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

Collecting area: Massachusetts

Lapolice, Aubrey D.

Aubrey D. Lapolice Collection

1910-1981
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: PH 070
Depiction of 'Our first students, 1921'
'Our first students, 1921'

Born in Chicopee Falls, Mass., Aubrey D. Lapolice (1893-1981) was a maintenance superintendent at the Belchertown State School for a forty year period, from the time of its establishment through his retirement in 1961. A veteran of the First World War, he oversaw a campus of nearly 850 acres and a physical plant of nearly one hundred buildings and structures. He died in February 1981.

The Lapolice collection includes 35 images of the physical plant and construction projects at the Belchertown State School during its first two decades of operation and 21 images of the welcome home parade in Belchertown in 1946 for returning American troops.

Gift of Dani McGrath, Feb. 2016

Subjects

Belchertown State School--PhotographsConstruction projects--Massachusetts--Belchertown--PhotographsHampden Railroad--PhotographsMentally disabled--Massachusetts--BelchertownParades--Massachusetts--Belchertown--PhotographsPsychiatric hospitals--Massachusetts--Belchertown--PhotographsWorld War, 1939-1945--Veterans

Types of material

Photographs
Lawrence-Andover Friends Meeting

Lawrence-Andover Friends Meeting Records

1886-1987
21 vols., 2 boxes 3.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 L397

The Lawrence Monthly Meeting of Friends evolved from Boston Monthly in the late 1880s and 1890s, achieving status as a monthly meeting in 1899. Although they became inactive in 1985, they were revived in 1994, and joined with a preparative meeting in Andover to form the present Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting.

The records of Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting include a relatively complete set of minutes, extending back to the earliest days as a preparative meeting to about the time of its becoming inactive in the mid-1980s. The collection also includes minutes and accounts for its Elizabeth Fry Missionary Circle, its Leprosy Mission, Missionary Society, and Sabbath School, along with records of births, deaths, and marriages in the meeting, 1892-1975.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Lawrence (Mass.)--Religious life and customsMissionaries--MassachusettsQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--Massachusetts

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Vital records (Document genre)
Laymen’s Academy for Oecumenical Studies (LAOS)

Laymen's Academy for Oecumenical Studies Records

1956-1976
22 boxes 11.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 020

An oecumenical ministry based in Amherst, Massachusetts, that sought to inspire local citizens to act upon their religious faith in their daily lives and occupations, and to reinvigorate religious dialogue between denominations.

Includes by-laws, minutes, membership records, news clippings, press releases, treasurer’s reports, letters to and from David S. King, correspondence between religious leaders and local administrators, and printed materials documenting programs and organizations in which the Laymen’s Academy for Oecumenical Studies (L.A.O.S.) participated or initiated, especially Faith and Life Meetings. Also contains questionnaires, announcements, bulletins, and photographs.

Subjects

Christian union--Massachusetts--HistoryInterdenominational cooperation--Massachusetts--History

Contributors

King, David S., 1927-Laymen's Academy for Oecumenical Studies (Amherst, Mass.)

Types of material

Photographs
League of Women Voters of Amherst (Amherst, Mass.)

League of Women Voters of Amherst Records

1939-2001
60 boxes 33 linear feet
Call no.: MS 296

Non-partisan political organization based in Amherst, Massachusetts that influences public policy through education and advocacy by registering voters, organizing candidate forums, publishing voting guides, and disseminating general information on the legislative process and the functioning of government on the local, state, and federal levels.

Includes minutes, annual reports, financial records, publications, extensive files on specific programs, photographs, video- and audio-tapes, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings. Also contains information on two league members who rose to national prominence: Lucy Wilson Benson (Under Secretary of State in the federal government in 1977) and Jane F. Garvey (Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1997).

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--Politics and governmentEducation--Massachusetts--Amherst--HistoryHousing--Massachusetts--Amherst--HistoryMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-

Contributors

Benson, Lucy WilsonGarvey, Jane FLeague of Women Voters of Amherst (Amherst, Mass.)

Types of material

Oral historiesPhotographsScrapbooks
League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire

League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire Records

1959-2001
9 boxes 4 linear feet
Call no.: MS 478

First founded as a chapter for Pittsfield and later for all of central Berkshire county, this local league is one of many Massachusetts chapters of the national non-partisan political organization, League of Women Voters, that influences public policy through education and advocacy by registering voters, organizing candidate forums, publishing voting guides, and disseminating general information on the legislative process and the functioning of government on the local, state, and federal levels.

The bulk of the collection documents the activities and topics of interest to members of the League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire during the last three decades of their work before disbanding in 2001. The chapter consistently served to educate the public on voter registration, the voting process, and on the functioning of local and state government. Other issues of importance included child care and rights, prison reform, clean water, and health care.

Subjects

Berkshire County (Mass.)--Politics and governmentDrinking water--MassachusettsMassachusetts--Politics and government--1951-Prisons--Massachusetts

Contributors

League of Women Voters of Central Berkshire
Leland, James

James Leland Daybook

1854-1855
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 094

Owner of a general store in Enfield, Massachusetts. Includes notations for the sale of a wide variety of goods (notably Know Nothing hats), names of customers (both individuals, particularly Irish, and businesses), and types of payment (cash, barter, and services).

Subjects

Barter--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th centuryConsumers--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th centuryEnfield (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryEnfield (Mass.)--Ethnic relations--19th centuryGeneral stores--Massachusetts--EnfieldIrish American Catholics--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th centuryJ.M. Crosby (Firm)Leonard Woods (Firm)Minot Manufacturing CompanyNativism--History--19th centuryShopping--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th centurySwift River Company

Contributors

Leland and Smith Co.Leland, James

Types of material

Daybooks
Leonard, Samuel B., b. 1807

Samuel B. Leonard Account Book

1833-1845
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 206 bd

Blacksmith from Foxborough, Massachusetts. Documents the various kinds of work performed, such as mending chain links, shoeing horses, bolting and riveting wagons, repairing stoves, and the prices charged for such work. Includes customers arranged by surname and notations of the settlement of long-standing debts (without mention of the methods of payment).

Subjects

Blacksmithing--Massachusetts--Foxborough--History--19th centuryBlacksmiths--Massachusetts--Foxborough--Economic conditions--19th centuryFoxborough (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryFoxborough (Mass.)--History--19th century

Contributors

Leonard, Samuel B., 1807-

Types of material

Account books
Lesinski-Rusin family

Lesinski-Rusin Family Papers

1908-1925
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 131
Depiction of Nun and two girls at first communion, ca.1920
Nun and two girls at first communion, ca.1920

Polish immigrants Jan Lesinski and his wife Weronika (Rusin) settled in Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1909 and worked in the textile mills there for decades. Married in 1922, the couple raised a son and daughter in their home on Franklin Street. Weronika Lesinski died in Northampton in 1961, her husband following twelve years later.

The Lesinski and Rusin family collection reflect the lives of an average working-class Polish family from Easthampton, Mass., during the early twentieth century. Numerous family photographs document important occasions for the families, such as baptisms, first communions, and weddings, and the photographic postcards and commercial postcards document their relationships, interests, and travel.

Gift of Mary Ryan, June 1990
Language(s): Polish

Subjects

Lesinski familyPolish Americans--Massachusetts--EasthamptonRusin familySoldiers--Massachusetts--Easthampton--PhotographsWorld War, 1914-1918--Photographs

Types of material

PhotographsPostcardsScrapbooks
Levy, Donald

Donald Levy Papers

1966-1987
2 boxes 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 878
Depiction of Richie Havens at Krackerjacks, ca. 1968
Richie Havens at Krackerjacks, ca. 1968

The co-owner with Alan Peterson of Krackerjacks, a psychedelic clothing store in Boston, Donald “Jack” Levy grew the boutique he started in 1966 into a staple of the counterculture in the Boston area and eventually a franchise. Levy was at the center of a controversy in Cambridge when the city tried to ban “obscene” buttons. Though several stores removed the buttons, Levy refused and with community support, fought the city’s ban. Levy also opened several clothing stores in the Boston-area: Garbo, a women’s clothing store; Dazzle in 1973, a vintage clothing store; Goods in 1976, a natural fiber and novelty store; and purchased and refurbished the Blue Diner in 1986 (now the South Street Diner). He currently owns diners in Newton, Framingham, and Watertown Mass.

The Donald Levy Papers contain ephemera, photographs, and clippings primarily documenting Krackerjacks as well as Levy’s other clothing stores and the opening of Blue Diner. Of particular interest is a petition circulated by Levy during the city’s attempt to ban “obscene” buttons. Included among the signatures is a 15-year-old Jonathan Richman, who called the button ban, “an example of lingering Victorianism.”

Subjects

Counterculture--United States--20th centuryFashion--United States--20th centuryMassachusetts--Cambridge--History--20th centuryStores, Retail--Massachusetts

Contributors

Richman, Jonathan (Vocalist)

Types of material

ClippingsPetitionsPhotographs
Lewis, J. Roy

J. Roy Lewis Papers

1910-1949
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 024

A native and long-time resident of Holyoke, Mass., J. Roy Lewis was a prominent businessman in the lumber trade and a model of civic engagement during the decades prior to the Second World War. A 1903 graduate of Phillips Academy, Lewis worked as an executive with the Hampden-Ely Lumber Company and was active in trade associations as well as civic and political groups such as the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Tax Association, and the Holyoke Planning committee. Locally, he may have been best known as the writer of hundreds of letters and opinion pieces to the editors of the Holyoke Transcript-Telegram and the Springfield Republican. An ardent conservative, Lewis was a vocal opponent of women’s suffrage, prohibition, and anything he deemed contrary to the interests of business.

This small collection, consisting of a scrapbook and a handful of miscellaneous letters from J. Roy Lewis are a testament to the mindset of a conservative businessman during a progressive age. Lewis’s letters to the editor and his small surviving correspondence touch on a wide range of political and social issues of the day, most notably women’s suffrage, prohibition, business support, the New Deal, and the Depression.

Subjects

Depressions--1929Holyoke (Mass.)--HistoryUnited States--Economic policy--1933-1945

Contributors

Lewis, J. Roy

Types of material

Letters to the editorScrapbooks