chadbourne was called upon in 1866 to become the second president of Massachusetts Agricultural College. Although he pressed an ambitious agenda for building a College from scratch, ill health forced him to resign only a year later. He returned to MAC after holding faculty positions in Wisconsin and at Williams, filling a second stint as president from 1882 until his death in 1883. Though brief, he set an important precedent by creating a “scientific and literary” track of study to complement the “agricultural and scientific” one, and by pushing for the financial support of poor students.

The collection includes correspondence of and about Chadbourne, drafts of speeches and sermons, published writings, biographical and genealogical material, and reports from the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture (1865-1881).

Subjects

Agricultural education--MassachusettsMassachusetts Agricultural College. President

Contributors

Chadbourne, Paul A. (Paul Ansel),1823-1883
Chigas, George

George Chigas Collection

1987
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 180
Depiction of Men at consecration of statue at the Trairatanaram Temple, 1987
Men at consecration of statue at the Trairatanaram Temple, 1987

A Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and formerly the Associate Director of the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University (1998-2001), George Chigas is a noted political commentator on the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s.

This small collection is comprised of photographs taken by George Chigas of Cambodian sites and ceremonies in Lowell, Mass. The images document the ordination of novice monks, the consecration of a Buddhist statue, a Cambodian festival kite, and a community money tree celebration.

Gift of George Chigas, Sept. 1987

Subjects

Cambodians--MassachusettsLowell (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Chigas, George

Types of material

Photographs
Clark, Clarence Carroll

Clarence Carroll Clark Papers

1909-1981
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 393
Depiction of Clarence Carroll Clark, ca.1920
Clarence Carroll Clark, ca.1920

Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1911, Dr. Clark accepted the position of director of the Chapel of the Comforter in Greenwich Village, New York, a mission that abandoned its traditional Christian practices in favor of the teachings of theosophy. A prolific writer and lecturer, Clark stressed in his work the similarities between Eastern and Western religions, and emphasized his belief that unity among religions would bring about a spiritual re-awakening throughout the world. After serving as director of the Chapel of the Comforter for more than forty years, Clark retired in 1950.

Clark’s papers document his career as a professor of English, Episcopal priest, theosophist, and Director of the Chapel of the Comforter. Consisting of correspondence, lecture notes, and his writings, the collection chronicles his religious beliefs as well as his research on Emily Dickinson and her poetry.

Gift of Raymond P. Tripp Jr., Aug. 1997

Subjects

Chapel of the Comforter (New York, N.Y.)Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886Religion--United StatesTheosophy

Contributors

Clark, Clarence Carroll

Types of material

Photographs
Cobscook Monthly Meeting of Friends

Cobscook Monthly Meeting Records

1978-2006
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 C637

Cobscook Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends began in 1978, growing from the independent Whiting Meeting for Worship. Located in the town of Whiting in the easternmost stretch of the state of Maine, it is a member of the Vassalboro Quarterly Meeting.

The records of Cobscook Monthly Meeting include a nearly comprehensive set of meeting minutes, with only a few brief gaps in the early years.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Quakers--MaineSociety of Friends--MaineWhiting (Me.)--Religious life and customs

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Newsletters
Concord Friends Meeting

Concord Friends Meeting Records

1967-2007
2 boxes 0.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 C663

Although a Friends’ meeting met in Concord, N.H., from 1805 to 1840, the current Monthly Meeting dates to 1953, when it was accorded status as a preparative meeting under Weare Monthly. It has been part of Dover Quarter since it was set off on its own in 1967.

The records of the Concord Friends Meeting contain a relatively complete set of minutes from 1967 through 2006, and newsletter starting in about 1992.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Concord (N.H.)--Religious life and customsQuakers--New HampshireSociety of Friends--New Hampshire

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Newsletters
Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting (Society of Friends)

Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records

1935-2012
1 box 1.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 C6668

Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting is one of eight quarterlies currently comprising the New England Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends. In 1935, the Connecticut Valley Association of Friends was formed as “a temporary organization to promote fellowship among… meetings in and adjacent to the Connecticut Valley, but which was otherwise unaffiliated.” At the time of the general unification of Wilburite and Gurneyite meetings in New England in 1944, this Association was accepted into New England Yearly Meeting as a quarterly.

The record of Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting are an important resource for documenting the post-World War II growth of the Society of Friends in western Massachusetts and Connecticut. The bulk of the collection consists of minutes of the Quarterly from its formative year to the present, however the minutes often extend beyond simply the recorded transactions of the meeting. In many cases, the minutes include quite an array of supporting material, correspondence, calendars, state of the society reports from constituent monthlies, ministry and counsel reports, minutes of concern on social issues, planning documents, and budgetary information.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Quakers--ConnecticutQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--ConnecticutSociety of Friends--Massachusetts

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)
Crowe, Frances, 1919-

Frances Crowe Photograph Collection

ca.1969-1987
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: PH 092
Depiction of Frances Crowe, ca.1983
Frances Crowe, ca.1983

A founder of the Western Massachusetts branch of the American Friends Service Committee and the Traprock Peace Center, Frances Crowe was a legendary peace activist. Born in Missouri in March 1919, Crowe became a committed pacifist in 1945 after learning of the devastation of the bombings in Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Moving to Northampton in 1951 with her husband Thomas, a physician, she began organizing for peace and against nuclear weapons, increasing her peacework during the Vietnam War, she she worked as a draft counselor in Northampton. A member of the Society of Friends, she joined the War Resisters League, SANE, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, among many other organizations, and was arrested dozens of times for civil disobedience during protests opposing war and militarism, nuclear energy, American imperialism in Central America, and apartheid, and she became a war tax resister after the first Iraq War. An activist to the very end, she died on Aug. 27, 2019, at the age of 100.

This small collection of photographs was kept by Frances Crowe in her role as contributor to Peace Work, the newsletter of the American Friends Service Committee, or for inclusion in the AFSC files. Concentrated in the early 1980s, they depict a range of peace and antinuclear protests in western Massachusetts. The majority of the images were taken by Crowe’s associate, Miriam Leader.

Gift of Eugene Povirk, Oct. 2019

Subjects

Anti-war demonstrations--Massachusetts--PhotographsAntinuclear movements--Massachusetts--PhotographsDemonstrations--Massachusetts--PhotographsPeace movements--Massachusetts--Photographs

Contributors

Leader, Miriam

Types of material

Photographs