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Brotherhood of the Spirit (part 9)

Bestor, Charles

Charles Bestor Papers, 1971-2002.
2 boxes (0.75 linear feet).

Composer and presently the Professor of Composition and Director of the Electronic and Computer Music Studios of the University of Massachusetts Amherst who has taught at Juilliard School of Music and numerous other universities, won international awards for his music, and collaborated with contemporary installation artists. Includes scores and sound recordings for two of his compositions, Suite for Alto Saxophone and Percussion and In the Shell of the Ear, as well as correspondence, concert programs, and reviews all relating to the publication and performance of the works.

Subjects
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Music and Dance
Contributors
  • Bestor, Charles
Call no.: FS 035
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Bleyman, Lea K.

Lea K. Bleyman Papers, 1958-2004.
2 boxes (3 linear feet).

The protistologist Lea Bleyman has conducted research into the genetics, mating systems, and life cycles of ciliates. A former student of Tracy Sonneborn, Bleyman has served as past Secretary and President (2001-2002) of the Society of Protozoologists, and spent many years on the faculty of the Department of Natural Sciences at Baruch College.

The Bleyman Papers contain lab and research notes, abstracts of talks and conference materials, along with some correspondence and annual progress reports from Baruch College. The earliest materials in the collection relate to her years as a student in Sonneborn’s lab.

Subjects
  • Baruch College--Faculty
  • Paramecium--Genetics
  • Protozoans--Composition
  • Protozoans--Genetics
  • Protozoology--Conference
  • Society of Protozoologists
  • Tetrahymena--Genetics
Contributors
  • Bleyman, Lea K
  • Nanney, David Ledbetter, 1925-
  • Sonneborn, Tracy Morton, 1905-1981
Types of material
  • Laboratory notes
Call no.: MS 548
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Bond, Horace Mann, 1904-1972

Horace Mann Bond Papers, 1830-1979.
169 boxes (84.5 linear feet).

Horace Mann Bond, ca.1930
Horace Mann Bond, ca.1930

Educator, sociologist, scholar, and author. Includes personal and professional correspondence; administrative and teaching records; research data; manuscripts of published and unpublished speeches, articles and books; photographs; and Bond family papers, especially those of Horace Bond’s father, James Bond. Fully represented are Bond’s two major interests: black education, especially its history and sociological aspects, and Africa, particularly as related to educational and political conditions.

Correspondents include many notable African American educators, Africanists, activists, authors and others, such as Albert C. Barnes, Claude A. Barnett, Mary McLeod Bethune, Arna Bontemps, Ralph Bunche, Rufus Clement, J.G. St. Clair Drake, W.E.B. Du Bois, Edwin Embree, John Hope Franklin, E. Franklin Frazier, W.C. Handy, Thurgood Marshall, Benjamin E. Mays, Pauli Murray, Kwame Nkrumah, Robert Ezra Park, A. Phillip Randolph, Lawrence P. Reddick, A.A. Schomburg, George Shepperson, Carter G. Woodson and Monroe Work.

Subjects
  • Africa--Description and travel
  • African American educators
  • African Americans--Education--History--20th century
  • American Society of African Culture
  • Atlanta University
  • Dillard University
  • Fort Valley State College
  • International African American Corporation
  • Julius Rosenwald Fund
  • Lincoln University
  • Race relations--United States
Contributors
  • Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951
  • Bond, Horace Mann, 1904-1972
  • Bond, James, 1863-1929
  • Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963
  • Nkrumah, Kwame, 1909-1972
Types of material
  • Photographs
Call no.: MS 411
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Brann, Vincent

Vincent Brann Papers, ca.1917-2005.
(7.5 linear feet).

Vincent Clinton Brann was a Professor of Dramaturgy and Directing at UMass Amherst. Born Feb. 19, 1927 in Knoxville, Iowa, Brann served in the United States Army during WWII. After completing his B.A. at the University of Iowa in 1950 he was again called to serve in the Army during the Korean Conflict (1950-1951). Brann held faculty positions at Carnegie Institute of Technology, University of Maryland Overseas Program Europe, and Smith College before joining the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Speech Department in 1964. Brann remained in the Speech Department until 1972 when it became the Department of Theater; he continued to teach in the Department of Theater until his retirement in 1988. Brann was well-known for his oral interpretation and performance classes as well as his productions and original scripts. At the time of his death in 2007 he was Professor Emeritus of Dramaturgy and Directing.

The Brann Papers are a collection of genealogical materials dating to the early 20th century, correspondence, family and travel photographs (particularly of Spain and France), play scripts with director’s notes, musical theater scores, and Brann’s college yearbooks.

Subjects
  • Brann family
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Speech
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Theater
Contributors
  • Brann, Vincent
Call no.: FS 094

Brauner, Sigrid, 1950-1992

Sigrid Brauner Papers, 1969-1992.
11 boxes (16.5 linear feet).

Sigrid Brauner was born in Hofheim, Germany, earning her BA from the University of Frankfurt before immigrating to the United States. Brauner completed her PhD in German literature at the University of California Berkeley in 1989 and later the same year joined the faculty at UMass Amherst in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature. Brauner, who served on the executive committee of the Women’s Studies Program, remained at UMass until her death in December 1992.

The papers reflect Sigrid Brauner’s interest in race and gender as well as her research in anthropology and theology. “Witches: Myth and Reality,” the popular course Brauner taught during the fall 1992 semester, is represented in the collection along with other notes for research and teaching. Professional correspondence as well as political and social change periodicals comprise the remainder of the Brauner Papers. A fair portion of the collection is in German.

Subjects
  • Social change--Periodicals
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
Contributors
  • Brauner, Sigrid, 1950-1992
Call no.: FS 123

Braunthal, Gerard, 1923-

Gerard Braunthal Papers, 1958-1894.
6 boxes (7.25 linear feet).

Gerard Braunthal
Gerard Braunthal

Born in Germany in 1923, Gerard Braunthal was a scholar of German politics and taught as a professor in the Political Science department from 1954. Before receiving his B.A. from Queens College in 1947, Braunthal served in intelligence during World War II, going on to receive his M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1948 and Ph.D from Columbia University in 1953. While studying at Columbia, Braunthal worked as an interviewer for US Air Force intelligence. An expert on the German Social Democratic party (SPD), Braunthal published extensively on modern German politics. His work on the subject was well regarded in Germany as well as the United States. In parallel to his academic research, Braunthal was also an anti-war and anti-nuclear activist, serving on the executive committees of both the Valley Peace Center and the Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX). Braunthal received the Order of Merit from the German government.

The collection includes Braunthal’s correspondence, article manuscripts and research materials, as well as pamphlets, form-letters, and broadsides relating to anti-Vietnam war activism, interspersed with a small amount of personal correspondence from his own antiwar activities. Among his research materials is a collection of interview transcripts with members of the Federation of German Industry (BDI). There is also a significant collection of documents from his involvement with local activist groups, which includes minutes, form-letters, reports, conference proceedings, and leaflets.

Subjects
  • Peace movements--Massachusetts--Amherst
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Political Science
  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Contributors
  • Braunthal, Gerard, 1923-
Call no.: FS 013

Brinley Family

Brinley Family Papers, 1643-1950.
(4.75 linear feet).

A prosperous family of merchants and landowners, the Brinleys were well ensconced among the social and political elite of colonial New England. Connected by marriage to other elite families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts — the Auchmutys, Craddocks, and Tyngs among them — the Brinleys were refined, highly educated, public spirited, and most often business-minded. Although many members of the family remained loyal to the British cause during the Revolution, the family retained their high social standing in the years following.

The Brinley collection includes business letters, legal and business records, wills, a fragment of a diary, documents relating to slaves, newspaper clippings, and a small number of paintings and artifacts. A descendent, Nancy Brinley, contributed a quantity of genealogical research notes and photocopies of Brinley family documents from other repositories. Of particular note in the collection is a fine nineteenth century copy of a John Smibert portrait of Deborah Brinley (1719), an elegant silver tray passed through the generations, and is a 1713 list of the library of Francis Brinley, which offers a foreshadowing of the remarkable book collection put together in the later nineteenth century by his descendant George Brinley.

Subjects
  • American loyalists--Massachusetts
  • Book collectors--United States--History--19th century
  • Brinley family
  • Brinley, George, 1817-1875--Library
  • Businessmen--Massachusetts--History
  • Businessmen--Rhode Island--History
  • Craddock family
  • Landowners--Massachusetts--History
  • Landowners--Rhode Island--History
  • Libraries--Rhode Island--18th century
  • Massachusetts--Economic conditions--18th century
  • Massachusetts--Politics and government--19th century
  • Rhode Island--Economic conditions--18th century
  • Rhode Island--Genealogy
  • Rhode Island--Politics and government--19th century
  • Slavery--United States--History
  • Tyng family
  • United Empire Loyalists
Types of material
  • Deeds
  • Realia
Call no.: MS 161
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Brotherhood of the Spirit

Brotherhood of the Spirit Documentary, ca.1973.
15.24 minutes

Beginning in a treehouse in Leyden, Mass., during the summer of 1968, the Brotherhood of the Spirit (later the Renaissance Community) grew to become the largest commune in the eastern United States. Founded by Michael Metelica and six friends, and infused with the spiritual teachings of Elwood Babbitt, the commune relocated several times during its first half decade, setting down at different points in Heath, Charlemont, Warwick, Turners Falls, and Gill, Mass., as well as Guilford, Vt.

Produced at UMass Amherst, this video (digitized from a 16mm motion picture original) provides a largely laudatory glimpse of commune life during the boom years of the Brotherhood of the Spirit, probably around 1973. Sound quality in the video is highly uneven, often poor, particularly in the first two minutes.

Subjects
  • Brotherhood of the Spirit
  • Communal living--Massachusetts
  • Metelica, Michael
Types of material
  • Motion pictures (Visual works)
Call no.: Video

Brotherhood of the Spirit (part 9)

Spirit in Flesh concert at JFK Auditorium, Manchester, NH, August, 1972. Ref no. bin151)
Photo by: Gary Cohen
Temporary Encampment, Guilford, VT. Summer 1970. (Ref. no. bin152)
Wedding of Tom and Sandra Howes, Warwick, 1970. (Ref. no. bin153)
Thea “Lumpy” Alvin, Phaedre, “Sadie” Alvin, Devin Sellers. Warwick, 1972. (Ref. no. bin154)
Doug Edson and Laurel Sluter during septic system project. Warwick, 1972. (Ref. no. bin155)
Meditation. Rocco Zappia, Nick Carson, Ronnie Sellers. Blueberry Hill, 1971. (Ref. no. bin156)
Photo by: Gary Cohen
(Ref. no. bin157)
Photo by: Gary Cohen
(Ref. no. bin158)
Wedding of Chris and Wendy Garland. Charlemont, 1969. (Ref. no. bin159)
Eddie Evans and son Jamey, 1972. (Ref. no. bin160)
Jason Garland and Dan Pritchett, 1971. (Ref. no. bin161)
Interior of 88 Main St. house, the first youth hostel in the United States. Northfield, 1971. (Ref. no. bin162)
(Ref. no. bin163)
Photo by: Gary Cohen
(Ref. no. bin164)

Photo by: Gary Cohen
Marlene Schneider, Glenn Hutchinson, unidentified child, 1972. (Ref. no. bin165)
Bruce Geisler, Brian McCue. McCue II, Greenfield, 1971. (Ref. no. bin166)
Geoff Nuchols. Warwick, 1970. (Ref. no. bin167)
Brenda Scanlon with daughter, Sara. Warwick, 1970. (Ref. no. bin168)
“Save the World with Spirit in Flesh” parade ending with rally at office of Metromedia Records. New York City, July 1971. (Ref. no. bin169)
Gary Cohen, 1971. (Ref. no. bin170)
Gary Hand, Andy Baer, David Stackhouse, 1972. (Ref. no. bin171)
Steven Heimoff, Betsy Shapiro. Warwick, 1971. (Ref. no. bin172)
Wedding of Tom and Sandra Howes, Warwick, 1970. (Ref. no. bin173)
Spirit in Flesh traveling postering crew. Top row: Gary Hand, Richie Chapman, Mitch Sieser, Randy Kleinrock Bottom row: Michael McCarty, Andy Crystal, John Charmella. San Francisco, 1971. (Ref. no. bin174)
Nate Tilton, 1971. (Ref. no. bin175)
Painted Spirit in Flesh speaker cabinet, 1972. (Ref. no. bin176)
Photo by: Gary Cohen
Free Spirit Press rainbow bus, 1972. (Ref. no. bin177)
Annette Laufe and Patty Smith in van, 1971. (Ref. no. bin178)
Wedding of Carol “Chi-Chi” and Nick Carson, 1972. (Ref. no. bin179)

Brown, Alfred Alexander, 1908-

Alfred Alexander Brown Papers, 1955-1993.
2 boxes (0.75 linear feet).

Before his graduate work at Amherst College and Harvard University, Alfred Brown received both his bachelor’s (1931) and master’s (1933) degrees from Massachusetts State College in animal husbandry and agricultural economics. In 1935, he returned to his alma mater as assistant research professor in Agricultural Economics, earning promotion to full professor in 1948, with a focus on Marketing and Transportation. During World War II, Brown served as a transportation economist with the War Food Administration and as a consultant for the Office of Defense Transportation. Although Brown retired from teaching in 1972, he continued to work as a consultant for the United States Department of Transportation in Africa until his death in 2000.

The Brown Papers include published and unpublished transportation writings, correspondence, biographical and personal notes as well as notes for research and teaching, newsclippings, motion picture films, and slides. Also included among the papers are files related to Brown’s university service, including the Alumni War Memorial Fund, the University Centennial Committee, and the Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa.

Subjects
  • Massachusetts State College--Faculty
  • Massachusetts State College. Department of Agricultural Economics
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Agricultural Economics
Contributors
  • Brown, Alfred Alexander, 1908-
Call no.: FS 043
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