Soldier in Revolutionary War and Shays Rebellion, later a state legislator and local politician from Grafton and Marlboro, Massachusetts. Drury’s papers contain family and business (farm and mill) correspondence, notes of hand, bills, receipts, and legal papers as well as records pertaining to the town of Grafton. Collection also includes papers of Timothy Darling and the Goulding, Place, and Sherman families.
Situated at the confluence of the east and west branches of the Swift River in western Massachusetts, Enfield was the largest and southernmost of the four towns inundated in 1939 to create the Quabbin Reservoir. Incorporated as a town in 1816, Enfield was relatively prosperous in the nineteenth century on an economy based on agriculture and small-scale manufacturing, reaching a population of just over 1,000 by 1837. After thirty years of seeking a suitably large and reliable water supply for Boston, the state designated the Swift River Valley as the site for a new reservoir and with its population relocated, Enfield was officially disincorporated on April 28, 1938.
The records of the town of Enfield, Mass., document nearly the entire history of the largest of four towns inundated to create the Quabbin Reservoir. The core of the collection consists of records of town meetings and of the activities of the town Selectmen, 1804-1938, but there are substantial records for the Enfield Congregational Church. The School Committee, Overseers of the Poor, the town Library Association, and groups such as the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Bethel Masonic Lodge.
Subjects
Enfield (Mass.)--HistoryEnfield (Mass.)--Politics and governmentEnfield (Mass.)--Religious life and customsEnfield (Mass.)--Social life and customsQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--HistoryQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--Social life and customsWomen--Societies and clubs
Contributors
Daughters of the American Revolution. Captain Joseph Hooker Chapter (Enfield, Mass.)Enfield (Mass. : Town)Enfield (Mass. : Town). Overseers of the PoorEnfield (Mass. : Town). Prudential CommitteeEnfield (Mass. : Town). School CommitteeEnfield Congregational Church (Enfield, Mass.)Enfield Congregational Church (Enfield, Mass.). Women's AuxiliaryEnfield Congregational Church (Enfield, Mass.). Women's Missionary Society
Joseph W. Estey was the owner of a farm in Greenwich, Massachusetts with a grist and sawmill. The account book (started in Springfield and Ludlow, Massachusetts with his business partner Abner Putnam) documents business dealings, hired male and female help, personal and farm expenses (hiring tanners and blacksmiths), and a deed.
Subjects
Agricultural laborers--Massachusetts--GreenwichDomestics--Massachusetts--GreenwichFarmers--Massachusetts--GreenwichGreenwich (Mass.)--Economic condition--19th centuryHowe, EdwardHowe, GideonLincoln, BenjaminLudlow (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryMarcy, LabanMills and mill-work--Massachusetts--GreenwichOaks, JohnParson Clapp TavernPutnam, A. W.Putnam, AbnerSpringfield (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryVaughan, JosiahWare Manufacturing Co. (Ware, Mass.)Warner, John
Collection of chiefly newspaper clippings compiled by Georgana Foster documenting the response of the western Massachusetts community to a variety of local and national topics such as the Vietnam War, communes, the re-elections of Congressmen Silvio Conte and John Olver, the Amherst Peace Vigil, the Peace Pagoda in Leverett, and the Iraq War.
Subjects
Activists--MassachusettsAmherst (Mass.)--Politics and governmentConte, Silvio O. (Silvio Oltavio), 1921-1991Peace movements--MassachusettsVietnam War, 1961-1975
In 1841, George H. Gilbert and Charles A. Stevens formed a partnership to manufacture broadcloth and cloaking in Ware, Massachusetts. Ten years later, the partnership dissolved and each partner carried a part of the business into separate establishments. The newly formed George H. Gilbert Company continued making high-grade woolen flannels, for which it developed a national reputation, until 1930.
Records, consisting of correspondence, financial records and cash books, construction contracts, sales lists, production records, and sample books, document the operation of Gilbert and Stevens and later the Gilbert Company for almost a century. The labor accounts (1851-1930), document the phases of the varying ethnic composition of the workforce — Irish, French-Canadian, and eventually Polish — well as the family orientation of the mills.
Western Massachusetts political leader, publisher, and banker (1881-1960), trustee of the University of Massachusetts (1940-1956), and founder, editor and publisher of the Greenfield Recorder newspaper (1912-1928); political positions included State Representative (1909-1913), State Senator (1913-1915, 1923-1927), and State Treasurer (1929-1930); in 1934, was Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and in 1936, candidate for Governor.
The Haigis collection includes scrapbooks (1903-1936), chiefly of clippings, together with speeches (1936), posters, badges, campaign material, and photographs, mainly from Haigis’s unsuccessful campaigns for lieutenant governor (1934) and governor (1936); and tape of an interview (1974) with Leverett Saltonstall about Haigis, conducted by Craig Wallwork.
Subjects
Campaign speeches--MassachusettsLegislators--Massachusetts--History--20th centuryMassachusetts--Politics and government--1865-1950Montague (Mass. : Town)--Politics and government--20th centuryPolitical candidates--Massachusetts--History--20th centuryRepublican Party (Mass.)--History--20th century
Contributors
Haigis, John W., 1881-1960Saltonstall, Leverett, 1892-Wallwork, Craig
Nonprofit organization with representatives from sixteen Western Massachusetts towns that raised funds for and distributed funds to local and national social service organizations in their communities. Records include minutes of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, financial and other standing committees; annual reports, correspondence, ledgers, budget worksheets, agency reports, campaign materials, including solicitation lists and letters, campaign studies and reports; brochures and surveys; and printed materials and photographs.
Subjects
Charities--Massachusetts--Easthampton--History--SourcesFederations, Financial (Social service)--History--SourcesHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditions--SourcesHuman services--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--History--SourcesUnited States. Combined Federal CampaignUnited States. Combined Federal Campaign--Correspondence
Contributors
Hampshire Community United Way (Hampshire County, Mass.)--ArchivesHampshire United Fund (Hampshire County, Mass.)--ArchivesUnited Way of America
Beth Hapgood and members of the Brotherhood, ca.1969
Daughter of a writer and diplomat, and graduate of Wellesley College, Beth Hapgood has been a spiritual seeker for much of her life. Her interests have led her to become an expert in graphology, a student in the Arcane School, an instructor at Greenfield Community College, and a lecturer on a variety of topics in spiritual growth. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Hapgood befriended Michael Metelica, the central figure in the Brotherhood of the Spirit (the largest commune in the eastern states during the early 1970s) as well as Elwood Babbitt, a trance medium, and remained close to both until their deaths.
The Hapgood Papers contain a wealth of material relating to the Brotherhood of the Spirit and the Renaissance Community, Metelica, Babbitt, and other of Hapgood’s varied interests, as well as 4.25 linear feet of material relating to the Hapgood family.
Brotherhood of the SpiritChanneling (Spiritualism)Communal living--MassachusettsGraphologyHapgood family--CorrespondenceMassachusetts--Social life and customs--20th centuryMediums--MassachusettsNineteen sixties--Social aspectsOccultism--Social aspectsPopular culture--History--20th centuryRenaissance CommunityRock music--1971-1980Warwick (Mass.)--History
Contributors
Babbitt, Elwood, 1922-Boyce, Neith, 1872-1951Hapgood, Beth--CorrespondenceHapgood, Charles HHapgood, Elizabeth ReynoldsHapgood, Hutchins, 1869-1944Hapgood, Norman, 1868-1937Metelica, Michael
A granting agency that advises and provides funding for grass roots, non-profit projects and organizations in order to bring about broad social change by addressing local issues and community needs. Records include minutes, reports, correspondence, successful and unsuccessful grant applications from Western Massachusetts organizations, grant source information, and grantee materials including organization reports, publications, member lists, clippings, and other materials.
Subjects
Berkshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsCitizen's associations--Massachusetts--HistoryCommunity power--Massachusetts--HistoryEndowments--Massachusetts--HistoryFranklin County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHampden County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsPolitical activists--Massachusetts--HistorySocial action--Massachusetts--History
In 1960, William K. Hefner (1915-1993) became one of the first of new breed of radical pacifists to run for elective office, when he ran as a peace candidate for Congress in the 1st district of Massachusetts. An accountant from Greenfield, Hefner was involved at a national level with movements for peace and civil rights. An early member of SANE, a founder of Political Action for Peace in 1959 (now CPPAX) and the Greenfield Peace Center (1963), and an active member of the American Friends Service Committee, War Resisters League, Turn Toward Peace, and the World Without War Conference, Hefner was an energetic force in the movements for peace and disarmament, civil rights, and a more just economic system. He ran unsuccessfully for office in three elections between 1960 and 1964, and supported peace candidate H. Stuart Hughes in his bid for election to the U.S. Senate in 1962.
The Hefner papers offer a remarkable record of politically-engaged activism for peace and social justice in the early 1960s. With an intensely local focus, Hefner was tied in to the larger movements at the state and national level, corresponding with major figures such as A.J. Muste, Bayard Rustin, Benjamin Spock, and Arthur Springer. The collection includes particularly rich documentation of the early years of Political Action for Peace, which Hefner helped found, with correspondence, minutes of meetings, and publications, as well as equally rich materials on Hefner’s bids for congress in 1960 and 1962.
Subjects
American Friends Service Committee Western MassachusettsAntinuclear movement--MassachusettsCivil Rights movements--MassachusettsGreenfield Community Peace CenterMassachusetts Political Action for PeaceNonviolencePacifists--MassachusettsPeace movements--MassachusettsPlatform for Peace (Organization)Political Action for PeaceSANE, IncTurn Toward Peace (Organization)United States. Congress--Elections, 1960United States. Congress--Elections, 1962Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements
Contributors
Boardman, Elizabeth FHefner, William K.Hughes, H. Stuart (Henry Stuart), 1916-1999Muste, Abraham John, 1885-1967Rustin, Bayard, 1912-1987Springer, Arthur