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

Collecting area: Massachusetts

Phillips, Marie, 1954-

Marie Phillips Collection

1948-2007
2 boxes 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: FS 170
Depiction of Marie Phillips and Jakie,
Marie Phillips and Jakie,

For many years, the UMass Amherst campus was home to several colonies of feral cats that took up residence in its barns and outbuildings, and beginning with Leo V. Robinson in 1945, a succession of individuals were moved to feed and care for the cats. An alumna and employee in Human Relations, Marie Phillips (BA ’78, MPA ’91) took over as feral cat caretaker between 1991 and 2007, joined by her colleague Meg Caulmare of the English Department, and together they supported the colonies along the Cat Corridor stretching from the rear of Munson Hall to the Queen Anne Horse Barn. With increasing construction on campus and careful rehoming, the feral cat population was gradually reduced on campus until 2014, when the last cats to live in the Horse Barn, Mr. Junie Moon and Rusty, were given a home by Caulmare. Phillips wrote about her experiences with two of the more notable cats on campus, Dadcat and Ashes, in her book Dadcat University (2007).

The Phillips collection offers a visual records of the lives of the feral cats on the UMass Amherst campus. A strong supporter of efforts to preserve the declining Horse Barn, Phillips also accumulated photographs, reports, and research materials on the barn and horses at the university.

Gift of Marie Phillips, July 2015

Subjects

Cats--Massachusetts--AmherstFeral cats--Massachusetts--AmherstMunson Annex (University of Massachusetts Amherst)Queen Anne Horse Barn (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Types of material

Photographs
Pierrefeu, Yann de

Yann de Pierrefeu Diaries

1927-1938
3 boxes 1.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 815
Depiction of Yann de Pierrefeu, ca.1935
Yann de Pierrefeu, ca.1935

Marie Alphonse Leopold Jehan Tudor Dedons “Yann” de Pierrefeu was born in 1905, the eldest of four children born into a distinguished family and heir to a French marquisate. After attending the Groton School and Harvard, Pierrefeu settled in Cape Ann, marrying Ellen Hemenway Taintor in 1930.

A dedicated, if idiosyncratic diarist, Pierrefeu left a large number of dense and often impenetrable volumes that can be part dream book, part imagination, and part quixotic engagement with the turbulent events of the 1930s. Laden with references to the Oz novels and replete with nicknames and apparently coded language, the diaries offer glimpses into Pierrefeu’s social life and marriage, and his reactions to the Great Depression, national politics, history, and the growing crises in Europe and Asia.

Acquired from Ben Katz, Mar. 2014

Subjects

Depressions--1929DreamsPierrefeu, Ellen Taintor

Types of material

DiariesPhotographs
Pike, Phillip N.

Phillip N. Pike Papers

1917-1919
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 722
Depiction of Phillip N. Pike (seated) and friend, 1918
Phillip N. Pike (seated) and friend, 1918

A 21-year-old carpenter, Phillip N. Pike left his home in North Adams, Massachusetts, in August of 1917 to enlist in the Signal Corps. Ordered first to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas for training, and then to France in December of 1917, Pike was assigned to the 78th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces, doing construction work on bases where the squadron was stationed. In recognition of his skills, he earned promotion to corporal and then sergeant before the war’s end. The squadron served primarily in Romorantin (Loir-et-Cher) and was redesignated the 490th Aero Squadron before demobilizing in late 1918.

The Pike letters are a relatively voluminous and interesting set of soldier’s letters from the First World War, written from the perspective of a worker on an air base. Although he was not an aviator, Pike’s letters contain many details about life on active duty with the AEF, from the time of his entry into the service in August 1917 through the last days of the war.

Subjects

World War, 1914-1918

Contributors

Pike, Phillip N.

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)PhotographsPostcards
Pine Beach Association

Pine Beach Association Collection

1922-1980
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 666
Depiction of Woman on a zip line at Lake Rohunta, ca.1925
Woman on a zip line at Lake Rohunta, ca.1925

Founded in Athol, Mass., prior to1922, the Pine Beach Association operated a summer resort on the northern end of Lake Rohunta, a 383-acre reservoir owned largely by the Rodney Hunt Company. Recognizing the touristic and recreational opportunities, the Association built Pine Beach into a facility that included the Rohunta Inn (the former Elm Lodge Clubhouse), a restaurant, camping facilities, and a lifeguard-patrolled swimming area with water slides and other recreational facilities, all with the intent of becoming the “leading inland bathing beach of New England.” Although the hurricane of 1938 washed away Rodney Hunt’s dam and hydroelectric station, Pine Beach remained a popular destination, freely available to the company’s employees. In the 1980s, the properties were sold to the not-for-profit Lake Rohunta Beach Association, an association of 15 residential properties.

This small collection contains postcards, photographs, and ephemeral material relating to the Pine Beach Association, concentrated in its early years.

Gift of the Harris family, 2010.

Subjects

Athol (Mass.)--HistoryHotels--Massachusetts--AtholLake Rohunta (Mass.)Picnics--Massachusetts--AtholRodney Hunt Machine Company--Employees--RecreationSummer resorts--Massachusetts--OrangeTaverns (Inns)--Massachusetts--Athol

Types of material

Photographs
Pines Hotel (South Hadley, Mass.)

Pines Hotel (South Hadley, Mass.) Register

1925-1939
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 498 bd

The Pines in South Hadley, Mass., was a popular meeting place for men to socialize in the 1920s and 1930s. Employees of Bosch Magneto, the West End Sporting Club, and other groups who enjoyed hunting and fishing held special suppers where they consumed their prey with quantities of alcohol, Prohibition or not.

Using a standard hotel register, The Pines recorded a series of meetings of men’s groups in South Hadley, mostly centered around the activities of hunting and fishing. The Bosch Club (apparently employees of Bosch Magneto in Springfield), the Pines Gang, and the West End Sporting Club — with overlapping membership — held an array of events annually, including Coon Suppers, Deer Dinners, and Game Suppers, as well as occasional Chicken Fries, Piano Suppers, Pig Roasts, Dog Roasts, and special events such as member’s weddings. Summaries at the end of the year in 1926 and 1927, replete with bad verse, provide a sense of their socializing.

Acquired from Peter Masi, Mar. 2005

Subjects

Fishers--Massachusetts--South HadleyHunters--Massachusetts--South HadleyMen--Societies and clubs--Massachusetts--South HadleySouth Hadley (Mass.)--History
Pioneer Valley Activists

Pioneer Valley Activist Collection

2000-2007
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 474

Collection of posters and newspaper clippings documenting the work of activists throughout the Pioneer Valley. Although the bulk of the materials relate to protests against the war in Iraq, other issues include rallies and protests at UMass, revival of SDS, the Valley Anarchist Organization, and pro-union demonstrations.

Subjects

Political activists--MassachusettsStudents for a Democratic Society (U.S.)
Planning Services Group (Cambridge, Mass.)

Planning Services Group Records

1956-1986
10 boxes 4.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 335

An urban planning firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that assisted New England cities and towns with initiating and managing urban development projects. The firm had two main types of contracts, urban renewal and comprehensive community planning, and many of their projects were supported with funds designated by the Federal Housing Act of 1949.
Includes organizational histories, memoranda, correspondence, proposal guidelines, materials for citizen participation, job inventories and reports, brochures that document urban growth management and the problems of suburbanization in New England, background studies, planning reports, growth management policies, zoning bylaws and amendments, and the files of Katharine Kumala.

Subjects

Carlisle (Mass.)--HistoryCity planning--New EnglandDurham (N.H.)--HistoryLancaster (Mass.)--HistoryPortsmouth (N.H.)--HistorySanford (Me.)--HistoryUrban renewal--New England

Contributors

Kulmala, Katherine
Plata, Jakob

Jakob Plata Memoir, Pamietnik emigranta w Stanach Zjednoczonych

1936
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 184 bd

A Polish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1912, Jacob Plata worked in factories in Chicago until the mid-1920s when he relocated to Massachusetts. Plata and his wife Mary operated a dry goods store on Main Street in Indian Orchard until his death in 1947, after which Mary continued in business until her death in 1963.

Jakob Plata’s autobiographical account, Pamietnik emigranta w Stanach Zjednoczonych (Memoirs of an emigrant to the United States), includes a literate and interesting account his emigration from Poland and transition into American life. This photocopy (114p.) was retained by the Plata family from a manuscript originally written for the Institute for Social Management in Warsaw in 1936.

Language(s): Polish

Subjects

Immigrants--MassachusettsPolish Americans--Illinois--ChicagoPolish Americans--Massachusetts

Types of material

Memoirs
Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends)

Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records

1952-1978
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 P543

Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting was formed in 1952 when a group from the programmed Worcester Monthly Meeting sought unprogrammed worship. After more than a decade as an independent meeting, Pleasant Street came under the care of Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting in 1963, and a decade later, they began to hold joint meetings with Worcester, formally merging in 1979 to form the Worcester-Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting (later Uxbridge Monthly).

This small collection consists of photocopies of the two original minutebooks compiled by Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting prior to its merger with Worcester to form the Worcester-Pleasant Street Monthly Meeting (now Uxbridge Monthly Meeting).

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2016

Subjects

Quakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--MassachusettsWorcester (Mass.)--Religious life and customs

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
Pledger, Lynne

Lynne Pledger Collection

1968-2007
3 boxes 4.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 726

Lynne Pledger became active in waste management issues when Casella Waste Systems, a New England-based landfill company, applied to expand operations in Hardwick, Mass., potentially threatening the public water supply. Organizing a grassroots campaign, Pledger succeeded in getting Casella to drop plans to rezone the landfill in 2007, after the company failed to garner the necessary support in town meeting. Pledger has remained active in zero waste and waste reduction efforts, serving on the Zero Waste Committee for the Sierra Club, on the Clean Water Action Campaign, on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and co-founding Don’t Waste Massachusetts, an alliance of 25 environmental organizations supporting waste reduction measures.

This small collection contains documentation of grassroots opposition to the expansion of the landfill at Hardwick, Mass. Collected by Pledger, the material includes environmental and site reports, some filings, background information on the site and landfills, and some correspondence relating to the controversy.

Gift of Lynne Pledger, Dec. 2011

Subjects

Casella Waste SystemsFills (Earthwork)--MassachusettsHardwick (Mass.)--HistoryRefuse and refuse disposal--Massachusetts

Contributors

Pledger, Lynne