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

Collecting area: Mass Agricultural College (1863-1931)

University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst Records

1863-2011
ca.7,500 linear feet
Call no.: RG 001-190
Depiction of MAC postcard
MAC postcard

Established in western Massachusetts in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a national research university and the flagship campus of the state’s five-campus University system. UMass, one of the founding members of the Five College Consortium established in 1965, offers reciprocal student access among the University and Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges. The University currently enrolls approximately 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and offers 87 bachelors degree programs, 6 associates, 73 masters, and 51 doctoral programs in 10 schools and colleges.

The Archives of the University of Massachusetts Amherst document the institutional memory of the campus and serve as the largest and most comprehensive source of information on the history and cultural heritage of the University. As the collective memory of the university, the repository contains official records and items having historical value such as records of governance, policy, operation of administrative offices, departments, research, programs, and publications. Unpublished materials in the Archives include photographs, films, memorabilia, administrative records of major university offices, and the papers of presidents, trustees, administrative officers, and members of the faculty.

Please note that collections for individual faculty members, administrators, and students, as well as selected groups and administrative units at the University are listed separately in UMarmot. The Concordance to the Archives is an alphabetical listing of University departments, centers, groups, and other units, providing call numbers, when appropriate. Researchers may also wish to consult the online guide to UMass Amherst collections. Our digital repository, Credo includes a growing number of oral histories and digitized collections of papers and organizational records. YouMass is a wiki devoted to the history of the University and its predecessors, the Massachusetts Agricultural College and Massachusetts State College.

Subjects

Massachusetts Agricultural CollegeMassachusetts Agricultural College--FacultyMassachusetts Agricultural College--StudentsMassachusetts State CollegeMassachusetts State College--FacultyMassachusetts State College--StudentsUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--Students

Types of material

Photographs
University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Classes by Year

1871-2018
206 boxes 93 linear feet
Call no.: RG 050/6

The new Massachusetts Agricultural College welcomed its first contingent of 34 students to campus on October 1, 1867, resulting in the first graduating class of 28 — the Pioneer Class of 1871. The student body waxed and waned in ensuing years as the college slowly began to diversify its curriculum and the students population itself, admitting international students as early as 1870, followed by graduate students (first degree awarded 1896), African Americans (class of 1901), and women (class of 1905). Enrollment at the university first topped 1,000 in 1945 rising to 6,000 by 1960. Following a tumultuous period of great expansion, UMass had over 23,000 students in 1970.

Organized by class year, this series includes a diverse body of material generated by undergraduate students at Massachusetts Agricultural College, Mass. State College, and UMass Amherst from its beginning to the present day. Although the content varies widely from class to class and by period of time, typical years includes basic data on the graduating class, publications by alums, reunion information, class notes, photographs, or small collections of letters written while in school. In a few cases, the quantity representing an individual almuna or alumnus has led SCUA to treat the materials as a separate collection with its own finding aid.

Subjects

College students--Massachusetts--AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--Students

Types of material

Photographs
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic Units

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic Units

1870-2007
100 linear feet
Call no.: RG 025

The academic departments at UMass Amherst are organized within ten schools and colleges. Among the more than 88 degree programs in 2009, 74 confer masters degrees, and 53 confer doctorates.

Containing the records of individual academic departments, programs, institutes, and centers, Record Group 25 documents the shifting history of disciplinarity and departmental affairs at UMass Amherst. The papers of individual faculty members are contained within the Faculty and Staff (FS) collections and are indexed separately in UMarmot.

Subjects

University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Alumni

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Alumni

1871-2007
146.25 linear feet
Call no.: RG 050

This record group contains materials that document alumni and alumni activities throughout the history of the Amherst campus. Included are annual reports, constitutions and by-laws, board and committee minutes, cash books and financial statements, correspondence, alumni directories, class lists, obituaries, biographies, bibliographies of alumni writings, photographs, alumni periodicals, brochures from alumni events, newsclippings, handbooks and manuals, reunion and dinner programs, scrapbooks, memorabilia and artifacts.

Subjects

University of Massachusetts Amherst--Alumni

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Alumni Office

Types of material

PhotographsScrapobooks
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Athletics

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Athletics Records

1868-2000
18 linear feet
Call no.: RG 018/2

Physical education was required of all students during the early years of Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC), enforced through required courses in the Department of Military Science and Tactics. Although intermural competition began shortly thereafter with a loss by the Wilder Baseball Association (Mass Aggies) to Amherst College 57-38, athletics were slow to catch on, due largely to a lack of student interest and faculty opposition. By 1909, a formal department of Physical Education and Hygiene was established to provide fitness training and coordinate the sports teams, with a separate women’s program following in 1940, however unlike most other universities, athletics were de-emphasized at UMass for many years, remaining more or less stagnant until the post-1960 expansion of the University.

This record group consists of annual reports, Athletic Board records, committee meeting minutes, policies, financial statements (1911-1921), histories, handbooks, Varsity “M” Club records, Hall of Fame records, athletic field records, correspondence and memoranda, curriculum and teacher training courses, colloquia and conference materials, schedules and scores (1871-1923), newsletters and newsclippings, media programs and guides, brochures and catalogs, pamphlets and fliers, and related materials.

Subjects

University of Massachusetts Amherst--Sports

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Athletic BoardUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. School of Physical Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Chancellor

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Chancellor

1885-2007
365.75 linear feet
Call no.: RG 004

The position of Chancellor for the Amherst Campus was created in 1970, when the office of the University President was given oversight of the entire UMass system. The Chancellor is the chief administrative officer of the campus and is responsible for carrying out policies and procedures as established by the Board of Trustees and the University President. He or she coordinates the major administrative units of the campus, assumes responsibility for campus-wide strategic planning and, in particular, guides activities that involve different administrative units, including the budget, enrollment management, facilities planning, and some labor relations.

The Chancellor’s records include information on the University budget (1908-2007), the administrative records of individual Chancellors, and records documenting the activities of the Chancellor’s Office. Since 1983, most Chancellors have issued the annual Chancellor’s Report, which addresses the state of the campus and special topics such as student needs, the future of the University, relationships with the Commonwealth, and budget issues. The papers of individual Chancellors are filed separately in UMarmot under the individual’s name.

Access restrictions: Much of this record group is stored off-site and requires advance notice for retrieval.

Subjects

University of Massachusetts Amherst--Finances

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Chancellor
University of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Education

University of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Education

1967-2007
46.5 linear feet
Call no.: RG 013

In 1906, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a law supporting the development of agricultural teaching in elementary schools in the Commonwealth, and in the following year, President Kenyon L. Butterfield, a leader in the rural life movement, organized a separate Department of Agricultural Education at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, introducing training courses for the preparation of teachers of agriculture. The Board of Trustees changed the name of the Department of Agricultural Education to the Department of Education in 1932, which became the School of Education in 1955.

The records of the School of Education group chart the evolution of teacher training at UMass from its agricultural origins to the current broad-based curriculum. Of particular note in the record group are materials the early collection of Teacher Training: Vocational Agriculture materials (1912-1964) and the National School Alternative Programs films and related materials.

Access restrictions: The National School Alternative Program films and related materials are housed off-site and require 24-hour retrieval notification.

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. School of Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Natural Resources and the Environment

University of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Natural Resources and the Environment

1882-2007
53.5 linear feet
Call no.: RG 015

During its first seventy five years, the mission of Massachusetts Agricultural College gradually expanded from its original focus on teaching the science of agriculture and horticulture. Coping with the changing demands of research and teaching in a disparate array of fields, responsibilities for the administration of University units were reorganized at several points, culminating in the formation of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment in 1993.

This record group consists of Dean’s annual reports, organizational charts, personnel lists, committee minutes, lecture materials, data sheets, maps and census statistics, conference proceedings, course catalogs, directories, publications, handbooks, records of the Agricultural Experiment Station, photographs and audio-visual materials, and other related materials.

Access restrictions: Portions of this collection are stored off-site and require advance notification for retrieval.

Subjects

Agriculture--Massachusetts

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Agricultural Experiment StationUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Stockbridge School of Agriculture
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Faculty and Staff

University of Massachusetts Amherst Faculty and Staff Collection

ca.1867-2008
175 boxes 84 linear feet
Call no.: RG 040/11
Depiction of Pres. Hugh P. Baker and<br />Cabinet of Faculty, 1936
Pres. Hugh P. Baker and
Cabinet of Faculty, 1936

From its founding in 1863, UMass Amherst has grown from rural agricultural roots into a major research university, and the handful of instructors who present at the inauguration of the college has grown into a diverse faculty of over 1,100.

The Faculty and Staff Collection contains files accumulated by the University Archives relating to the faculty, staff, and administrators of UMass Amherst and its predecessors, the Massachusetts Agricultural College and Massachusetts State College. This list is not an exhaustive accounting of present or past members of the UMass community: although full-time, part-time, and visiting faculty are included, this listing includes only those for whom the University Office of Communications or University Archives collected information. Typically these files consist of some combination of resumes, notices of honors and awards, press releases and news clippings, articles about or by the subject, obituaries, and other miscellaneous information. In many cases, the subjects are represented by only one or two items.

Subjects

Massachusetts Agricultural CollegeMassachusetts Agricultural College--FacultyMassachusetts Agricultural College--StaffMassachusetts State CollegeMassachusetts State College--FacultyMassachusetts State College--StaffUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--Staff

Types of material

Clippings (Information artifacts)Obituaries
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School

1896-2007
70 linear feet
Call no.: RG 010

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has offered graduate education since 1896, awarding more than 11,360 doctoral and 37,480 master’s degrees. With a graduate faculty of 1,100 (2006), the Amherst campus offers 50 programs leading to a doctorate and 68 programs toward a master’s degree.

Included in the records of the Graduate School are files related to the the Dean of the School, its graduate programs, and the records of the Boston Office of the University Press.

Subjects

Graduate students--Massachusetts

Contributors

University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate SchoolUniversity of Massachusetts Press