In 1906, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a law supporting the development of agricultural teaching in elementary schools in the Commonwealth, and in the following year, President Kenyon L. Butterfield, a leader in the rural life movement, organized a separate Department of Agricultural Education at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, introducing training courses for the preparation of teachers of agriculture. The Board of Trustees changed the name of the Department of Agricultural Education to the Department of Education in 1932, which became the School of Education in 1955.

The records of the School of Education group chart the evolution of teacher training at UMass from its agricultural origins to the current broad-based curriculum. Of particular note in the record group are materials the early collection of Teacher Training: Vocational Agriculture materials (1912-1964) and the National School Alternative Programs films and related materials.

Access restrictions: The National School Alternative Program films and related materials are housed off-site and require 24-hour retrieval notification.

In response to an epidemic of scarlet fever at Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1912 and the death of four students, the Massachusetts Legislature finally appropriated funds to construct an infirmary. Staffed initially by a nurse, and later (1930) by a physician, the infirmary had grown sufficiently by the 1940s to require the creation of a separate department of Student Health. Formal instruction in public health began in 1939 and the first public health department, Bacteriology, was created one year later, followed by Nursing and other departments. In 1973, the School of Health Sciences was formed, comprised of the Division of Nursing, the Division of Public Health, and (after 1975), the Department of Communication Disorders. The School of Health Sciences split into the School of Public Health and the School of Nursing in 1989. In 1993, the School was renamed the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, which provides education for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as health professionals.

Record group consists of annual reports; department histories; accreditation reports; correspondence and memoranda; proposals; technical reports; faculty lists; course descriptions, course of study guides and syllabi; training handbooks and laboratory exercises; brochures and fliers; newsclippings, newsletters and articles; surveys; conference materials; and related materials.

Physical education was required of all students during the early years of Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC), enforced through required courses in the Department of Military Science and Tactics. Although intermural competition began shortly thereafter with a loss by the Wilder Baseball Association (Mass Aggies) to Amherst College 57-38, athletics were slow to catch on, due largely to a lack of student interest and faculty opposition. By 1909, a formal department of Physical Education and Hygiene was established to provide fitness training and coordinate the sports teams, with a separate women’s program following in 1940, however unlike most other universities, athletics were de-emphasized at UMass for many years, remaining more or less stagnant until the post-1960 expansion of the University.

This record group consists of annual reports, Athletic Board records, committee meeting minutes, policies, financial statements (1911-1921), histories, handbooks, Varsity “M” Club records, Hall of Fame records, athletic field records, correspondence and memoranda, curriculum and teacher training courses, colloquia and conference materials, schedules and scores (1871-1923), newsletters and newsclippings, media programs and guides, brochures and catalogs, pamphlets and fliers, and related materials.

This record group consists of materials gathered from university offices, units, and centers responsible for admissions, financial aid, and student services (including housing, health and religious services, disability services, academic support, transportation, and campus safety). Included in this record group are the records of Dean of Students, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, United Christian Foundation, Counseling Center Research Reports, Student Affairs Research and Evaluation Office and Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems (SARIS) reports, and Pulse Surveys.

Since the arrival of the first class of students at Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1867, the student body at UMass has grown to over 20,500 undergraduates and nearly 6,000 graduate students.

Record Group 45 includes the collected records of student activities at UMass Amherst, from student publications and organizations (fraternities and sororities, unions, and honorary societies) to records of student government, student protests, and religious and social groups. Also included are class notes and correspondence of some individual students while enrolled in the University.

Most masters theses and dissertations written by UMass Amherst students are available in electronic form through the university’s institutional repository, ScholarWorks (restricted to the UMass community). The Record Group also includes a nearly complete run of undergraduate honors theses.

Established under the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1863, the Massachusetts Agricultural College began with four faculty members and 56 students distributed among four wooden buildings and acres of farms, orchards, and fields. In keeping with the progressive educational principles of its early years, the College offered advanced instruction in the eminently practical pursuit of agriculture, while its fellow land grant college, MIT, covered the mechanical arts. Although “Mass Aggie’s” fortunes waxed and waned, it grew to become Massachusetts State College in 1931, and the University of Massachusetts in 1947.

Among the official publications of the University in Record Group 1 are institutional histories, annual reports, special reports, minutes, directories, catalogs, newsclippings, press releases, and memorabilia.

Helping to fulfill its land grant mission, outreach at UMass Amherst engages the university with the community in economic, social, cultural, environmental, and educational issues. Outreach applies the teaching, research, and knowledge resources of the university with benefit to the public throughout the Commonwealth, nation, and world. The office operates a number of programs, including Continuing & Professional Education, the Extension and Arts Extension Service, the University Without Walls, and WFCR radio.

The records of University Outreach document the initiatives originating with the Vice Chancellor for University Outreach. As a result of the evolution of responsibility for outreach activities, the records of individual programs may be located elsewhere in the archives.

The Vice Chancellor for University Advancement oversees the campus’s Development and Alumni Relations areas and is responsible for operation of the UMass Amherst Foundation and of Advancement Communications, the group that produces the University’s website, UMass Amherst Magazine, and a variety of other print and online publications. Beginning in September 1983, the unit was administered by the Vice-Chancellor for University Relations and Development, which was renamed Vice Chancellor for University Advancement in 1993.

Founded in September 1989, the University Anti-Intervention, Disarmament & Conversion Project was developed by individuals in the UMass Amherst community who wanted to eliminate the university’s dependence on defense research. The purpose of the project was to serve as a resource center for students, faculty, and community activists working to break the link between the nation’s institutions of higher learning and the military industrial complex.

The collection consists of a resource guide created by the group.