The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Collections: M

Mount Toby Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends)

Mount Toby Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records

1937-2018
5 vols., 11 boxes 4.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 M686

Mount Toby Monthly Meeting of Friends (formerly Middle Connecticut Valley Monthly) was formed in the 1930s in Northampton, Mass., during a time of growth for Quakers in western New England. Now located in Leverett, Mass., the meeting has had two monthly meetings set off and has supported a number of small worship groups and preparative meetings in the region.

The records of Mount Toby Monthly Meetings include nearly complete minutes from its founding as an independent Monthly Meeting in 1939 to the present, with an extensive, but not complete set of newsletters. Covering nearly eighty years of Friends centered in the academic communities of the central Connecticut River Valley, the collection also includes some documentation of the Greenfield Preparative Meeting and a guest book from the Springfield Worship Group.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Greenfield (Mass.)--Religious life and customsLeverett (Mass.)--Religious life and customsNorthampton (Mass.)--Religious life and customsQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--MassachusettsSpringfield (Mass.)--Religious life and customs

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Newsletters
Mountain House (South Deerfield, Mass.)

Mountain House Photograph Collection

ca.1865
3 photographs 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: PH 042
Depiction of Mountain House, ca.1865
Mountain House, ca.1865

A popular tourist destination during the post-Civil War years, the Mountain House hotel was built on the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain, in South Deerfield, Mass., by Granville Wardwell in 1864 on property owned by his father-in-law Dwight Jewett. Positioned near the southern end of the mountain, the hotel provided tourists with a stunning panoramic vista of the Connecticut River Valley.

This small collection consists of three scenic cartes de visite from a larger series featuring views from the Mountain House. The images include No. 6, a view of five persons perched on the southeast promontory of Sugar Loaf with a view to the northeast across the Connecticut River to Mt. Toby; No. 10, Mountain House with a group of nine men and women posed on the lawn with telescope and tripod; No. 18, view of barns at the southern base of Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Subjects

Mountain House (South Deerfield, Mass.)--PhotographsSouth Deerfield (Mass.) -- Pictorial worksSugar Loaf Mountain (Mass.)--Photographs

Contributors

Wardwell, Granville

Types of material

Photographs
Mungo, Raymond, 1946-

Raymond Mungo Papers

1966-2008
6 boxes 3 linear feet
Call no.: MS 659
Depiction of Raymond Mungo, 1967
Raymond Mungo, 1967

Born in a “howling blizzard” in February 1946, Raymond Mungo became one of the most evocative writers of the 1960s counterculture. Through more than fifteen books and hundreds of articles, Mungo has brought a wry sense of humor and radical sensibility to explorations of the minds and experiences of the generation that came of age against a backdrop of the struggles for civil rights and economic justice, of student revolts, Black Power, resistance to war, and experimentation in communal living.

Consisting of the original typescripts and manuscripts of ten of Raymond Mungo’s books, along with corrected and uncorrected galleys and a small number of letters from publishers. Among the other materials in the collection are thirteen photographs of Mungo taken by Clif Garboden and Peter Simon during and immediately after his undergraduate years at Boston University; a DVD containing motion pictures of life at Packer Corners in 1969 and 1977; and an irate letter from a writer regarding the status of poems he had submitted to Liberation News Service.

Subjects

Communal living--MassachusettsCommunal living--VermontLiberation News Service (Montague, Mass.)Montague Farm Community (Mass.)Nineteen SixtiesPacker Corners Community (Vt.)Porche, Verandah

Contributors

Garboden, ClifMungo, Raymond, 1946-Simon, Peter, 1947-

Types of material

Photographs
Murdock, Charles N., 1835-1904

Charles N. Murdock Ledger

1866-1869
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 251

A grocer from Stow, Massachusetts, Charles N. Murdock catered principally to farmers and the country trade.

The accounts of Murdock’s store include mention of products sold (groceries and other items) and payment received, usually in kind (lard, eggs, fruit, butter, potatoes, cigars, beans, cash, and labor).

Subjects

Barter--Massachusetts--Stow--History--19th centuryDerby, ReubenGrocers--Massachusetts--Stow--Economic conditions--19th centuryGrocery trade--Massachusetts--Stow--History--19th centuryStow (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryStow (Mass.)--Rural conditions--19th centuryTemple, RufusWages-in-kind--Massachusetts--Stow--History--19th century

Contributors

Murdock, Charles N., 1836-

Types of material

Account books
Murphy, Paul R.

Paul R. Murphy Mint Coin and Medal Collection

1921-2019
21 boxes 10.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 941

Coin and medal collection of UMass Amherst graduate Class of 1973 and long-time supporter of the
library, Paul R. Murphy. Collections consists chiefly of coins and medals that commemorate historic moments, achievements, places, and individuals in U.S. history.

Gift of Paul R. Murphy, 2018-2022.

Subjects

Coins--Collectors and collecting

Types of material

Coins
Murray, Samuel E., 1906-1989

Samuel E. Murray Papers

ca.1945-1989
14 boxes 7 linear feet
Call no.: MS 568
Depiction of Samuel Murray, 1966
Samuel Murray, 1966

One of the pioneers in the ephemera trade, Samuel E. Murray (1906-1989) was a long time antiquarian bookman, based at his home in Wilbraham, Mass. Born on Christmas Day, 1906, Murray interrupted his college studies to go to sea, but after the Depression left him unemployed, he landed a position as sales representative for McGraw-Hill and, later, G. & C. Merriam and other firms. Always an avid book collector, Murray left the publishing industry in 1970 to become a full time bookseller. Without ever advertising or issuing catalogs, he developed a wide reputation among dealers and collectors for his keen eye and perspicacity with rare and uncommon books. A generalist by trade, Murray had a particular fondness for colorplate books and travel literature, but was renowned both for his extensive reference library and for recognizing early on the value of ephemera. After a lengthy bout with myelofibrosis, Murray died at home on June 4, 1989.

The Murray Papers contain correspondence between Murray and a range of his fellow booksellers and clients, as well as his extensive card files on fellow book dealers and wants lists. The collection offers insight into the operations of a well known antiquarian bookman during the 1970s and 1980s.

Subjects

Antiquarian booksellers--MassachusettsBook collectingBooks--Want listsPrinted ephemera--Collectors and collecting--Massachusetts

Contributors

Antiquarian Booksellers Association of AmericaEphemera Society of AmericaMurray, Samuel E., 1906-1989
Musicians United for Safe Energy

MUSE Records

ca.1980-1989
19 boxes 28.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 521

Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), an activist organization opposing the use of nuclear energy, was founded in 1979 by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and John Hall. The MUSE Foundation was established with the proceeds of the concerts and for several years provided small grants to support antinuclear and environmental work.

The bulk of the MUSE collection consists of applications from grass-roots, progressive organizations in the United States relating to their work. As such, the collection presents a wonderful snapshot of early 1980s activisim. The collection is part of the Famous Long Ago Archive.

Subjects

Activists--United StatesAntinuclear movement--United States

Contributors

Musicians United for Safe Energy
Myers, Wallace Haslett

Wallace Haslett Myers Papers

1938-1961
7 boxes 3.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 968

Wallace Haslett Myers was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on November 21, 1929, the elder of two sons of Roscoe and Priscilla Myers. Myers received his Bachelor’s Degree from Clark University in Worcester in 1951. He attended Boston University Law School in the summer of 1951, then enrolled in Harvard Law School, and received a law degree in 1954. Of note, he survived a close brush with the Worcester Tornado of 1953, classified as the 21st deadliest tornado in U.S. history. After graduating from law school, he served in the U.S. Army from 1954-1956 and was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon his return from the Army, Myers began practicing law, specializing in probate, taxation and real estate matters. On August 23, 1985, he married Irene Healy in Worcester. He belonged to the Worcester Republican 21 Club, was active in the Episcopal Church, and was a supporter of the church’s summer retreat house, Bucksteep Manor in Washington, Massachusetts.

This collection covers the years 1941-1975, with the bulk of the collection between 1945-1957. Myers frequently exchanged letters with many individuals, so the majority is personal correspondence between family and friends, documenting daily life, and notably including one friend’s marriage to a Korean woman during the era of the Korean War. Other papers in the collection pertain to his attendance at Clark, Boston University and Harvard, social activities and clubs, and stamp collecting and trading.

Gift of S. Myron Weinblatt, Apr. 2017

Subjects

Harvard Law SchoolKorean War, 1950-1953Law Schools--United StatesStamp collectiongWorcester (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Chaffee, FredChen, PhilKerwien, PriscillaMyers, Priscilla Haslett, 1901-1980Myers, Robert Haslett, 1933-Myers, Roscoe, 1899-1982Myers, Wallace Haslett, 1929-Myers, Wallace P.Seiler, Shirley

Types of material

Correspondence (Letters)
Peabody, Edwin N.

McLean Asylum for the Insane Stereographs

ca. 1870
11 stereographs 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: PH 095
Depiction of Front of the
Front of the "Ladies Appleton" house.

The McLean Asylum for the Insane was founded in 1811 though a charter granted by the Massachusetts Legislature. The original campus was built around a Charles Bullfinch-designed mansion in what’s now Somerville, Mass. and was fully completed by 1818, when it was officially opened. It became the first hospital in New England dedicated to the treatment of the mentally ill. The Asylum outgrew its original campus in the 1890s and moved to Belmont, Massachusetts in 1895, where it was renamed McLean Hospital. The Hospital is still active today as a division of Massachusetts General Hospital and is a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School.

The eleven stereographs of what was then known as the McLean Asylum for the Insane were taken by Edwin N. Peabody of Salem, Mass. as part of a larger series called “American Views.” They depict the original Somerville campus of McLean Hospital, including the buildings and grounds and the “Ladies’ Park and Billiard Room,” with women patients on the grounds outside.

Purchased from DeWolfe and Wood, 2019

Subjects

McLean Hospital--PhotographsPsychiatric hospital patients--Massachusetts--Somerville--PhotographsPsychiatric hospitals--Massachusetts--Somerville--Photographs

Types of material

Stereographs