The Department of Special Collections collects materials of enduring historical and cultural value relating to several thematic areas, including the history of social change; the culture and history of New England; and the history of University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In taking social change as a primary collecting focus, our goal is to move beyond the examination of individual social and political movements to document the connections between and among them, to tell a larger story of social engagement and the experience of social change that cannot be confined to any single idea. Following in the footsteps of W.E.B. Du Bois, we recognize the inherent interconnection of a broad range of issues in social justice and hope to capture the nuance of the organizational, intellectual, and practical connections. A distinguishing feature of the collections at UMass is our effort to collect "whole lives and whole communities," to provide a basis for understanding his or her background, influences, other interests, and the communities in which he or she is involved.

Among the primary focal points of SCUA's collections are:

• Social change and movements for social change
  Emphasizing the cross-fertilization between the peace and antinuclear movements, social and racial justice, agricultural reform, environmentalism, sustainability, labor activism, gay activism, and intentional communities.
• African American history and culture
  The history of race and ethnicity in America, with particular emphasis on the struggle for racial equality and social justice.
• Labor, work, and industry
  Organized labor, industrialization, manufacturing, business history, and the experience and culture of labor and working people.
• Agriculture, horticulture, botany
  Including agricultural science and practice, horticulture, animal husbandry, natural history, organic farming, sustainable living, and heritage breeds.
• Literature and the arts
  Emphasizing poets and writers, playwrights, and the performing arts in New England.
• New England history and culture
  The social, political, cultural, intellectual, literary, and economic life, with an emphasis upon western New England.
• Cold War-era Eastern Europe
  The culture of Cold War Eastern European Countries, with an emphasis upon East Germany, Poland, and Yugoslavia.
• American Study of Japan
  American relations with Japan from the Meiji period to the present.

As the storehouse of memory for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University Archives collects, preserves, and makes available official and non-official records documenting the policies, programs, facilities, and activities of the campus community, its administration, departments and programs, faculty, and staff. The Archives also avidly collects materials that reflect the lives and experiences of its students and alumni.