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

Massachusetts Federation of Business and Professional Women

Massachusetts Federation of Business and Professional Women Records

1925-1992
25 boxes 36.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 394

First called for in 1918 as a result of the need for a coordinated women’s effort during World War I, the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs was not officially formed until just after the armistice was signed in 1919. The new organization did not die with the end of the war, however, as first expected. Instead the group determined that the need for a national business women’s organization was of equal or greater importance during a time of peace. Today Massachusetts state affiliates continue to improve the lives of working women through action on issues such as economic empowerment, women’s health, family and medical leave, and pay equity.

The records of the Massachusetts Federation of Business and Professional Women consist chiefly of correspondence and minutes of meetings, which together chronicle the various issues the state club has worked on for more than sixty years. In addition to materials that document the efforts of the state affiliate there are also records for local chapters in Massachusetts (Hampshire County and Upper Cape Cod centered in Falmouth) which include annual reports and newsletters. Publications issued by the parent organization, BPW/USA, connect the national agenda with topics of importance to the state and local chapters.

Subjects

Businesswomen--MassachusettsWomen--MassachusettsWomen--Societies and clubs--History

Contributors

Business and Professional Women/USAMassachusetts Federation of Business and Professional Women
Massachusetts Federation of Polish Women's Clubs

Massachusetts Federation of Polish Women's Clubs Records

1949-1995
3 boxes 1.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 465

The Massachusetts Federation of Polish Women’s Clubs was formed in 1931 when Kolo Polek of Boston and Mrs. Frances Siluk as President hosted delegates representing 26 Polish women’s organizations in Massachusetts. The group’s object was to unite women’s clubs in the state whose members were of Polish birth or descent for civic, cultural, and educational purposes, and to foster an understanding of Polish culture.

The collection includes the organization’s newsletters and convention programs from the late 1940s through the mid 1990s.

Subjects

Polish Americans--MassachusettsWomen--Massachusetts--Societies and clubs

Contributors

Massachusetts Federation of Polish Women's Clubs
Massachusetts Governmental Activities Exposition

Massachusetts Governmental Activities Exposition Photograph Album

1930
88 images 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: PH 043
Depiction of Library exhibit
Library exhibit

To celebrate its tercentenary in 1930, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts organized over two thousand events in 253 communities, drawing over eleven million visitors. One of the most elaborate of these events was the Exposition of Governmental Activities held at the Commonwealth Armory in Boston between September 29 and October 11. A celebration more of contemporary governmental activity than the historical precedents, the exposition featured displays representing nearly every branch of government, from the Department of Education to the state police, mental and public health, public welfare, transportation, agriculture, labor, and industry.

P.E. (Paul) Genereux (1892-1977), a commercial photographer from East Lynn, was hired to document the exhibits and displays in the Exposition of Governmental Activities, producing commemorative albums containing silver gelatin prints, carefully numbered and backed on linen. This disbound album includes 88 of the original 175 prints, including interior and exterior shots, with an additional image by Hildebrand.

Subjects

Massachusetts Governmental Activities Exposition--PhotographsMassachusetts--Centennial celebrations, etc.

Contributors

Genereux, P. E.

Types of material

Photographs
Massachusetts Indian Association. Stockbridge Auxilliary

Massachusetts Indian Association Stockbridge Auxiliary Records

1886-1909
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 151 bd

The Stockbridge Auxilliary of the Massachusetts Indian Association was formed by prominent local women in western Berkshire County who sought to aid in educational and missionary work for and among Indians, and to “abolish all oppression of Indians within our national limits.”

Records include minutes that document the group’s committees, meetings, dues, and contributions to Indians on reservations nation-wide, accounts, membership lists, and a letter.

Subjects

Indians of North America--Arizona--Social conditionsIndians of North America--Government relations--HistoryIndians of North America--Missions--HistoryIndians of North America--Social conditionsIndians, Treatment of--United States--HistoryLake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the IndianLake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the Indian and Other Dependent PeoplesStockbridge Indians--Social conditions

Contributors

Carter, Henry JMassachusetts Indian Association. Stockbridge Auxiliary
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Records

1966-1993 Bulk: 1975-1985
3 boxes 3.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 889

Founded in 1968, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is a statewide non-profit poverty law and policy center. Their mission is to advance economic, racial, and social justice through legal action, education, and advocacy, specializing in large-scale impact litigation and policy reforms in a wide range of poverty law fields. The MLRI Housing Unit was involved in several cases attempting to protect low-income and minority housing in urban settings in Massachusetts in the 1980s. In a 1982 case, Olga Ramos et al. v. Ernest Proulx et al., nine minority residents of Holyoke and two Hispanic non-profit service agencies sued Mayor Proulx and the City of Holyoke for discriminatory practices related to disproportionately demolishing housing in low income and minority neighborhoods. In Boston, MLRI joined as council for the plaintiffs in a 1981 case, Viviana Munoz-Mendoza, et al. v. Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., et al., where South End residents sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), claiming federal funds were being used to racially desegregate their neighborhood when a HUD grant for the Copley Place development did not make a thorough study of the impact on residential integration or address a long standing desire for low-income housing on an adjacent site known as Tent City.

The MLRI Records consist of legal records, memos, correspondence, and strategy related to litigation for fair housing practice in the Holyoke and Boston cases, Ramos v. Proulx and Munoz-Mendoza v. Pierce. Newspaper clippings, city statistics and reports, and other documents stemming from the discovery portions of the cases are also abundant.

Subjects

Boston (Mass.)--HistoryDiscrimination in housing--Law and legislationHolyoke (Mass.)--HistoryHousing--Law and legislation

Types of material

Legal documents
Massachusetts Public Information Research Group (MassPIRG)

Massachusetts Public Information Research Group Records

1972-1989
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 054

A non-profit, nonpartisan organization, MassPIRG is an advocate for the public interest in Massachusetts. Taking a stand on issues like public health, political corruption, consumer protection, and voting rights, MassPIRG uses the combined power of research, the media, grassroots organizing, and advocacy to initiate change that will improve the lives of citizens of the state.

Records of MassPIRG include reports on topics of research and investigation, issues of their publication, MassPIRG Reports, and documents relating to the establishment of Western Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (WMPIRG) on the UMass Amherst campus in 1972.

Subjects

Massachusetts--Politics and government--1951-

Contributors

Massachusetts Public Information Research Group
Massachusetts Review

Massachusetts Review Records

1959-2013
49 boxes 73 linear feet
Call no.: MS 555

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

The Massachusetts Review is an independent quarterly of literature, the arts, and public affairs. Co-founded by Jules Chametzky and Sidney Kaplan in 1959 to promote eclectic, nontraditional, and underrepresented literary and intellectual talent, the Review has been an important venue for African American, Native American, and feminist writers and poets, mixing new and established authors.
The records of the Massachusetts Review document the history and operations of the magazine from its founding to the present, including general correspondence and nearly complete editorial files for published works. The collection also includes a small number of audio recordings of MR2, a radio show hosted by Review editor David Lenson with interviews of writers, artists, and cultural critics.

Subjects

Criticism--20th century--PeriodicalsLiterature--20th century--PeriodicalsPoetry--20th century--Periodicals

Contributors

Abramson, Doris EChametzky, JulesMassachusetts Review
Massachusetts State Building & Construction Trades Council

Massachusetts State Building and Construction Trades Council Collection

1959-1972
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 327

An advocate for unionized construction workers in the state, the Massachusetts State Building and Construction Trades Council collection consists chiefly of conference proceedings.

Subjects

Construction workers--Labor unions--MassachusettsLabor unions--Massachusetts

Contributors

Massachusetts State Building and Construction Trades Council
Massachusetts State College Glee Club

Massachusetts State College Glee Club

ca.1935
1 sound recording (78 rpm)
Call no.: RG 185/1

The Massachusetts State College Glee Club recorded ten songs onto 78 r.p.m. disk in the mid-1930s. One of the few early recordings of the group, the recording includes the Massachusetts State College alma mater, fight songs, and other typical collegiate fare.

Subjects

Massachusetts State College--StudentsMen’s choral societies--Massachusetts

Contributors

Massachusetts State College. Glee Club

Types of material

Sound recordings
Massachusetts State Employees Association. University of Massachusetts Chapter

MSEA University of Massachusetts Chapter Records

1955-1978
10 boxes 4.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 049

The Massachusetts State Employees’ Association (MSEA) was founded in 1943 to protest proposed changes in the state employees’ retirement system. By 1969, the group had become the exclusive bargaining agent for the University’s administrative, clerical, and technical employees.

This small collection includes the constitution and by-laws of the MSEA along with Executive Board and general body minutes, correspondence, contracts, legislative materials, grievance records, hearing transcripts and decisions pertaining to job reallocations, subject files, newsletters, and press releases that document the UMass chapter of the Massachusetts State Employees’ Association from 1955 to 1978.

Subjects

Collective labor agreements--Education, Higher--Massachusetts--AmherstLabor unions--MassachusettsUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst