Collections: A

Established in 1968 in response to the war in Vietnam, the AFSC office in western Massachusetts did not limit its focus to draft and military counseling, instead the organization broadened its focus over time to include educational and outreach programs for a variety of peace and socal justice issues. Today the chapter focuses on economic justice, campaigns against U.S. military intervention, and actions to combat racism and classism. With an emphasis on serving the community of western Massachusetts, the program is equally committed to calling attention to issues of both national and local importance. Recent campaigns range from ending the war in Iraq and supporting peace in Columbia to preventing the construction of a new jail in Chicopee.

The collection consists chiefly of subject files that together provide a picture of the various issues in which the western Massachusetts AFSC was involved. Topics range from the organization’s earliest focus, the Vietnam War, to the first Gulf War, landlord/tenant relations, immigration, and landmines. The collection also includes materials relating to public figures, some of whom traveled to the region to speak.

Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA to request materials from this collection.

Founded by Richard Rabinowitz in 1980, American History Workshop is a consortium of historians, designers, and filmmakers who promote public understanding of history through innovative exhibition and interpretation. Collaborating with a national roster of clients, the AHW provides consultation and assistance in developing, designing, and installing exhibitions that convey current historical scholarship and pedagogical practice for the public. Their exhibits have explored a wide array of critical themes in American history, including slavery, civil rights, and social justice; Constitutional and political history; immigration; urbanization; and labor history. In recent years, they have expanded their operations to include services such as audience analysis, media production, fund raising assistance, and organizational development.

The records of the American History Workshop document over three decades of work by one of the premier firms in historical exhibition and interpretation. The collection contains detailed records of nearly 600 projects prepared in collaboration with organizations ranging from the New-York Historical Society and Arizona Historical Society to the Smithsonian, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA to request materials from this collection.

In 1789, Vermont native Justin Morgan acquired a bay colt in Springfield, Mass., that became the progenitor of a distinctly American breed of general purpose horse. Noted for its stamina, strength, disposition, and beauty, the Morgan became widely popular in western Massachusetts and Vermont, eventually spreading nationally and internationally. To support the breed, the Morgan Horse Club (later the American Morgan Horse Association) was founded in 1909 and today maintains the breed registry, publishes The Morgan Horse magazine, and offers a wide range of public information and educational services.

The Registry records of the AMHA are a product of concern during the late 19th century for documenting and preserving the integrity of the Morgan breed and a means for breeders to certify pedigrees for their stock. In 1894, Joseph Battell published the first volume of the Morgan Horse and Register containing nearly 1,000 pages of pedigrees for “any meritorious stallion, mare, or gelding tracing in direct male line to Justin Morgan and having at least 1/64 of his blood,” and although standards have been modified since, the registry remains the primary source for documenting the history of the breed. The records in this collection include approved applications for the AMHA registry, including pedigrees and supporting materials.

The Tour de Sol was created in Switzerland in 1985 to build awareness and support for solar electricity aka photovoltaics (PV) by demonstrating that they work and can power cars! The American Tour de Sol, America’s Green Car Competition & Festival, began four years later and ran for 18 years under the aegis of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). In 1990, it evolved into an annual 8-day road rally in the Northeast that demonstrated that practical electric vehicles recharged by renewably-produced electricity were viable, and could cut urban air pollution and climate change emissions. In later years, at the insistence and with support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the event expanded to demonstrate all alternative fuel vehicles. The winners were determined by roadworthiness, driving range, energy efficiency (miles per gallon equivalent-MPGe), and low climate change emissions (carbon dioxide equivalent-CO2e). Vehicle categories encouraged entries made by major auto companies; entrepreneurs such as Solectria, and Solar Car Corp; as well as college, university, and high school student teams. In its final years, a Monte Carlo-style rally was added for new hybrid vehicle owners to demonstrate high mileage, and an electric bicycle category was added as well as an ‘Electrathon’ event to demonstrate non-auto options.

The American Tour de Sol collection includes annual Rule Books, magazines with full list of participants, reports, copies of 200-300 news clippings per year, videos of TV news coverage, and extensive collection of photographs. After the Tour de Sol in Switzerland closed its doors, the American Tour de Sol changed its name simply to ‘Tour de Sol.’ For clarity, we have retained the word ‘American’ in the collection title.

SCUA also houses The Michael H. Bianchi collection, which consists of an extensive assortment of interviews, reports, photographs, and videotapes documenting the Tour and its participants throughout its 18 year history, all created, conducted, and assembled by Bianchi.

Band of musicians who worked at the Waltham Watch Company in Waltham, Massachusetts. Engagement book itemizes engagement dates and locations, and membership (including recent immigrants), and includes information about rehearsals, business meetings, and payment.

Paper company based in Holyoke, Massachusetts that at one time controlled 75% of the total United States fine paper output. Records include board of directors’ minutes, by-laws, blueprints, land transactions, merger agreements, and publications. Labor files (1936-1960) comprise the bulk of the collection and include contracts, correspondence, grievances, and negotiations.

With roots extending back to 1965, Americans for the Arts is one of the first and most influential arts advocacy organizations in the United States. Founded as the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies (NALAA), the organization has collaborated with arts organizations at the local, state, and federal level; with government agencies; private individuals; and funders to represent and serve local communities and to raise awareness of the value of the arts in American lives. NAFTA plays a key role in sustaining creative communities and generating public and private sector policies, leadership, and resources for the arts and arts education. AFTA assumed its current name in 1996 after the merger of NALAA and the American Council for the Arts.

The records are focused on AFTA’s early years and include minutes of meetings and other organizational records, selected publications, and promotional materials.

The Amesbury Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, tied historically to the Hampton and Seabrook Monthly Meetings, has met on the coast of Massachusetts and New Hampshire for over three hundred years.

The records of Amesbury (Hampton and Seabrook) Monthly Meeting document over three centuries of Quaker practice in New England coastal communities. The meeting minutes for both men’s and women’s meetings are relatively complete for the period 1701 to the late 1880s, and after nearly a century-long hiatus, pick up again in the mid-1980s.

Incorporated in 1775, Amherst was settled by Massachusetts Bay colonists who moved west, first to the Springfield area, then to Amherst. The microfilm records of the town consist of tax and valuation lists.

Unnamed grocer who was possibly from the town of Amherst in either Massachusetts or New Hampshire. Daybook includes customers’ names, their account numbers, and the items that they purchased whether food or supplies.