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

Collecting area: Social change

Marino, Michella M.

Michella Marino Oral History Collection

2011-2012
23 items
Call no.: MS 812

Michella Marino received her doctorate from the Department History of at UMass Amherst in May 2013. Her dissertation, Sweating femininity: women athletes, masculine culture, and American inequality from 1930 to the present, drew on extensive oral historical and archival research to examine how feminist women negotiated the cultural boundaries surrounding gender to carve out identities as women, athletes, and mothers. Focusing on women’s participation in two sports, basketball and roller derby, Marino wrote that her goal was to “explain the tension between women’s representation and agency, between cultural constructs and women’s lives, between images of women and their individual identities.”

The Marino Collection consists of 23 oral historical interviews with female and male participants in roller derby and basketball.

Gift of Michella Marino, Feb. 2014

Subjects

Roller derbySex discrimination in sports--HistorySports for womenWomen athletesWomen's basketball

Types of material

Oral histories
Markham, George F.

George F. Markham Papers

1876-2012
6 boxes 3 linear feet
Call no.: MS 456

The activist George Markham was born in Wisconsin on Aug. 15, 1909. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he began working with the Associated Press in 1936 where he became an ardent member of the American Newspaper Guild. During the Second World War, he served with distinction on the aircraft carriers Saratoga and Yorktown in the South Pacific, however after the war, his leftist politics and associations with Communists led to his dismissal with less than honorable discharge. Following the trial, Markham returned to college to earn a masters degree in social studies and began teaching middle school in Pelham, NY, but was released, probably for political reasons. He later taught in colleges in New York before he and his second wife, Arky, moved to Northampton in the 1960s. George and Arky remain active on behalf of peace and social justice.

The Markham Papers contain materials relating to George Markham’s McCarthy-era trial and dismissal from the Navy, along with documents relating to other aspects of his life and career and the Markham family in Wisconsin. Among these is a fine Civil War unit history of the 20th Indiana Regiment written by Markham’s grandfather, William Emery Brown.

Subjects

Communists--MassachusettsUnited States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities

Contributors

Markham, George F
Maslow, Jonathan Evan

Jonathan Evan Maslow Papers

ca.1978-2008
20 boxes 30 linear feet
Call no.: MS 639
Depiction of Jon Maslow
Jon Maslow

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

A man of diverse and interests, Jon Maslow was a naturalist and journalist, an environmentalist, traveler, and writer, whose works took his from the rain forests to the steppes to the salt marshes of his native New Jersey. Born on Aug. 4, 1948, in Long Branch, Maslow received his MA from the Columbia University School of Journalism (1974), after which he spent several years traveling through South and Central America, studying the flora and fauna, reporting and writing, before returning to the States. Always active in community affairs, he was a reporter with the Cape May County Herald (1997-2002) and the West Paterson Herald News (2002-2008). The author of six books, including The Owl Papers (1983), Bird of Life, Bird of Death, a finalist for the National Book Award in 1986, and Sacred Horses: Memoirs of a Turkmen Cowboy (1994), he often combined an intense interest in natural history with a deep environmentalist ethos and, particularly in the latter two cases, with a deep concern for the history of political turmoil. He died of cancer on Feb. 19, 2008.

A large and rich assemblage, the Maslow Papers document his career from his days as a young journalist traveling in Central America through his community involvements in New Jersey during the 2000s. An habitual rewriter, Maslow left numerous drafts of books and articles, and the collection includes valuable correspondence with colleagues and friends, including his mentor Philip Roth, as well as Maslow’s fascinating travel diaries.

Subjects

Authors--New JerseyCentral America--Description and travelJournalists--New JerseyNew Jersey--HistoryReporters and reporting--New Jersey

Contributors

Maslow, Jonathan EvanRoth, Philip
Mass Voters for Fair Elections

Mass Voters for Fair Elections Records

1997-2005
14 boxes 21 linear feet
Call no.: MS 554

Since 1994 the Mass Voters for Fair Elections has been part of a national movement to minimize the role of money in elections. Watching both the cost of running a successful campaign and the role of fundraising increase, the organization led the fight to put the Clean Elections Initiative on the ballot in 1998. With overwhelming support for the initiative, the ballot question won only to be repealed by the Legislature in 2003. Until it ceased activity in 2007, Mass Voters for Fair Elections continued to work for reform in the electoral process not only to encourage more individuals to run for office, but also to affirm the principle “one person, one vote.”

The collection consists chiefly of subject files that document issues relating to elections and campaign reform addressed by the group and its volunteers. Also included: correspondence, meeting notes, publications, and mailings.

Subjects

Campaign funds--MassachusettsElections--MassachusettsMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-Political campaigns--Massachusetts

Contributors

Mass Voters for Fair Elections
Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Massachusetts AFL-CIO Records

1902-1995
72 boxes 64 linear feet
Call no.: MS 369

Formed in 1887 as the Massachusetts branch of the American Federation of Labor, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO currently represents the interests of over 400,000 working people in the Commonwealth. Like its parent organization, the national AFL-CIO, the Mass. AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization, a union of unions, and engages in political education, legislative action, organizing, and education and training.

The official records of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO provide insight into the aims and administrative workings of the organization. These includes a nearly complete run of proceedings and reports from its conventions since 1902, except for a five year gap 1919-1923, minutes and agendas for the meetings of the Executive Council, and the President’s files (1982- ). The collection is particularly strong in the period since about 1980.

Subjects

Labor unions--Massachusetts

Contributors

AFL-CIOMassachusetts AFL-CIO
Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Directly Affiliated Local Unions

Massachusetts AFL-CIO Directly Affiliated Local Unions Records

1930-1980
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 044

This small collection provides background on labor unions in Massachusetts that, lacking a national scope, join the AFL-CIO as Directly Affiliated Local Unions (DALUs). Taken together, these records provide some basic information on the names and descriptions of companies that have agreements with DALUs, the numbers of union members involved, the occupations represented, and jurisdiction.

Subjects

Labor unions--Massachusetts

Contributors

Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Massachusetts Association of Extension Home Economists

Massachusetts Association of Extension Home Economists Records

1930-1990
5 boxes 2.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 346
Depiction of Holiday Inn greets the MAEHE, 1967
Holiday Inn greets the MAEHE, 1967

An outgrowth of the extension movement in Massachusetts aimed at assisting rural women in domestic work, the Massachusetts Home Demonstration Agents’ Association (later the Massachusetts Association of Extension Home Economists) was formed in 1930. Offering an opportunity for the sharing of resources, approaches, and information, the organization provided encouragement for its members to improve their skills as home economists and adult educators.

The MAEHE collection includes award applications, minutes, correspondence, newsletters, and membership files.

Subjects

Home economics extension work--MassachusettsHome economics--Massachusetts

Contributors

Massachusetts Home Demonstration Agents AssociationNational Association of Extension Home Economists

Types of material

Photographs
Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann)

Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann) Records

1990-2008
6 boxes 9 linear feet
Call no.: MS 840
Depiction of JoeJoe and Pres. Bill Downing at Boston Freedom Rally, 1996. Photo by Sam Robbins.
JoeJoe and Pres. Bill Downing at Boston Freedom Rally, 1996. Photo by Sam Robbins.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann) is a state affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Founded in October 1990 by a group of Boston-based activists, MassCann is a strictly grassroots not-for-profit group that works to ameliorate laws against the use and possession of marijuana and to raise public awareness about the potential of marijuana and hemp products. In addition to lobbying legislators and promoting ballot initiatives to decriminalize adult possession in the Commonwealth, MassCann sponsors public events, such as the landmark conferences held at Harvard Law School in 1991 and 1994, a series of Tax Day protests (1994-1998) calling for regulation and taxation of marijuana, and most famously the Boston Freedom Rally, the second largest anti-prohibition gathering in the country held annually since 1992.

The MassCann collection documents the work and interests of a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to ending marijuana prohibition, from oganizational and administrative records relating to events it sponsors, particularly the Boston Freedom Rally, to promotional materials and materials relating to the legal environment, and medical marijuana. The collection also includes a wealth of video, compact discs, and audiotapes documenting MassCann events along with recordings of commerical programming on marijuana.

Subjects

Marijuana--Law and legislationMarijuana--Physiological effectMarijuana--Therapeutic use--Social aspects

Contributors

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (U.S.)

Types of material

Sound recordingsVideotapes
Massachusetts Commission on Collective Bargaining

Massachusetts Commission on Collective Bargaining Records

1969-1973
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 023

In 1969, Governor Francis W. Sargeant established a bi-partisan council to review municipal and state collective bargaining practices more than decade after all public employees were extended the right to join unions. Over the next three years, the council heard from both sides, interviewing representatives from management and labor, and holding regional hearings throughout the state. The work of the group culminated in the enactment of the Massachusetts Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law (M.G.L. c.150E) in 1973, which granted full bargaining rights to most state and municipal employees.

The collection includes detailed minutes of meetings, transcripts of testimony, drafts of legislature, reports, and recommendations of the council.

Subjects

Collective bargainingMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-

Contributors

Massachusetts Commission on Collective Bargaining
Massachusetts Community Forestry Council

Massachusetts Community Forestry Council (MCFC) Records

1991-2000s
3 boxes 4.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1163

The Massachusetts Community Forestry Council was formed in 1991 as the Massachusetts Urban Forestry Council in response to a mandate of the USDA Forest Service under the Urban and Community Forestry Act of 1990 Farm Bill. The Council had an office at the UMass Amherst Eastern Extension Center in Waltham, Mass. from 1997 through the early 2000s.

The collection consists of materials located at the UMass Amherst Eastern Extension Center including minutes, by-laws, committee documentation, annual reports, strategic plans, member lists, grant records and leases and agreement with UMass.

Subjects

Forests—Massachusetts

Contributors

Massachusetts Community Forestry Council