Special Collections & University Archives
Colman, William, 1768-1820
W.A. Currier Daybooks, 1865-1869.
2 vols. (0.2 linear feet).
Hardware store merchant, stove dealer, and tinsmith from Haverhill, Massachusetts. Daybooks include documentation of customers, items purchased, prices paid, and transactions relating to Currier’s rag trade.
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Subjects- Adams, George
- Bradford (Haverhill, Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century
- Contractors--Massachusetts--Haverhill--History--19th century
- Daniels, W. F
- Gildea, Peter
- Griffin, Samuel
- Hardware stores--Massachusetts--Haverhill--Finance--History--19th century
- Haverhill (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century
- Kimball, O
- O'Brine, J. W
- Rags--Prices--Massachusetts--Haverhill--History--19th century
- Stacy, W. P
- Stove industry and trade--Massachusetts--Haverhill--History--19th century
- Stoves--Repairing--Massachusetts--Haverhill--History--19th century
- Tinsmiths--Massachusetts--Haverhill--History--19th century
ContributorsTypes of material
Call no.: MS 213
View related collections: Massachusetts (East), Mercantile : : No Comments
Dall Family Correspondence, 1810-1843.
2 boxes (2 linear feet).
Chiefly correspondence from various Dall family members in Boston, Massachusetts, particularly father William Dall, Revolutionary War veteran, merchant, businessman and former Yale College writing master, to sons William and James Dall in Baltimore, Maryland. Letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities of the time.
The correspondence documents the daily changes in the life of a merchant’s family in the early 19th century, reflecting anxiety over trade restrictions, embargoes, and other economic disruptions resulting from the War of 1812. The elder Dall (William 3rd) and much of his family lived in Boston, but two sons lived in Baltimore. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters to the younger son, William 4th, who was then apprenticed to a Baltimore merchant. The letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities.
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Subjects- Baltimore (Md.)--Biography
- Baltimore (Md.)--Economic conditions--19th century
- Boston (Mass.)--Biography
- Boston (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century
- Boston (Mass.)--Intellectual life--19th century
- Boston (Mass.)--Politics and government--19th century
- Dall family
- Family--United States--History--19th century
- Harvard University--Students
- Merchants--Maryland--Baltimore
- Merchants--Massachusetts--Boston
Contributors- Dall, James, 1781-1863
- Dall, John Robert, 1798-1851
- Dall, John, 1791-1852
- Dall, Joseph, 1801-1840
- Dall, Maria, 1783-1836
- Dall, Rebecca Keen
- Dall, Sarah Keen, 1798-1878
- Dall, William, 1753-1829
- Dall, William, 1794 or 5-1875
Call no.: MS 282
View related collections: Family, Massachusetts (East), Mercantile : : No Comments
Luke Drury Papers, 1746-1831.
4 boxes (3 linear feet).
Soldier in Revolutionary War and Shays Rebellion, later a state legislator and local politician from Grafton and Marlboro, Massachusetts. Drury’s papers contain family and business (farm and mill) correspondence, notes of hand, bills, receipts, and legal papers as well as records pertaining to the town of Grafton. Collection also includes papers of Timothy Darling and the Goulding, Place, and Sherman families.
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Subjects- Grafton (Mass.)--History
- Massachusetts--History
- Shays' Rebellion, 1786-1787
Contributors- Darling, Timothy
- Drury, Luke, 1737-1811
- Goulding, Israel
- Sherman, Thankful Temple
Types of material
Call no.: MS 258
View related collections: Family, Massachusetts (Central), Politics & governance : : No Comments
Girls Club of Greenfield Records, 1895-1995.
21 boxes (27 linear feet).
Founded in 1895, the Girls Club of Greenfield provides high quality early care and educational services to the girls of Franklin County, Massachusetts, and advocates for the rights of children and their families. During the school year, the Club offers diverse programming, ranging from an infant room and preschool to after school activities that promote teamwork, community spirit, social skills, and confidence. Since 1958, they have also operated a summer camp, Lion Knoll, in Leyden.
The records of the Girls Club of Greenfield include by-laws, annual reports, reports and meeting minutes of the Board of Directors, correspondence, and ledgers and account books. Also contains program files for daycare, summer camp, education worker programs, and others, personnel records, membership and committee lists, newsletters, press releases, ledgers, account books, scrapbooks, news clippings, photographs, slides, and artifacts.
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Subjects- Girls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Social conditions
- Girls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Social life and customs
- Girls--Massachusetts--Greenfield--Societies and clubs--History
- Greenfield (Mass.)--Social conditions
- Greenfield (Mass.)--Social life and customs
Contributors- Girls Club of Greenfield (Greenfield, Mass.)
Types of material- Account books
- Photographs
- Scrapbooks
Call no.: MS 379
View related collections: Civic organizations, Massachusetts (West), Women : : No Comments
Howes Brothers Photograph Collection, ca. 1882-1907.
1 box (0.5 linear feet).
Alvah, Walter, and George Howes brothers traveled the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts in the last two decades of the 19th century, taking photographs of the residents and documenting the customs, fashions, architecture, industry, technology, and economic conditions of rural New England.
The Howes collection includes 200 study prints selected from 20,000 negatives held by the Ashfield Historical Society.
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SubjectsContributors- Howes, Alvah
- Howes, George
- Howes, Walter
Types of material
Call no.: MS 313
View related collections: Massachusetts (West), New England, Photographs : : No Comments
Kingsbury Family Papers, 1862-2006 (Bulk: 1881-1902).
10 boxes (6 linear feet).
Kingsbury children, ca.1910
The family of Roxana Kingsbury Gould (nee Weed) farmed the rocky soils of western New England during the late nineteenth century. Roxana’s first husband Ambrose died of dysentery shortly after the Civil War, leaving her to care for their two infant sons, and after marrying her second husband, Lyman Gould, she relocated from southwestern Vermont to Cooleyville and then (ten years later) to Shelburne, Massachusetts. The Goulds added a third son to their family in 1869.
A rich collection of letters and photographs recording the history of the Kingsbury-Gould families of Shelburne, Massachusetts. The bulk of the letters are addressed to Roxana Kingsbury Gould, the strong-willed matriarch at the center of the family, and to her granddaughter, May Kingsbury Phillips, the family’s first historian. In addition to documenting the complicated dynamics of a close-knit family, this collection is a rich source for the study of local history, rural New England, and the social and cultural practices at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
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Subjects- Conway (Mass.)--Genealogy
- Kingsbury Family
- Shelburne (Mass.)--Genealogy
- Totman family
Contributors- Drew, Raymond Totman, 1923-1981
- Lewis, Gertrude Minnie, 1896-
- Totman, Conrad D
- Totman, Ruth J
Types of material- Genealogies
- Letters (Correspondence)
- Memoirs
- Photographs
- Tintypes
Call no.: MS 504
View related collections: Family, Farming & rural life, Massachusetts (West), Photographs, Vermont, Women : : No Comments
Rodney Hunt Company Records, ca.1850-1987 (Bulk: 1862-1943).
316 boxes, 150 vols. (158 linear feet).
The Rodney Hunt Company Records document the operation of one of the region’s major producers of textile machinery, water wheels, turbines, and other specialty industrial products. Founded in Orange, Massachusetts, in 1840, the company was incorporated in 1873. Still an active concern, it continues to sell its products in international markets.
Due to a fire in 1882, and several floods, relatively few early records of the Rodney Hunt Company survive, but from the time of its incorporation in 1873, documentation improves, with nearly complete coverage from the period 1883–1914. The collection provides an excellent introduction to the history of technology and industry in 19th- and 20th-century Massachusetts. Of particular note is the incoming correspondence from 1876 to 1903, which is nearly complete. Other materials include company histories, correspondence, board minutes, blueprints, installation drawings, sketchbook drawings, patents, payroll ledgers, account books, price lists, sales books, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, subject files and photographs.
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Subjects- Orange (Mass.)--Economic conditions
- Textile industry--Massachusetts
- Turbines--Design and construction
- Waterwheels
ContributorsTypes of material
Call no.: MS 105
View related collections: Innovation & entrepreneurship, Manufacturing, Massachusetts (West) : : No Comments
Sagendorph Woolen Company Daybook, 1885-1887.
1 vol. (0.25 linear feet).
Daybook contains daily transactions between the Sagendorph Woolen Company of East Brookfield, Massachusetts and other businesses, local residents, and the company’s labor force. These detailed entries present a dynamic picture of the company’s manufacturing operations ranging from the purchase of raw materials to the sales of finished products.
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Subjects- Carding (textiles)
- East Brookfield (Mass.)--History
- Textile construction processes and techniques
- Textile industry--Massachusetts--History
- Textile manufacturers--Massachusetts
- Textile materials
- Yarn-making processes and techniques
Contributors- Sagendorph Woolen Company
Types of material
Call no.: MS 430
View related collections: Manufacturing, Massachusetts (Central) : : Comments Off
Ellen and Mary E. Ware Papers, 1862-1893.
1 box (0.25 linear feet).
The working class women Ellen Ware and her step-daughter Mary E. lived in North Hadley, Massachusetts, during the mid to late nineteenth century.
This collection of letters documents the older generation’s reaction to the draft during the Civil War and the younger generation’s daily activities, including their education, social events, and the growing temperance movement.
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Subjects- Hadley (Mass.)--History--19th century
- United States--History--Civil War, 1851-1865
- Women--Massachusetts
Contributors
Call no.: MS 511
View related collections: Family, Massachusetts (West), Military, Women : : No Comments
League of Women Voters of Amherst Records, 1939-2001.
60 boxes (33 linear feet).
Non-partisan political organization based in Amherst, Massachusetts that influences public policy through education and advocacy by registering voters, organizing candidate forums, publishing voting guides, and disseminating general information on the legislative process and the functioning of government on the local, state, and federal levels.
Includes minutes, annual reports, financial records, publications, extensive files on specific programs, photographs, video- and audio-tapes, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings. Also contains information on two league members who rose to national prominence: Lucy Wilson Benson (Under Secretary of State in the federal government in 1977) and Jane F. Garvey (Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1997).
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Subjects- Amherst (Mass.)--Politics and government
- Education--Massachusetts--Amherst--History
- Housing--Massachusetts--Amherst--History
- Massachusetts--Politics and government--1951-
Contributors- Benson, Lucy Wilson
- Garvey, Jane F
- League of Women Voters of Amherst (Amherst, Mass.)
Types of material- Oral histories
- Photographs
- Scrapbooks
Call no.: MS 296
View related collections: Civic organizations, Massachusetts (West), Oral history, Politics & governance, Women : : No Comments