The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Collections: K

Abu al-Barakat Hafiz al-din Abdallah ibn Ahad ibn Mahmud al-Nasafi

Kanz al-daquia'iq fi'l-furu

1413
1 volume ; 28 x 18 cm ; 110 ff.
Call no.: MS 1118
Depiction of Detail of leaf from Kanz al-daqua'iq fi'l-furu
Detail of leaf from Kanz al-daqua'iq fi'l-furu

Abu al-Barakat Hafiz al-din Abdallah ibn Ahad ibn Mahmud al-Nasafi was a Hanafi legist and theologian. He was born in Nasaf (now southern Uzbekistan) in CE 710, taught in the Madrasa al-Kutbiya al-Sultaniya in Kirman, and wrote the Kanz al-daquia’iq fi’l-furu (Treasure of niceties of the branches of jurisprudence), which became a frequently consulted tract of Hanafi law by fiqh scholars for many generations. Al-Nasafi died in Idjadj (Khuzestan Province, Iran), apparently on a return journey from a trip to Baghdad in CE 1310.

This small folio manuscript of al-Nasafi’s Treasure of niceties of the branches of jurisprudence was calligraphed by Ahmad ibn Amîr in the naskh script just over a hundred years after the death of al-Nasafi, making it a very early example of the important legal work. The manuscript is written in black ink with captions in red and extensive marginal and interlinear glosses throughout, typical for an Islamic legal manuscript of this period. Exact origin is unclear but the the first leaf includes entries in Ottoman Turkish.

Acquired from Antiquariat INLIBRIS, 2020.
Language(s): Arabic

Subjects

HanafitesIslamic law--Manuscripts
Kahn, Paul S.

Paul S. Kahn Papers

1964-2009
10 boxes 17 linear feet
Call no.: MS 786
Depiction of Paul Kahn
Paul Kahn

An artist, writer, and activist for the disabled, Paul S. Kahn was born on Nov. 6, 1945, into a second-generation family of Jewish immigrants in Auburndale, Mass. Early in life, Kahn rebelled against the perceived “powerlessness” of the neuromuscular disorder with which he was born, pursuing an artistic, academic, and activist life. While studying drawing, painting, and sculpture at Boston University and earning a MA in counseling at Northeastern (1982), Kahn became an activist in the independent living movement and a pioneer in advocating for personal care assistance. Living independently from 1979, he worked as staff therapist at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, as leader of a support group for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and as a member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Commission on Disability Policy. In 1980, Kahn met Ruth Stern, who would become his frequent collaborator and wife of 21 years. As Kahn’s physical condition weakened after 1987 and he became dependent upon a ventilator, his creative focus shifted increasingly from art to writing and editing. The last two decades of his life were remarkably productive, resulting in over twenty plays and dozens of published essays and poems, and he was the long-time editor of the newsletter Disability Issues. Kahn died on Jan. 1, 2010.

Paul Kahn’s papers are a reflection of the intensely creative life of a committed activist. The collection centers on Kahn’s literary work, including manuscripts of his plays, essays, and poetry, but it includes numerous examples of his artwork and a number of home movies and tape recordings from his childhood.

Gift of Ruth Kahn, July 2013

Subjects

People with disabilities and the artsPeople with disabilities--Civil rights

Types of material

Paintings (Visual works)
Kallas, Phil

Phil Kallas Collection

ca.1915-2000
4 boxes 1.75 linear feet
Call no.: PH 023
Part of: Association for Gravestone Studies Collection
Depiction of Cemetery at San Gabriel, Calif.
Cemetery at San Gabriel, Calif.

A former guest editor of the Association for Gravestone Studies Newsletter and member of the Wisconsin Old Cemeteries Society, Phil Kallas has researched and written on Wisconsin gravestones and stonecarvers.

The Kallas collection contains 37 postcards of cemeteries from ten states, ranging from Alaska to New York, plus a quantity of newsclippings and photocopies on gravestones and carvers.

Subjects

Association for Gravestone StudiesSepulchral monuments--Massachusetts

Contributors

Kallas, Phil

Types of material

Postcards
Kaplan, Sidney, 1913-

Sidney and Emma Nogrady Kaplan Papers

ca.1937-1993
58 boxes 85 linear feet
Call no.: FS 149
Depiction of Sidney Kaplan, May 1972
Sidney Kaplan, May 1972

Access restrictions: Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA in advance to request materials from this collection.

An eminent scholar of African American history and activist, Sidney Kaplan was raised in New York City and graduated from City College in 1942. After wartime service as a Lieutenant in the Army, Kaplan returned to his education, completing an MA in history from Boston University (1948) and PhD at Harvard (1960), taking up the study of African American history at a time when few white scholars showed interest. Joining the English Department at UMass in 1946, Kaplan’s influence was widely felt at UMass Amherst and in the local community: he was among the founders of the Department of Afro-American Studies, a founder of the UMass Press, a founder and editor of the Massachusetts Review, and he was the editor of Leonard Baskin’s Gehenna Press. Over more than thirty years at UMass, he worked on diverse projects in history, literature, and the arts, often in partnership with his wife Emma Nogrady, a librarian at Smith College whom he married in 1933, ranging from studies of Poe and Melville to a biographical dictionary of African Americans and a study of Shays’ Rebellion. In 1973, they were co-authors of the first comprehensive study of depictions of African Americans in the visual arts, The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution (based on an exhibition planned for the National Portrait Gallery), and in 1991, the UMass Press published a collection of Sidney’s essays, American Studies in Black and White. A Fulbright lecturer in Greece and Yugoslavia and exchange Professor at the University of Kent, Kaplan was the recipient of the Bancroft Award from the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History for best article of the year in the Journal of Negro History, and he was awarded the UMass Amherst Chancellor’s Medal in 1979, one year after his retirement. Sidney Kaplan died in 1993 at age 80 and was followed by Emma in 2010.

The Kaplan Papers document a long career devoted to the study of African American history and life. The extensive correspondence, research notes, and drafts of articles and other materials offer important insight into the growth of African American studies from the 1950s through 1970s as well as the growth of UMass Amherst into a major research university.

Gift of Paul Kaplan, May 2011

Subjects

African Americans--HistoryMassachusetts ReviewUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Afro-American StudiesUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of EnglishUniversity of Massachusetts Press

Contributors

Kaplan, Emma Nogrady, 1911-Kaplan, Sidney, 1913-
Karen Lederer Political Button Collection

Karen Lederer Political Button Collection

1978-2018 Bulk: 1980-1998
1 .05 linear feet
Call no.: 1167
Assortment of buttons from the Karen Lederer Political Button Collection

Collection of 38 political buttons donated by Karen Lederer, UMass Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Department faculty member, covering several social change issues including: gay rights, political candidates, unions, anti-nuclear activism, women’s rights, campaigns at UMass, racism, anti-war movement, AIDS, single payer health care, the environment, domestic violence, the Equal Rights Amendment, and other assorted events in Western Mass.

Gift of Karen Lederer, July 2022

Subjects

Anti-nuclear movements--MassachusettsGay Liberation MovementLabor unions--Massachusetts

Contributors

Karen Lederer

Types of material

Buttons (information artifacts)
Karuna Center for Peacebuilding

Karuna Center for Peacebuilding Records

1994-2006
4 boxes 1.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 580

Founded in Amherst, Mass., by Paula Green and associates in 1994, the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding addresses the global challenges of ethnic, religious, and political conflict. Often partnering with other regional, governmental, educational, or religious organizations, the Center regularly conducts courses, workshops, and other programs with the goal of addressing the root causes of conflict, preventing escalation, and fostering reconciliation. From their early efforts in Bosnia and Kosovo, they have branched out to more than twenty countries, including Afghanistan, Nepal, South Africa, and Palestine.

The Karuna Center collection is a record of an industrious organization committed to building peace internationally. The Center retains records of each international program, including copies of materials used during training and workshops and photographs and summary reports of their activities.

Subjects

Pacifists--MassachusettsPeace-buildingSri Lanka--History--Civil War, 1983-Yugoslav War, 1991-1995

Contributors

Green, PaulaKaruna Center for Peacebuilding
Karuth, Denise

Denise Karuth and Fred Pelka Papers

1981-2012
36 boxes 54 linear feet
Call no.: MS 833

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

Denise Karuth and Fred Pelka are activists and historians of the disability rights movement based in Massachusetts. Both are graduates of SUNY Buffalo, while Karuth holds a masters in rehabilitation counseling from Boston State College and a masters in divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. Karuth came into activism through her church’s involvement in the civil rights movement and her own experience as a student dealing with blindness and multiple sclerosis at the State University of New York at Buffalo. After moving to Boston, her activism continued in efforts by the disability community to secure accessible and affordable mass transit in Massachusetts, and she has been involved with a broad spectrum of disability campaigns and organizations, serving as a peer counselor for people with disabilities, as Executive Director of Boston Self-Help Center, as a consultant on disability issues for the Human Genome Initiative, as a grant writer at the Stavros Center for Independent Living, and as Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Accessible Transportation under Gov. Michael Dukakis. She has also been an advocate for people who are homeless and was a principal founder of the First Church Shelter of the First Church in Cambridge. Karuth’s lifelong partner Fred Pelka, himself a person with disabilities, became involved in disability rights activism in 1983 while working at the Boston Center for Independent Living, and has made an impact as an editor and prolific author since. A 2004 Guggenheim Fellow, he has written three books on disability issues: The ABC-CLIO Companion to the Disability Rights Movement (1997), The Civil War Letters of Charles F. Johnson, Invalid Corps (2004), and What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement (2012). His fourth book, A Different Blaze, was published by Hedgerow Books in 2014, and is his first published poetry.

The Karuth and Pelka collection documents thirty years of social justice activism in Massachusetts centered on the movement for disability rights. Beginning in the1980s struggle for accessibility in transportation, the collection reflects the breadth of Karuth’s commitments and work on issues ranging from apartheid and US imperialism to homelessness and HIV/AIDS, and her work with organizations such as First Church in Cambridge, Amnesty International, Not Dead Yet, the Governor’s Council of Accessible Transportation, and the Boston Self Help Center. Pelka’s part of the collection contains extensive research and background material, notes, and drafts for each of his books, including lengthy transcripts of interviews with pioneers in disability rights.

Subjects

AIDS activists--MassachusettsBoston Self-Help CenterFirst Church (Cambridge, Mass.)Homelessness--MassachusettsLocal transit accessibilityMassachusetts. Governor's Commission of Accessible TransportationPeople with disabilities--Civil rightsPeople with disabilities--Legal status, laws, etc.

Contributors

Pelka, Fred
Katanka, Michael

Katanka-Fraser Political Music Collection

1885-1975
10 boxes 7 linear feet
Call no.: MS 552

The author, publisher, and radical bookseller Michael Katanka (1922-1983) was a staunch Socialist and historian of British labor. Beginning with his 1868: Year of Unions in 1968, Katanka wrote or edited a series of books and articles on Fabianism, satirical caricature, and trade unionism.

The Katanka-Fraser Political Music Collection consists of audio recordings, sheet music, and songbooks of politically-inspired music in a variety of languages. The works range from the English and German Socialist press of the 1880s to the antiwar movement of the 1960s and 1970s, touching upon labor agitation, proletarian songs, student protest, the anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggles, the Spanish Civil War, and Communism and Socialism. The collection also includes a few books and sound recordings from the extreme right in Nazi Germany.

Gift of James and Sibylle Fraser, June 2007

Subjects

Communists--MusicInternational Workers of the World--MusicPolitical ballads and songsProtest songsRadicalism--Songs and musicSocialists--MusicWorking class--Music

Contributors

Fraser, JamesKatanka, Michael
Katzman, Lillian Hyman

Lillian Hyman Katzman Papers

1952-1989
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 611
Depiction of

When Lillian Hyman volunteered to work with the Democratic Party in New York City in 1948, she was sent over to the office of W.E.B. Du Bois to assist him with some secretarial work. From that beginning, she was hired as a secretary, remaining in Du Bois’s employ for several years until she, regretfully, left for higher pay. Hyman later earned her masters degree and taught in the public schools in New York, starting the first class for children diagnosed with brain injury.

The Katzman Papers contains a series of letters and postcards sent by Du Bois during the early 1950s when Hyman worked as his secretary. Friendly and informal, they concern lecture tours by Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham, out west, and arrangements for his home at Grace Court in Brooklyn. The collection also includes a handful of publications by Du Bois, newspaper clippings, and some congratulatory letters to Hyman on her marriage.

Gift of Carol L. Goldstein, April 2009

Contributors

Du Bois, Shirley Graham, 1896-1977Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963Katzman, Lillian Hyman
Kehler, Randy

Randy Kehler Papers

1978-1997
21 boxes 13 linear feet
Call no.: MS 396

A veteran of the peace movement and founder of the Traprock Peace Center (1979), Randy Kehler was active in the National Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, the Peace Development Fund, and the Working Group on Electoral Democracy. Beginning in 1977, he and his wife became war tax resisters, withholding federal income tax to protest U.S. military expenditures, donating it instead to charity. As a consequence, their home was seized by the IRS in 1989, setting up a protracted legal struggle that resulted in Kehler’s arrest and imprisonment and the sale of the house. They remain tax resisters.

The Kehler Papers document the five year struggle (1989-1994) against the seizure and sale of the Kehlers’ home by the IRS. The collection includes meeting minutes, notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings; letters to the editor, essays, articles, plans and strategy documents for the vigil set outside the Kehler home; support committee information and actions; correspondence with government officials, the IRS, and the Justice Department; letters of support; documents from the legal proceedings; and political literature addressing the Kehlers’ situation.

Subjects

Activists--MassachusettsAntinuclear movement--MassachusettsArgo, EdColrain (Mass.)Pacifists--MassachusettsPeace movements--MassachusettsPolitical activists--MassachusettsTax collection--Massachusetts--ColrainTax evasion--Massachusetts--ColrainTax-sales--Massachusetts--ColrainTaxation--Law and LegislationTraprock Peace CenterValley Community Land TrustWar tax resitance--Massachusetts--ColrainWithholding tax--Law and legislationWithholding tax--Massachusetts

Contributors

Corner, BetsyKehler, RandyLink, MaryMosely, DonNelson, Juanita

Types of material

Court recordsDiariesLegal documentsLetters (Correspondence)Scrapbooks