Composer and professor of music, University of Iowa and University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Correspondence, scores and parts for instrumental and vocal compositions, sound recordings, programs and posters for performances of Bezanson’s works (1951-1980), sound recordings and other papers relating to development, performance, and publication of Bezanson’s compositions. Includes papers related to the development of the opera Golden Child, broadcast on national television and written in collaboration with Paul Engle; and score of the opera Stranger in Eden, with libretto by William R. Reardon.

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and professional correspondence; administrative and teaching records; research data; manuscripts of published and unpublished speeches, articles and books; photographs; and Bond family papers, especially those of Horace Bond’s father, James Bond.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.

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.

Broadside 6

A significant African American poet of the generation of the 1960s, Dudley Randall was an even more significant publisher of emerging African American poets and writers. Publishing works by important writers from Gwendolyn Brooks to Haki Madhubuti, Alice Walker, Etheridge Knight, Audre Lorde, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez, his Broadside Press in Detroit became an important contributor to the Black Arts Movement.

The Broadside Press Collection includes approximately 200 titles published by Randall’s press during its first decade of operation, the period of its most profound cultural influence. The printed works are divided into five series, Broadside poets (including chapbooks, books of poetry, and posters), anthologies, children’s books, the Broadside Critics Series (works of literary criticism by African American authors), and the Broadsides Series. . The collection also includes a selection of items used in promoting Broadside Press publications, including a broken run of the irregularly published Broadside News, press releases, catalogs, and fliers and advertising cards.

Settled in 1660 and incorporated in 1718, the town of Brookfield (Worcester County) straddles the Boston Post Road, one of the major arteries during the colonial period connecting Boston with the towns of the Connecticut River Valley and New York.

This assemblage of documents from the town of Brookfield consists primarily of warrants for town meetings, many with agendas, issued through the local constable. Concentrated in the 1770s, these warrants provide relatively detailed information on matters of local importance, including town finances, tax assessments, contributions to the poor house, roadways, and property disputes. During the Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary years, however, issues of interest to the town were often wrapped up in regional or national political issues. Town freeholders, for example, were called to consider requests to “come into any Vote or Resolve Respecting the East India Company Tea,” the encouragement of manufacture of firearms, smallpox inoculation, and pay for the town’s Minute Men.

Brotherhood of the Spirit, 1968-1973

	Michael Metelica at the treehouse: Leyden, Mass., 1968. (Ref. no. car1)
	The treehouse: Blueberry Hill, Leyden, 1968. (Ref. no. car2)
	The Treehouse Gang, Leyden 1968: (L – R) top: Dale Sluter, Chris Garland, Doug Edson, Jim Kolokowski, Eddie Evans, Brian Smith on shoulders, Jim Sullivan. Bottom: Wayne Duda, Gene Lewis (Cricket), Tom Howes. (Ref. no. car3)
	The Founding Mothers, 1969: Micky Shean (?) and baby, Heidi Bushell, Laurel Artus holding Leah Artus, Wendy Crowell. (Ref. no. car4)
	Meditation at Beth Hapgood’ s home at 88 Main St, Northfield, Mass. 1969. (Ref. no. car5)
	Elwood Babbitt, 1970. (Ref. no. car6) Photo by: Gary Cohen
	Heidi Bushell and Michael Metelica reading Lopsang Rampa, early source of spiritual inspiration. Leyden, 1968. (Ref. no. car7)
	Winter scene. Chris Garland, Michael Metelica, unidentified, Dale Sluter, Jim Kolokowski. Heath, 1969. (Ref. no. car8)
	Maple sugaring, Charlemont, Mass. 1969. Gene (Cricket) Lewis, Eddie, Michael. (Ref. no. car9)
	Maple sugaring, Charlemont, 1969. Various visitors and members. (Ref. no. car10)
	Heath, Mass. 1969,. Far left, Nate Tilton and Steve Wolfson. Band is early forerunner to in Flesh. (Ref. no. car11)
	Warwick, Mass. Summer of 1970, photo from Greenfield Recorder newspaper in foreground is Susan Meyer and Jeff Lister. (Ref. no. car12)
	Warwick group shot, summer 1970. Publication unknown. (Ref. no. car13)
	“LOOK” magazine photo. Taken July 1970, published December 1970. (Ref. no. car14)
	Spiritual Graffiti, Warwick main house, 1970-71. Such spontaneously inspired writingswere common during the Warwick era. (Ref. no. car15)
	Concert at St. James Church, Greenfield, Mass. 1970. Robert Hincks and Michael Metelica. This church was one of the few local ones that was welcoming to the Brotherhood and hosted many events and weddings during this period. (Ref. no. car16)
	Members listening to Spirit in Flesh rehearse at Warwick Studio. Note looks of ecstasy on individual faces. Top; Vicki Locatelli, unidentified, Steve Abrahamson, John Pollard, unidentified. Middle; Jacquie Metelica, Mark Alvin, Brian McCue. Bottom; Jackie Odess, Annette Laufe. (Ref. no. car17) Photo by: Gary Cohen
	Summer invasion of visitors, sometimes several hundred a day. Summer of 1970, Warwick. Garden between house and future Dorm. (Ref. no. car18)
	the “PM Tent”. Warwick, summer 1970. This huge plastic tent housed “Prospective Members” who went through a two-week trial period before begin voted on for membership. The PM tent was also notorious for forbidden (and frequent) amorous activity between members and PM’s. (Ref. no. car19)
	Temporary Encampment, Guilford, VT. Summer 1970. Overwhelmed by visitors, long-term members set up a temporary retreat in the wilds of Guilford, near the Johnson’s Pasture commune. (Ref. no. car20)
	Wedding at Warwick, July 1970, Michael playing guitar with Donna Braden (R). (Ref. no. car21)
	“Commune Gothic” Summer 1970. Heidi Bushell and Mike McCarty. (Ref. no. car22)
	The Logging Crew, Winter 1970-71. Carol and Eddie Evans, Mitch Sieser, Greg Fitzgerald, Nate Tilton in back. Crew leader, Geoff, “Gurf” Nuckols in front. (Ref. no. car23)
	Warwick Kitchen, 1972. Meg, “Nutmeg” Rich stirring dinner, probably brown rice, squash or mashed potatoes. (Ref. no. car24)
	Breakfast in Warwick 1971. Mark Alvin (foreground) shares a moment with Rita Raymond. Deborah Starobin looks on. (Ref. no. car25)

Microfilm containing documents drawn from various repositories including John Brown’s correspondence with family, friends, and others; court records and testimony; transcripts of interviews and other personal reminiscences; drafts of narratives; memorandum book; drafts of speeches; church records; minutes of Anti-slavery Society of Lawrence, Kansas; financial and legal records; broadsides and circulars; newspaper clippings; other miscellaneous records.

Katherine and Kenneth Irey

Born in 1908 to Louis and Sarah Kessel Burgett, Katherine grew up on the family farm outside of Oquawka, Illinois. In 1924 her parents purchased their own farm in Monmouth, which they later lost due to the devastating impact of the Depression on agriculture, and it was there that she first met her future husband, Kenneth Monroe Irey, a student at Monmouth College. The newlyweds moved to New Jersey in 1931 where Kenneth was transferred for work. As a chemical engineer, Kenneth enjoyed a successful career and comfortably supported his wife and two children. Retiring in 1970, he and Katherine spent their later years pursuing two passions: traveling and bird-watching. Kenneth and Katherine’s eldest daughter, June Irey Guild, spent most of her adult life in Massachusetts where she has married twice, raised six children, and operated her own business. During her retirement years, June focused on preserving her family’s history by collecting letters and recoding family narratives.

The Burgett-Irey Family Papers chronicle the changes that many twentieth-century American families experienced as the nation descended into an economic depression, entered into a world war, and emerged as one of the most powerful countries in the world. The collection, which will continue to grow, includes approximately 65 letters between Katherine Burgett Irey and her family. Most of the letters exchange family updates, particularly precious after Katherine relocated to New Jersey. Among the earliest letters is an account of Katherine and Kenneth’s first meeting described as “fast work,” since he asked her out on the spot. Also included are autobiographical writings by Kenneth describing his cross-country trip to California in 1927 and a brief history of his life and career.