Quabbin Broadside Collection
During the 1920s and 1930s, the populations of four towns in the Swift River Valley, Mass., were relocated to make way for completion of the Quabbin Reservoir. Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott were formally disincorporated in 1938, marking an end to over a century of small town government in the region.
The Quabbin Broadside Collection contains as assortment of printed and posted notices issued in three of the four Massachusetts towns that were flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir. These include announcements for dances (including the Enfield Fire Department Farewell Ball in 1938), for plays performed by the North Dana Dramatic Club, and notification of voter registration and tax assessment.
Background
During the 1920s and 1930s, the populations of four towns in the Swift River Valley, Mass., were relocated to make way for completion of the Quabbin Reservoir. Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott were formally disincorporated in 1938, marking an end to over a century of small town government in the region.
Contents of Collection
The Quabbin Broadside Collection contains as assortment of printed and posted notices issued in three of the four Massachusetts towns that were flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir. These include announcements for dances (including the Enfield Fire Department Farewell Ball in 1938), for plays performed by the North Dana Dramatic Club, and notification of voter registration and tax assessment.
| All ye rubes attention! Hi holler barn dance [with Springfield’s Crack Rube Orchestra] | 1931(?) Apr. 14 | ||
| Assessors notice [Enfield] | 1938 Jan.1 | ||
| Beautiful drama in 3 acts — Rebecca’s Triumph [Playbill for performance at Good Templar’s Hall, North Dana] | 1888 Jan. 25 | ||
| Farewell Ball, Enfield Fire Department | 1938 Apr. 27 | ||
| Grand Dance Labor Night [Riverside Hotel, Greenwich] | 1894 Sept. 3 | ||
| “Henry Fobes farm, at that time given him by will from father Jesse Fobes,” Enfield. Survey map by Royal E. Blair | 1859 Oct. | ||
| List of persons assessed a poll tax, town of Enfield | ca.1930 | ||
| List of persons assessed a poll tax, town of Enfield [includes manuscript additions] | 1918 Apr. 1 | ||
| List of voters for the town of Enfield | 1936 Feb. 3 | ||
| List of voters for the town of Enfield | 1936 Apr. 28 | ||
| List of voters for the town of Enfield [includes manuscript additions] | 1888 July 27 | ||
| National air mail week, local organization chart [filled in for Enfield] | ca.1938 | ||
| Notice to voters — registration — Office of Registrars of Voters of New Salem | 1938 Oct. 5 | ||
| Quabbin Aqueduct Company shares [not filled in] | ca.1938 | ||
| Specimen ballot [election for town officers, Enfield] | 1938 Feb. 7 | ||
| Specimen ballot for the town of Enfield | 1920 Feb. 2 | ||
| Specimen ballot for the town of Enfield | 1923 Feb. 5 | ||
| Uncle Tom’s Cabin [Playbill for performance by North Dana Dramatic Club, Good Templar’s Hall, North Dana] | ca.1893 (?)Mar. 17 |
Provenance unrecorded.
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Aug. 2013.
)Cite as: Quabbin Broadsides Collection (MS 022). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.