Collecting area: Mass Agricultural College (1863-1931)

German-born agricultural chemist, professor of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when it was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College, and President of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists and the American Chemical Society who made several important contributions in nineteenth century chemistry and held at least four patents.

The Goessman collection includes correspondence (mostly professional), some with presidents of Massachusetts Agricultural College, William Smith Clark (1826-1886) and Henry Hill Goodell (1839-1905). Also contains handwritten drafts of addresses and articles, his dissertation, printed versions of published writings, handwritten lecture notes, class records, proposed college curricula, notes taken by students, handwritten research notes, newsclippings and offprints utilized in research, and biographical materials.

Professor of English, adviser to student newspaper (The Collegian) and Jewish student organizations, University of Massachusetts, and founding member, College English Association.

The Goldberg Papers contain correspondence, speeches, published writings, papers written as a graduate student, biographical material, book reviews, subject files, newsclippings, and material from committees and projects with which he was involved, including the College English Association, College English Association Institute, Humanities Center for Liberal Education, and American Humanities Seminar.

Brass mouse-head stencil used in genetics work at Mount Hop Farm

An applied geneticist associated with Massachusetts Agricultural College and Mount Hope Farm, Hubert Dana Goodale made important contributions in poultry and dairy science.

The Goodale Papers contain correspondence written to Goodale, primarily by his friends and colleagues in poultry science, Al Lunn (Oregon Agricultural College), Loyal F. Payne (Kansas State), and John C. Graham (Mass. Agricultural College). Mixing both personal and professional content, the letters touch on academic life in post-World War I period and a variety of issues in poultry husbandry and genetics.

The son of a missionary based in Constantinople, Henry Hill Goodell was born on May 20, 1839. After graduating from Amherst College in 1862, Goodell saw Civil War service with the 25th Connecticut Infantry in the Department of the Gulf, returning to New England to accept a position as Professor of Modern Languages at the newly-formed Massachusetts Agricultural College when it opened in 1867. Over the next four decades, Goodell taught a wide range of subjects, including military tactics, natural science, and elocution, and became its first librarian, before becoming President of the College from 1886 to 1905. As President, Goodell oversaw remarkable changes, including the admission of the first women and African American students, the first offering of electives in the curriculum, the development of the Experiment Station, and Extension Services, and the awarding of the first graduate degrees. Goodell died in April 1905.

The Goodell papers are a faint reflection of one of the key figures in the history of Massachusetts Agricultural College. The bulk of the collection consists of lectures given by Goodell in courses he offered at MAC, however there are a handful of items from his student days at Amherst College, his Civil War service, and a few items relating to the period of his presidency.

James C. Greenough was born in 1829 in Wendell, Massachusetts. After working as a schoolteacher in Heath, Massachusetts, from 1854 to 1856, Flint returned to the State Normal School at Westfield to become assistant principal, leaving there in 1871 to become principal of the Rhode Island Normal School. In 1883, Greenough came to the Massachusetts Agricultural College to become president, serving for three years. During his tenure, he was noted for raising academic standards, extending the course of study, and guiding a transition from a small vocational college to a more comprehensive institution supporting agriculture and extension services. Greenough saw the construction of the college chapel and the establishment of the Experiment Station before finishing his term in 1886.

The Greenough collection includes 3 letters (1885-1921); biographical materials; a published letter to alumni (1884); photocopy, and an Annual Report (1883).

Professor of Physical Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when it was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College who established the physical education program for women and helped to create the women’s gymnasium and athletic field. In her retirement she composed music that was performed by the University of Arizona orchestra.

Includes musical scores, lesson-plan photographs illustrating instruction in modern dance, correspondence, printed programs for performance of the musical compositions, text of an address, a history of physical education for women at Massachusetts State College by Mrs. Hicks, personnel records, and brief biographical items.

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Curry S. Hicks pioneered the University’s athletics program as it transitioned from the Massachusetts Agricultural College to the University of Massachusetts. Hicks led the charge to build modern athletic fields and gymnasia and during his tenure, many of the University’s teams climbed to new heights of excellence. Born in 1885 in Enfield, New York, Hicks began undergraduate studies at Michigan State University but was forced to drop out because he was unable to pay tuition, beginning a teaching career that brought him from math teacher to high school principal. Returning to Michigan Normal School, Hicks earned his B.A. in physical education in 1909, followed by the Hitchcock Fellowship at Amherst College and eventually his assistant professorship in Physical Education and Hygiene at the University in 1911. On his retirement in 1949, Hicks left behind a thoroughly modernized athletics program and moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he passed away in 1963.

The Curry S. Hicks Papers consist of a bound volume of letters, sent to Hicks as a commemoration of his retirement in 1949 and a folder of correspondence related to his organization and fundraising efforts for a new physical education building at the University.

John Brooks Howard, Jr., known by his family as Brooks (and as J. B. or “Gibby” to his classmates), was a popular and vivid presence on the campus of Massachusetts Agricultural College from 1926 until 1929. Born in November 1908, he arrived from Reading, Mass., as part of the class of 1930; majored in biology; was elected editor-in-chief of the student newspaper the Collegian; was a member of the honor society and the rifle team; and loved wildlife and the outdoors, especially birds. Early one morning, in the spring of his junior year, he climbed to the high branches of a tree to collect specimens. His death at age 20, after falling from the tree, stunned the campus community and broke his mother’s heart, haunting his family for a long time after.

This collection provides glimpses into the life of a MAC student in the late 1920s, with some documentation of his observations of birds and nature and campus activities. It contains an assortment of Brooks’s own papers and possessions, as well as items kept by his family after his death: three diaries, correspondence, mementos and ephemera, photographs including three larger ones in frames, newspaper clippings, a pair of wooden shoes that was a gift from his Dutch friend Hans Van Leer ‘32, and a small field microscope apparently issued to Howard by the college.

An historian of economics specializing in American agriculture, Lorian Pamela Jefferson was one of the first women in the field and became an expert on New England agricultural industry. Born in 1871 near Necedah, Wisconsin, Jefferson earned her B.L. from Lawrence University in 1892 and her M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1907, continuing on to study towards her PhD though she never finished her research. Jefferson began working at the University in 1912 as an expert in the Division of Rural Social Science and became a professor of Agricultural Economics in 1915. Known as “Miss J”, Jefferson was a dedicated teacher and published extensively on various aspects of agricultural industry and marketing, including the McIntosh apple market and the agricultural labor movement. Illness forced Jefferson’s retirement from the University in 1935 and she died shortly thereafter.

Industry reports, farm and community market assessments, and many of her published articles make up the majority of the collection. There is also a bound volume of correspondence and pamphlets by Jefferson from 1914 titled “Letters Relating to economic Entomology in the United States.” Among the published work is a copy of the magazine Farm and Garden from April, 1924.

Known among his peers for his wit, “Gerry” Jones was an active presence on campus as Secretary and Treasurer for the class of 1903, and as a member of the QTV Fraternity, the staff of the Index, and the class football and baseball teams. Jones went on to become a well-respected figure in the Amherst community, serving on the board of investment for the Amherst Savings Bank during the mid-1930s and as a representative to the General Court from Hampshire County.

The papers of Gerry Jones contain a mix of ephemera dating from his days as one an active member of the MAC Class of 1903. Beginning with a fine record book documenting meetings of the class from their freshman year through graduation, the collection includes menus, programs, and dance cards related to class events. Of particular interest is a menu from the first football banquet in 1902, celebrating one of the most successful teams of the MAC era, the one-loss team of 1901.