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

Collecting area: New England

Bunton, Alice Bice

Alice Bice Bunton Collection

1979-1993
1 box 1 linear feet
Call no.: PH 018
Depiction of Timothy Lindall, Salem, Mass., 1699
Timothy Lindall, Salem, Mass., 1699

A local historian from Bethany, Connecticut, Alice Bice Bunton (1924-2000) was a long-time member of the Association for Gravestone Studies. Author of a book on the historic houses of Bethany in 1972, she attended AGS conferences regularly beginning in the late 1970s. Bunton died on October 18, 2000, at the age of 75.

Many of Bunton’s photographs documenting cemeteries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey were taken during tours associated with the AGS annual conferences. Also included in the collection are AGS conference brochures and other printed material, newspaper clippings, grave rubbings, and a small amount of correspondence.

Subjects

Sepulchral monuments--ConnecticutSepulchral monuments--MassachusettsSepulchral monuments--New JerseyStone carving--ConnecticutStone carving--Massachusetts

Contributors

Association for Gravestone StudiesBunton Alice Bice

Types of material

PhotographsRubbings
Burlington Monthly Meeting of Friends

Burlington Monthly Meeting of Friends Records

1959-2010
2 boxes 0.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 B875

Friends in Burlington, Vermont, began gathering as an informal, unaffiliated worship group in 1951, joining the New England Yearly Meeting five years later as part of the Upper Connecticut River Valley Monthly Meeting. With the continued growth of Quakerism in the state, the meeting was divided in two with Burlington and Hanover becoming monthly meetings in 1959, jointly comprising the new Northwest Quarterly Meeting.

The somewhat spotty records of the Burlington Monthly Meeting include minutes for two brief spans of time in the early 1980s and early 1990s, leavened by a fairly complete run of newsletters from 1969 through 2010.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Burlington (Vt.)--Religious life and customsQuakers--VermontSociety of Friends--Vermont

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Newsletters
Burnett, Bela, 1778-

Bela Burnett Account Book

1801-1842
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 385 bd

A storeowner, farmer, and citizen of Granby, Mass., Bela Burnett was born October 4, 1778, the second of seven children of Jonathan and Mehitabel (Dickinson) Burnett. Having relocated from Southampton, New York, to Battleboro, Vermont, in 1770, Jonathan and Mehitable settled in Granby in 1774, purchasing the farm of Aaron Nash where in 2010, Burnett descendants still live. Burnett had at least five children by two marriages, first to Clarissa Warner (1801) and second to Sally Allen (1808). Burnett died in Granby on April 16, 1846.

The Burnett account book includes careful records of goods sold, customers’ accounts, and the form and method of payment (cash, credit, or barter), as well as some information on family members and boarders, along with a handful of miscellaneous items laid in, such as calculations, notes, and a remedy for yellow jaundice.

Subjects

Agricultural laborers--Massachusetts--GranbyBarter--Massachusetts--GranbyBoardinghouses--Massachusetts--Granby--19th centuryFarmers--Massachusetts--GranbyFood prices--Massachusetts--GranbyGeneral stores--Massachusetts--GranbyGranby (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryJaundiceMarsh, Tim A. PMedicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptionsProduce trade--Massachusetts--Granby--19th centuryRobbins, AsaShopping--Massachusetts--GranbySmith, David

Contributors

Burnett, Bela, 1778-

Types of material

Account books
Bush, Carroll H.

Carroll H. Bush Papers

1929-1938
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1055

A knitter in a Northampton silk factory during the years of the Great Depression, Carroll Bush was a Socialist and officer with the American Federation of Hosiery Workers.

The Bush papers offer a small but fascinating glimpse into political radicalism and union organizing among Northampton silk workers during the Great Depression. An active Socialist and union member in the Textile Workers Union of America, Bush corresponded with other textile workers and union organizers in Massachusetts and entertained an interest in union agitation more generally. The collection consists entirely of letters received by Bush.

Gift of Bruce Rubenstein via Eugene Povirk, Oct. 2018

Subjects

Communists--Massachusetts--NorthamptonHosiery workers--Labor unions--Massachusetts--NorthamptonNorthampton (Mass.)--History--20th centurySilk industry--Massachusetts--NorthamptonStrikes and lockouts--Massachusetts--EasthamptonTextile workers--Labor unions--Massachusetts--NorthamptonTremont Silk Company

Contributors

American Federation of Hosiery WorkersUnited Elastic CorporationUnited Textile Workers of America

Types of material

Fliers
Butler, Mills, Smith & Barker

Butler, Mills, Smith, and Barker Daybook

1837-1845
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 183 bd

Daybook listing financial transactions of Butler, Mills, Smith and Barker Woolen Mill, a small woolen manufactory in Williamstown, Massachusetts owned by Henry Mills, Silas Butler, Asa Barker and Ebenezer Smith.

Accounts provide detailed information regarding costs of commodities, labor, and boarding in the town and document the impact of a small factory on the local economy where residents sold soap, oil, and wool to the mill, boarded its workers, took in weaving and hauled freight for the business. Includes mixed personal and business expenses, information about employees and production in the two woolen mills in town, and information concerning the cost of commodities, labor, and boarding workers in the town.

Subjects

Woolen and worsted manufacture--Massachusetts--Williamstown

Contributors

Barker, AsaButler, Mills, Smith, and BarkerButler, Silas, d. 1841Mills, Henry, b. 1810Smith, Ebenezer

Types of material

Daybooks
Calin, Roswell A.

Roswell A. Calin Collection

1907-193 Bulk: 1918-1919
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1086
Depiction of Roswell A. Calin in uniform, 1918
Roswell A. Calin in uniform, 1918

Shortly before his twentieth birthday in 1918, Roswell “Ross” Calin joined the 44th Coast Artillery Corps and was sent overseas for service. Arriving in France in August 1918, Calin took part in the St. Mihiel offensive and was wounded in action. He returned to his home in Providence, R.I., early in 1919 and was active in veterans’ organizations for years, including serving as Rhode Island State Adjutant of the Disabled American Veterans in the mid-1920s.

The Calin collection consists of two scrapbook “volumes,” now disbound, assembled by Ross Calin to document his experience in the First World War. Labeled a “memoir,” the volumes consist primarily of photographs and postcards (including many real photo postcards) depicting American troops in the field, war damage, and sites visited by Calin in France. Also included are a selection of medals received by Calin, including a Victory Medal with St. Mihiel clasp, and some newspaper clippings, primarily from the post-war years.

Gift of Ed and Libby Klekowski, May 2018.

Subjects

United States. Army. Coast Artillery Corps. Regiment, 44thWorld War, 1914-1918

Types of material

MedalsPhotographic postcardsPhotographsPostcards
Calkins, David

David and Marshall Calkins Account Books

1848-1855
3 vols. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 178

Brothers from Wilbraham, Mass., David and Marshall Calkins received medical degrees together at the Worcester Medical Institution in 1848. Although David died at the age of 31 in 1855 while just beginning a career, Marshall went on to build a considerable reputation in medicine, working with the Springfield City Hospital for many years and teaching at the University of Vermont.

Kept during the Calkins brothers’ years in Monson, Mass., the three daybooks that comprise this collection list patients treated and their origin or race, along with medical class notes, services provided, remedies, and forms of pay, including bartering for goods. Also included is an account of a stay in Wilbraham.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Monson (Mass.)--History--19th centuryPhysicians--Massachusetts--Monson

Contributors

Calkins, DavidCalkins, Marshall

Types of material

Account books
Cambodian Crisis Committee

Cambodian Crisis Committee Records

1982-1990
17 boxes 26 linear feet
Call no.: MS 361

In 1979 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia removing the Khmer Rouge from power and ending the four year reign of a regime responsible for the deaths of more than a million people. In the upheaval surrounding the invasion hundreds of thousands of Cambodians fled to nearby Thailand. From camps along the border of Thailand and Cambodia 150,000 Cambodian refugees eventually resettled in the U.S.

The Cambodian Crisis Committee in Amherst, Massachusetts worked to educate Americans about the situation of the refugees, as well as help Cambodian families reunite. Elaine Kenseth Abel, a member of the Family Reunification Advocacy Project, received numerous letters from Cambodian refugees in the U.S. seeking assistance in getting their family members out of Thailand. The collection consists of case files, correspondence, and photographs documenting Cambodian refugees and their American advocates reunite families. The collection also includes newsletters and correspondence from other advocacy groups like the Cambodian Crisis Committee throughout the U.S.

Subjects

Cambodians--Massachusetts--AmherstPolitical refugees--United StatesRefugees--Cambodia

Contributors

Cambodian Crisis CommitteeKenseth-Abel, Elaine
Cambodian New Year

Cambodian New Year Celebration Collection

1986
1 box 1.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 114
Depiction of At home, photo by Cham Nan Koy, 1982
At home, photo by Cham Nan Koy, 1982

Organized by UMass anthropology professor Joel Halpern, the images in this collection were put on display during the Cambodian New Year celebration in 1986. As part of the celebration, members of the large community of Cambodian refugees who have resettled in Amherst were recognized.

The collection consists of photographs as well as programs, correspondence, and financial records pertaining to the Cambodian-Americans in Amherst New Year’s Day Celebration and Exhibit of 1986.

Subjects

Amherst (Mass.)--Social life and customsCambodian AmericansPolitical refugees--United StatesRefugees--Cambodia

Contributors

Halpern, Joel M. (Joel Martin), 1929-

Types of material

Photographs
Cambridge Central Labor Union

Cambridge Central Labor Union Minute book

1926-1932
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 482 bd

The Central Labor Union was active in the Boston and Cambridge area as early as the 1870s, and by the turn of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Central Labor Union was a thriving organization. Active in many of the significant labor campaigns of the day, including the struggle for an eight hour day, the regulation of child labor, and the fight for collective bargaining, the Cambridge Central Labor Union was said in the late 1930s to represent nearly 30,000 workers in the city.

The minutes of the Cambridge Central Labor Union document the day to day operations of a union representing a cross-section of trades in the city of Cambridge, its relations to other organized labor groups, and the impact of the Depression of 1929 on working people in Massachusetts.

Subjects

Cambridge (Mass.)--History--20th centuryLabor unions--Massachusetts--Cambridge

Types of material

Minute books