The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Collecting area: Civic organizations

Amherst Community Association (Amherst, Mass.)

Amherst Community Association Records

1939-1978
5 boxes 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 050

Contains bylaws, incorporation papers, minutes, budgets, reports, and correspondence relating to the administration and fundraising activities of the Amherst Community Association, including the Community Chest fund drive. Also included are budget proposals and agency profiles documenting organizations such as the Amherst Boys Club and Girls Club, Children’s Aid and Family Service, Hampshire County Association for Retarded Citizens and Camp Anderson.

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--HistoryCamp AndersonSocial service--Massachusetts--Amherst

Contributors

Amherst Boys' Club (Amherst, Mass.)Amherst Community Association (Amherst, Mass.)Amherst Girls' Club (Amherst, Mass.)Children's Aid and Family Service of Hampshire County (Hampshire County, Mass.)Hampshire County Association for Retarded Citizens (Hampshire County, Mass.)Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Amherst Railway Society

Amherst Railway Society Records

1963-2007
1 box 1.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 794

Founded in 1963 and chartered one year later, the Amherst Railway Society is a non-profit organization of railroad enthusiasts based in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts. Meeting monthly, the Society sponsors lecturers and programming on railroad-related topics, and since 1968 it has hosted the annual Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show, now held at the Eastern States Exposition. Some of the proceeds from the Hobby Show are used to provide grants to support historic preservation and other railroad-related projects throughout the country.

Documenting the history of the ARS from its founding, this collection contains organizational materials, minutes of meetings, membership lists, officers’ reports, mailings and correspondence, and other materials relating to the Society’s programs.

Subjects

HobbiesRailroads--HistoryRailroads--Models
Amherst Study Circles: Dialogues on Race and Class

Amherst Study Circles: Dialogues on Race and Class Records

2002-2016 Bulk: 2002-2006
1 box .4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 917

Amherst Study Circles: Dialogues on Race and Class flier

The Amherst Study Circles: Dialogues on Race and Class were a series of dialogue and project action groups begun in 2002 to discuss and enact social change in the school districts and communities around Amherst, MA. They arose as a response by the Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) Parent Center to a question to their group: What were they going to do about racism in the Amherst Schools? The ARHS Parent Center Board suggested the study circle model, and a round of facilitated pilot groups were run in February 2003. The successful pilots stirred the organizers to seek additional support, and with funding from the Amherst Education Foundation and the Amherst Drugs Free Partnership, additional groups were organized each year, building awareness, trust, and power amongst those striving to improve the community’s schools for all students. Almost 200 people, including school administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, and community members participated over the course of several years, and each group culminated in an action forum and set up action groups to propose and enact tangible steps towards specific goals. Action groups affected change in school climate, policies, and course offerings, and organized a standing committee of the ARHS Parent Center called RaDAR: Race and Discipline, Action, Rights.

The Amherst Study Circles: Dialogues on Race and Class Records consist of descriptive materials from the ARHS Parent Center; an organizer’s binder with sections on the origin in 2002, participants, action groups, finances, curriculum, and evaluations; and additional materials such as evaluations for study circle sessions and facilitators, newspaper clippings of articles about the group and their work, and documents for student study circles, such as advertisements, curriculum, and certificates.

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--HistoryAmherst Regional High School (Amherst, Mass.)Classism--MassachusettsEducation--MassachusettsRacism--Massachusetts

Contributors

Amherst Regional High School Parent CenterWolf, Jackie
Ancient Order of United Workmen. Deerfield Valley Lodge No. 150

Ancient Order of United Workmen. Deerfield Valley Lodge No. 150 Records

1895-1920
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 453

The Ancient Order of United Workmen, a fraternal benefit society, was originally founded in Pennsylvania in 1868. The Massachusetts lodge was founded in 1879 with the Deerfield Valley Lodge incorporated in 1880.

The collection consists of records dating from 1895–1920, including financial documents, membership information, and correspondence.

Subjects

Fraternal Aid AssociationFraternal organizations--MassachusettsShelburne Falls (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Ancient Order of United Workmen. Deerfield Valley Lodge No. 150

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)Receipts (Financial records)
Center for the Study of Art and Community

Center for the Study of Art and Community Records

1991-2018
34 boxes 51 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1078

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

Since its founding 1991, the Center for the Study of Art and Community has been devoted to arts-based community development: the philosophy that human creativity is essential to the development of caring and capable communities. Founded by Bill Cleveland, the CSAC is an association of creative leaders from several cultural sectors, including business, government, and the arts, that seeks new cultural partnerships to integrate arts and creative expression into community life. Their projects have played out in schools, symphony halls, and neighborhood associations, but also in factories, jails, senior centers, unemployment offices.

The records of the CSAC offer extensive documentation of the movement to facilitate the role of arts and creativity in community development and an organization dedicated to fostering cultural partnerships that touch on sectors of the community from education and human services to public safety, faith groups.

Gift of William Cleveland, May 2019

Subjects

Arts--ManagementCommunity arts projects

Contributors

Cleveland, William, 1947-
Children’s Aid and Family Services of Hampshire County Inc.

Children's Aid and Family Service Records

1910-ca. 2001
10 boxes 8 linear feet
Call no.: MS 008

Children’s Aid and Family Service was an agency providing traditional child and family service and extensive mental health services. Working closely with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, CAFS was a member of the Child Welfare League of America and the Northampton representative for the National Association of Travelers Aid Societies.

This collection includes ten versions of the CAFS constitution, typed personal recollections from the 25th anniversary, annual reports, minutes, and the correspondence of president Miriam Chrisman (1952-1957). Of special note, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge was the chair of the Home Finding Committee of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which helped to found the CAFS.

Subjects

Child mental health services--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryChild welfare--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryChildren--Institutional care--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryCoolidge, Grace Goodhue, 1879-1957Floods--MassachusettsFoster home care--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryFranklin County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHampshire County (Mass.)--Social conditionsHomeless children--Massachusetts--Franklin County--HistoryHomeless children--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryHurricanes--MassachusettsNorthampton (Mass.)--Intellectual life--HistoryNorthampton (Mass.)--Social conditionsSocial service--Massachusetts--Hampshire County--HistoryVoluntarism--Massachusetts--History

Contributors

Children's Aid Association (Hampshire County, Mass.)Children's Aid and Family Service of Hampshire County (Hampshire County, Mass.)Children's Home Association (Franklin County, Mass. and Hampshire County, Mass.)Chrisman, Miriam UsherMassachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Home Finding Committee
Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Hampshire-Franklin County Chapter

Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts Hampshire-Franklin County Chapter Records

1947-1973
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 303

Minutes and correspondence of the Executive Committee, correspondence and general files of chairmen Philip Eddy, David E. Matz, and Donn Kesselheim, as well as correspondence, briefs, and clippings related to legal cases and inquiries undertaken by the chapter.

Subjects

Civil rights--Massachusetts

Contributors

Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Hampshire-Franklin County ChapterEddy, PhilipKesselheim, DonnMatz, David E
Dana (Mass.)

Dana (Mass.) Collection

1801-1938
21 vols. (digital), 1 folder 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 012

Situated in the northeastern reaches of the Swift River Valley in western Massachusetts, Dana was one of four towns inundated in the 1930s to create the Quabbin Reservoir. Rural and relatively sparsely populated, Dana’s economy centered on agriculture, leavened with manufacturing wood products and soapstone quarrying.

The Dana Collections include a comprehensive records of town meetings from incorporation through disincorporation (1801-1938), plus rich records for the Congregational Church and its affiliate organizations, the Ladies Aid Society, the Orthodox Congregational Society, and the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. Most of the materials listed in this finding aid are held at the Swift River Valley Historical Society in New Salem, Mass., and were part of a cooperative digitization project centered on the records of the Quabbin towns.

Gift of Donald Howe, 1960

Subjects

Congregational churches--Massachusetts--Dana--HistoryDana (Mass.)--HistoryDana (Mass.)--Politics and governmentDana (Mass.)--Religious life and customsDana (Mass.)--Social life and customsPoor-Massachusetts--DanaQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--HistoryQuabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--Social life and customsWomen--Massachusetts--DanaWomen--Societies and clubs

Contributors

Dana (Mass. : Town)Dana (Mass. : Town). Overseers of the PoorFirst Universalist Church (North Dana, Mass.)Ladies' Aid Society (Dana, Mass.)Orthodox Congregational Church (Dana, Mass.)Young Peoples Society of Christian Endeavor

Types of material

Church records
Easthampton (Mass.) Community Chest

Easthampton Community Chest Records

1943-1969
2 boxes 0.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 051

Organization created to sponsor and conduct all fundraising for, and to distribute funds to, relief and social agencies in the town of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Contains records of minutes, campaign reports, Presidents’ and Treasurers’ reports, and correspondence. Also included are scrapbooks with newspaper clippings and other printed material.

Subjects

Charities--Massachusetts--Easthampton--History--SourcesEasthampton (Mass.)--Social conditions--SourcesEasthampton Community War Fund (Easthampton, Mass.)--ArchivesFederations, Financial (Social service)--History--Sources

Contributors

Easthampton Community Chest (Easthampton, Mass.)

Types of material

Scrapbooks
Enfield (Mass.)

Enfield (Mass.) Collection

1800-1939
8 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 010
Depiction of Birdseye view of Enfield, ca.1915
Birdseye view of Enfield, ca.1915

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

Types of material

Account booksChurch recordsPhotographsSermons