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

Collecting area: UMass history

Clark, Henry James, 1826-1873

Henry James Clark Papers

1865-1872
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: FS 048
Depiction of Trichodina pediculus
Trichodina pediculus

The first professor of Natural History at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Henry James Clark, had one of the briefest and most tragic tenures of any member of the faculty during the nineteenth century. Having studied under Asa Gray and Louis Agassiz at Harvard, Clark became an expert microscopist and student of the structure and development of flagellate protozoans and sponges. Barely a year after joining the faculty at Massachusetts Agricultural College at its first professor of Natural History, Clark died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1873.

A small remnant of a brief, but important career in the natural sciences, the Henry James Clark Papers consist largely of obituary notices and a fraction of his published works. The three manuscript items include two letters from Clark’s widow to his obituarist and fellow naturalist, Alpheus Hyatt (one including some minor personal memories), and a contract to build a house on Pleasant Street in Amherst.

Subjects

Developmental biologyMassachusetts Agricultural College--FacultyMassachusetts Agricultural College. Department of Veterinary ScienceProtozoans

Contributors

Clark, Henry James, 1826-1873Clark, Mary Young HolbrookHyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902

Types of material

ContractsLetters (Correspondence)
Clark, Orton Loring

Orton Loring Clark Papers

1910-1922
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: FS 047

Orton Loring Clark was an associate professor of botany and biology at the University of Massachusetts. After earning his B.A. in 1908 from the University, then the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Clark studied at the University of Strasbourg, where he earned his doctorate. He joined the faculty of his alma mater in 1913, specialized in plant physiology, and taught until his retirement in 1946. Known as a great teacher and fine artist, Clark was active in Amherst town politics. He passed away in 1965 at the age of 79.

Orton Loring Clark’s collection includes several notebooks of research notes, data, and hand-drawn field diagrams. The notebooks date from his student years in Germany to his first several years on the faculty at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. The collection also includes one letter from 1922.

Subjects

Massachusetts Agricultural College--FacultyMassachusetts Agricultural College. Botany Department

Contributors

Clark, Orton Loring
Clark, William Smith, 1826-1886

William Smith Clark Papers

1814-2003 Bulk: 1844-1886
14.75 linear feet
Call no.: RG 003/1 C63
Depiction of William Smith Clark
William Smith Clark

Born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1826, William Smith Clark graduated from Amherst College in 1848 and went on to teach the natural sciences at Williston Seminary until 1850, when he continued his education abroad, studying chemistry and botany at the University of Goettingen, earning his Ph.D in 1852. From 1852 to 1867 he was a member of Amherst College’s faculty as a Professor of Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology. As a leading citizen of Amherst, Clark was a strong advocate for the establishment of the new agricultural college, becoming one of the founding members of the college’s faculty and in 1867, the year the college welcomed its first class of 56 students, its President. During his presidency, he pressured the state government to increase funding for the new college and provide scholarships to enable poor students, including women, to attend. The college faced economic hardship early in its existence: enrollment dropped in the 1870s, and the college fell into debt. He is noted as well for helping to establish an agricultural college at Sapporo, Japan, and building strong ties between the Massachusetts Agricultural College and Hokkaido. After Clark was denied a leave of absence in 1879 to establish a “floating college” — a ship which would carry students and faculty around the world — he resigned.

The Clark Papers include materials from throughout his life, including correspondence with fellow professors and scientists, students in Japan, and family; materials relating to his Civil War service in the 21st Massachusetts Infantry; photographs and personal items; official correspondence and memoranda; published articles; books, articles, television, and radio materials relating to Clark, in Japanese and English; and materials regarding Hokkaido University and its continuing relationship with the University of Massachusetts.

Subjects

Agricultural colleges--Japan--HistoryAgricultural colleges--Massachusetts--HistoryAgriculturists--JapanAgriculturists--MassachusettsAmherst (Mass.)--HistoryAmherst College--FacultyAmherst College--Students--CorrespondenceHokkaido (Japan)--HistoryHokkaid¯o Daigaku--HistoryHokkaid¯o Teikoku Daigaku--HistoryJapan--Relations--United StatesMassachusetts Agricultural College--HistorySapporo N¯ogakk¯o--HistorySapporo N¯ogakk¯o. PresidentT¯ohoku Teikoku Daigaku. N¯oka Daigaku--HistoryUnited States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865United States--Relations--JapanUniversität Göttingen--Students--Correspondence

Contributors

Clark, William Smith, 1826-1886Massachusetts Agricultural College. President

Types of material

DrawingsPhotographsRealiaScrapbooks
Cleary, Marie Sally

Marie Sally Cleary Papers

1980-2000
3 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 606

Receiving her Ed.D in Foundations in Education from UMass Amherst in 1982, Marie Sally Cleary has been a member of the Associates Program for independent scholars based at the Five Colleges since 1983. In her book Myths for the Millions: Thomas Bulfinch, His America, and His Mythology published in 2007, Cleary provides an in-depth study of the man behind the landmark work, The Age of Fable, which has been responsible for introducing many Americans to classical mythology since its original publication in 1855.

The collection consists of drafts and subject files related to the research and writing of Cleary’s book.

Subjects

Bulfinch, Thomas, 1796-1867Mythology

Contributors

Cleary, Marie Sally
Cleary, Vincent J.

Vincent J. Cleary Papers

1962-2007
5 boxes 2.5 linear feet
Call no.: FS 123

Vincent J. Cleary is a retired Professor of Classics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he taught until 1997. With a particular interest in Latin poetry, Cleary is both a journalist and writer. Most of his writings reflect his love for the Pioneer Valley; Cleary was most commonly published in the Hampshire Gazette, although he also submitted articles to larger magazines and newspapers.

The Cleary Papers are comprised of articles that Cleary wrote for magazines and newspapers such as Hampshire Life, and narratives relating to the town of Amherst for his book Amherst, Massachusetts 01002: One of the Best Small Towns in America. A bound copy of the book is included with the collection, as well as narratives and Cleary’s research materials. The collection contains complete newspapers and magazines and copies of Cleary’s articles (his earlier work is centered around Virgil’s The Aeneid). Also included among the papers are unpublished writings and an array of VHS and cassette tapes with copies of his lectures and class presentations.

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--Social life and customsUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--Students

Contributors

Cleary, Vincent J
Cohen, Alvin P.

Alvin P. Cohen Collection

1957-1968
2 boxes 1.6 linear feet
Call no.: FS 145
Depiction of Free Speech Movement newsletter
Free Speech Movement newsletter

As an undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley in the late 1950s, Alvin P. Cohen planned on a career in engineering, but after earning his bachelors degree and working as a laboratory technician, he returned to undergraduate status and then to graduate school in Chinese. Cohen’s time at Berkeley coincided with the turbulence of the first wave of student revolt, the civil rights and antiwar movements, and the Free Speech Movement, however as a married man with children, he was more an observer than activist. After completing his dissertation, The Avenging Ghost: Moral Judgment in Chinese Historical Texts, in 1971, he joined the faculty at UMass Amherst, initially with a split appointment teaching Chinese and working as East Asian bibliographer in the library. Over the next three and a half decades, he helped build the Program in Asian Languages and Literature, becoming its Chair in the 1990s and President of the Warring States Project.

Consisting of newsclippings, fliers, and other ephemera collected as the Free Speech Movement was at its height, the Cohen collection provides a valuable window on 1960s activism and the cross-fertilization between the various student movements. The materials cover a range of issues from free speech on campus to the California legislature, civil rights, the war in Vietnam, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Of particular interest is a letter received by Cohen from a friend Doug Wachter in 1960, shortly after Wachter had been called before HUAC.

Subjects

College students--United States--Political activityStudent movements--CaliforniaUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Program in Asian Languages and LiteraturesVietnam War, 1961-1975

Contributors

Cohen, Alvin P.
Cohen, Ed

Edward Cohen Photographs of Max Roach

ca. 1980-1990
2 boxes, 17 photographs 4 linear feet
Call no.: PH 086

Ed Cohen is a graduate of UMass Amherst (’75) and has been an active commercial photographer in Western Massachusetts since finishing at UMass. In addition to typical work for hire subject matter, Cohen has specialized in event and concert photography.

The Edward Cohen Photographs of Max Roach collection is comprised of seventeen mounted photographs of Max Roach at UMass in the late 1980s, early 1990s. Roach is depicting in concert, backstage, and interacting with well known musicians, UMass faculty, and members of the UMass community. The photos were purchased by the University and were exhibited in the Student Union.

Subjects

Jazz musicians--Massachusetts--AmherstRoach, Max, 1924-2007--Photographs

Types of material

Photographs
Constitutionalism in American Life Conference

Constitutionalism in American Life Conference Collection

1986
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 140

A conference hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst on November 7-9, 1986, that examined the impact of the Constitution on politics and government, foreign policy, race relations, and the economy, and also discussed the impact on the constitution of popular struggles and the emergence of “rights consciousness.” Includes papers presented at the conference that were to be subsequently published in a special bicentennial issue of the Journal of American History.

Subjects

Constitutional history--United States--CongressesConstitutional law--United States--CongressesJournal of American historyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--History
Cook, Allen B.

Allen B. Cook Papers

1893-1899
2 boxes, 2 OS framed photographs 2 linear feet
Call no.: RG 050/6 1896 C66

Born June 27, 1875 in Petersham, Massachusetts, Allen Bradford Cook graduated from Massachusetts Agricultural College as a member of the class of 1896. Cook was a member of the MAC Shakespearean Club, Young Men’s Christian Association, Washington Irving Literary Society, and the Clark Cadets Band. Immediately upon graduation, Cook began a career with facets as a landscape gardener, farm manager, tree warden, and state park supervisor. He was a life-long member of the Grange, active on both the state and national level, and helped to revitalize several Connecticut chapters. Cook met his wife, Emma Louise Shepardson, through her brother and Cook’s college friend, William Shepardson. Allen and Emma married on July 23, 1899, and had five children. Allen Cook died May 24, 1965 at his home in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The Cook papers include three oversized photographs of the MAC class of 1896, Shakespearean Club, and the Clark Cadets Band; Cook’s wooden flute and piccolo from his time in the Clark Cadets; two MAC wool felt pillow covers; Cook’s academic reports; and a large set of ephemera, including material from the Shakespearean Club and programs and cards from commencement, class day and military exercises, dances and banquets, and various oratory contests.

Gift of Barbara Goodwin, June 2021

Subjects

Massachusetts Agricultural College--Students

Types of material

Ephemera
Cook, Maurice E.

Maurice E. Cook Papers

1893-1921 Bulk: 1893-1895
1 box .25 linear feet
Call no.: RG 050/6 C66

Maurice Elmer Cook: studio portrait, Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1895

Born in Marlborough in 1876, Maurice Elmer Cook moved to Shrewsbury at the age of two, when his father, Herbert, purchased property on Floral Street for his market gardening and greenhouse flower and vegetable business. Maurice Cook stayed in the family business, and joined the Massachusetts Agricultural College class of 1897 to further his education in agriculture and market gardening. He worked at the plant house while attending MAC, and often took trips with classmates to hike local fields and ranges in the Pioneer Valley area to collect specimens. Cook was a member of the College Shakespeare Club, the YMCA, the Natural History Society, the Washington Irving Literary Society, and Sergeant in Battalion Org, Company A on campus. He roomed with Harry T. Edwards, of Chesterfield, in South College his first year, and in North College with Charles Adams Peters, from Greendale, for his second and third years. Cook left college early, in November 1895, on account of rheumatism, and did not return. After a trip to Pasadena, CA for his health, Cook returned to Shrewsbury, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. He built a new property and greenhouses there after his 1906 marriage to Carrie Harrington. Both died in Shrewsbury in 1931, leaving behind their three daughters, Gertrude, Elizabeth (class of 1934), and Florence.

The Cook Papers present a detailed view into the daily life and activities of an early MAC student, as well as a look into the infrastructure and organization of the MAC campus. Cook wrote home regularly, and the over 80 letters from his two and half years at the college offer significant coverage of his classes and studies, his living arrangements and financial needs, activities on campus and in Amherst, natural and agricultural locales, travel logistics for students, and updates on MAC buildings. In addition to the rich set of correspondence, the collection includes a small but unique set of photographs of MAC grounds and students, additional photographs taken by Cook, several MAC produced postcards, and Cook’s 1894 College Shakespearean Club certificate.

Gift of Kenneth Lever, October 2019

Subjects

Massachusetts Agricultural College--AlumniMassachusetts Agricultural College--Students

Types of material

CorrespondencePhotographs