Archivist for the Congressman Barney Frank Archives Hard at Work

Portrait of Lauren VanDerBerg

Portrait of Lauren VanDerBerg

Four hundred and twenty-six-odd boxes?  No problem for Lauren VanDenBerg, the new archivist for the Congressman Barney Frank Archives at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Hired in May, Lauren has been hard at work all summer processing the collection in order to eventually make it accessible to the public.  This work requires putting considerable thought into how best to organize the Congressman’s papers, leaving his staff’s filing system in place as much as possible. To accomplish this, she first needed to understand how a congressional office works in conjunction with its district offices, and how Frank worked in particular.  She also had to familiarize herself with the Congressman’s career and major issues that he has been known to champion.  She compiled a list of the 797 bills he sponsored over his 32-year career in Congress, which will eventually provide the public with a timeline of his political career and a contextual framework for research within the papers.  Mr. Frank donated his papers to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2013. The project should take approximately two years to complete.

Lauren VanDenBerg received her Master’s in Library and Information Science with a focus on Archives and Special Collections from Kent State University. During her graduate studies, she performed reference services for the photography collection at the Stephen H. Hart Library and Research Center located within the History Colorado Center. She also worked as a student archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division in Denver, Colorado. While there, she processed the historical records of the National Forest Service, the Civilian Conservation Corp, and others. Lastly, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science she collaborated with a team of visual archivists to catalog their backlog of over 30,000 negatives in the 35mm film collection.

Prior to joining the archives staff at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Lauren worked at the Colorado State Archives as a Project Archivist. She was responsible for processing records of various State Legislature committees in preparation for digitization. That project included the records of the 1982 Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee which involved an investigation of corrupt police officials, Cadillacs, and Elvis.

To get in touch with Lauren, send an email to lvandenberg@umassd.edu, call her office at 508-999-8853, or stop by the Congressman Barney Frank Reading Room on the Claire T. Carney Library’s third floor (Room 353), next to the Veterans’ Reading Room.  The room will be open every week during the semester, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

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Tifereth Israel Celebrates Golden Anniversary

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The synagogue and Hebrew school building that Tifereth Israel occupies was dedicated fifty years ago this Sunday, May 22nd. The two week-long dedication ceremony began on May 22, 1966 with a solemn processional led by elders of the congregation, transferring the sacred scrolls of the Torah from the old building to the new. Rabbi Bernard Ziskind and Cantor Charles Freedland led this procession.

On Monday May 23rd, there was a special tribute to local Boy and Girl Scouts, and especially the troops who had been sponsored by Tifereth Israel for the past 34 years. Delegations from other local units participated, and were present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony dedicating Scout Hall. Congressman Hastings Keith presenteMC26_1966_dedication001_1200pxd Tifereth Israel with an American Flag which had flown over the Capitol in Washington, DC. On Tuesday evening almost 600 guests witnessed a confirmation service for children of the Hebrew School.

On May 29th, 1966 the Rabbi Bernard H. Ziskind School of Judaism was dedicated, which included the unveiling of a plaque and portrait.  The Sunday evening social event was the gala banquet in the new Social Hall.  Special guests included Commonwealth of Massachusetts governor John A. Volpe, and New Bedford mayor Edward Harrington.  MC26_1966_dedication002_1200px

To conclude the two-week long dedication period, the synagogue held an open house on June 5 for the greater New Bedford community, which attracted nearly 3,000 visitors.

The Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections maintains the Archives of the Center for Jewish Culture, which includes many individual collections of papers and records documenting different organizations and institutions within the local Jewish community.  The records of Tifereth Israel are in MC 26.  Please contact Judy Farrar for access at jfarrar@umassd.edu.

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Archives Intern Completes CJC Collections

ShirleyCohen004 1000 pxAs a graduate student from Simmons College in the Library and Information Sciences program, I completed a semester long internship at the Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections. As part of my internship I processed two collections; the Shirley Cohen Family papers and the Senior Citizens of New Bedford records, both part of the Archives of the Center for Jewish Culture. Both of these collections document the family’s focus on working with and improving lives within their community.

Shirley Cohen, daughter of Mrs. A. J. “Bertha” Cohen, was a reference librarian at the New Bedford Public Library. Shirley was an active member of the Junior Hadassah and the Jewish Youth Society. Shirley, as part of the Junior Hadassah, raised money for the Children’s Village of Meier Shfeyah in Palestine. These efforts helped build schools and allowed the village operate in order to protect and educate at risk children. Mrs. A. J. Cohen was ShirleyCohen005 1000 pxextraordinarily active in her community from a young age. She participated in Young Women’s Hebrew Association during WWI and from there was very invested in her community. She became a dedicated member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Senior Hadassah, Hebrew Ladies’ Helping Hand Society, Council of Women’s Organizations of Greater New Bedford, New Bedford Convalescent home, the Jewish Welfare Board, and the USO during World War II. These programs provided ass

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istance and awareness to many important features surrounding the community including health, poverty, education, international events, and social events.ShirleyCohen003 1000 px

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selling raffle tickets and providing refreshments for meetings, Mrs. A. J. Cohen also participated in the Jewish Senior Citizens of New Bedford. The Jewish Senior Citizens of New Bedford was founded in 1972 with the intent to improve the lives of the elderly by decreasing loneliness and caring for their welfare. The Jewish Senior Citizens of New Bedford organized trips, classes, shows, lectures, luncheons, and dinner. Along with that there were lectures on how to keep healthy, blood pressure checks, discount information, and letter writing campaigns to politicians.

Michelle Bergeron, Simmons College

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The American Views on Madeira Wine

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On November 23rd 2015, the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives co-hosted with the Clube Madeirense S.S. Sacramento Madeira historian Duarte Mendonça as he presented, to a large audience, his new book titled “American Views on Madeira Wine.” He shared some interesting bits of history related to the relationship between the United States and Madeira wine, including that the founding fathers were lovers of Madeira wine. Apparently during a dinner party hosted by John Quincy Adams, it is reported that the had 11 decanters of Madeira wine on the table, all unlabeled and otherwise indistinguishable to the naked eye, and through sipping and tasting, he was able to correctly identify them all.

Madeira wine has also been called the “independence wine” as it was the beverage drunk” to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mendonça, in fact, believes that there may actually have been 13 toasts made and drunk to celebrate the original 13 colonies. He reached this conclusion through a number of subsequent events that he was able to identify and research using primary source materials.

-Sonia Pacheco, Archives Librarian for the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives

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Origins of “Black Friday”

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‘Black Friday’ the term used to describe the day after Thanksgiving, nowadays characterized by crowds ascending upon retailers to buy consumer products at large discounts. Yet, the origins of both the term are unclear, and it only began to be commonly used by advertisers in specific reference to the day after Thanksgiving in the 1980s.

Historically, the term was used to describe financial panics of 1869 and 1873 (as referenced in the Diario de Noticias article) and retail clearance sales that occurred at any point in the year (see the 1891 and 1901 ads).

A common explanation for event is that it is the first day (in preparation foDiariodeNoticias_Nov1971r the shopping that occurs for Christmas) that stores turn a profit during the year as they were operating ‘in the black’ previously. However, this account has no precise source and was not regularly used by merchants in print ads that are searchable via newspaper digitization projects such as Chronicling America and the Portuguese-American Digital Newspaper Collections.

Of interest, was the disdain expressed in 1971 at how early stores ‘enticed’ the public to begin doing their Christmas shopping on the front page of the ‘Diario de Noticias’ (see “Our Viewpoint). This particular opinion piece was published yearly starting as far back as 1966.

-Sonia Pacheco,  Archives Librarian for the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives

Here are pages from two newspapers form Omaha and Iola, Kansas:

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Lee Friedlander’s “The American Monument” Book Rediscovered in Library

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Acquisitions Librarian Susan Raidy-Klein made a surprising discovery recently among a stash of books separated from the general stacks and designated for review:  a copy of photographer Lee Friedlander’s book “The American Monument,” published by Eakins Press in 1976.   This publication, which is a first edition, was issued in a limited edition of 2,000 copies, plus smaller editions of special, deluxe, signed and artist-reserve copies.   It was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and is made up of 77  12 x 17 inch pages containing  213 black-and-white reproductions printed by The Meriden Gravure Company on heavy cream paper stock.   Covered by a special blue binding, it  was designed so that individual sheets could be removed and exhibited.  The photograph above is plate number 4, “Father Duffy. Times Square. New York, New York.”

Lee Friedlander was born on July 14, 1934 in Aberdeen, Washington.   He owned his first camera at an early age, and by age sixteen also owned an enlarger, picking up local photography work when he could.  He graduated from high school in 1952, and set out to study photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.  In 1956 he moved to New York City, where he photographed jazz musicians for album covers.  In the 1960s and 1970s Friedlander evolved “an influential and often imitated visual language of urban ‘social landscape,’ with many of his photographs including fragments of store-front reflections, structures framed by fences, posters and street signs.”  A description by the publisher of The American Monument states that: “in an environment dominated by menacing speed, instability, advertising and television, the American monument plays a meditative role. A grace of intention shines through the oft times awkward alliance of efforts that produced them. They are redeemed by the confidence they express in the worth of the act memorialized. In this album the viewer and the viewed hold each other in balance. A world buried alive in our midst is unearthed to us. The photographer has brought it to us to see.”

The American Monument will be on view with other photography  books in the Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections exhibit case on the first floor of the main library during the month of December, 2015.  Before and after that time it may be viewed in the Archives and Special Collection’s Prince Henry Society of Massachusetts Reading Room on the quad side of the library, by requesting call number E159 .F74 1976.

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In Honor of Veteran’s Day, from the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives

MC0094075Manuel “Manny” J. Carvalho Jr. (1916-1998) was the son of Manuel J. and Rose Carvalho, who were Azorean immigrants; he was a long-term resident of Tiverton, RI. His story is kept alive in the Dennis Rezendes Azorean Ancestral and Personal Life Collection (MC 148) where a number of photographs and records document his military experience. Dennis Rezendes, his nephew, spoke fondly of Mr. Carvalho, expressed a great amount of respect for him, and considered ‘Manny’ to be a second-father.

Mr. Carvalho was an army veteran of World War II, served in the South Pacific (as seen in the photographs in this blog) and took part in the Iwo Jima invasion and was the recipient of several medals and commendations.  For the complete finding aid of the Rezendes collection, see http://lib.umassd.edu/archives/finding-aids/paa

 

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The Portuguese Aviators Parade in Fall River

Aviators1 img099 800pxThe Fall River Globe reported on July 10, 1922 that:

“The Portuguese residents of Fall River celebrated the aerial achievements of Admiral Gago Coutinho and Rear Admiral Sacadura Cabral yesterday by a monster parade consisting of ten thousand people, scores of clubs and societies, countless bands, floats, and privately decorated machines. Main Street from the South Park to the North Park was gaily and patriotically adorned with the national colors of the United States and Portugal. The colors of these two nations floated from the stores and private residences by the scores. The elaborate line of march lay from the South Park where it formed to the North Park.sac_gago-300x215 Three distinguished Portuguese gentlemen addressed the twenty-five thousand citizens who gathered there. Despite the terrible heat the streets were thronged with thousands of patriotic residents. It was without a doubt the largest celebration of its kind that has been held in this city for many a day. The array of floats was the best and most varied that ever took part in a parade in Fall River. They showed much thought, genius and skill on the part of their inventors and they were a pride to the Portuguese creators.”

The parade, of which the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives owns two post-card photographs, was celebrating the 5,100 mile, 62 hour, 80 day voyage that img097 Aviators 2Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho accomplished in 1922. Theirs was the first flight across the southern Atlantic, from Lisbon to Recife, Brazil. While they were ultimately successful in their mission, as seen in the New York Times article, they did so with plenty of down time for repairs and waiting on replacement aircraft.  In fact, they lost two airplanes—their original Fairey III D hydroplane, “Lusitania,” which sank in the ocean off the tiny rocks of St. Peter and St. Paul, and a second Fairey, “Portugal” which didn’t get much farther before it, too, ditched in the sea. The final leg of the trip, from the islands of Fernando Noronha to Brazil, was in a Fairey 17 named “Santa Cruz.”

ums-1922-07-25-0-001 Aviators paperFor more information please see:

Smithsonian article on the event: http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/across-the-south-atlantic-in-1922-56283476/#rJwksWfyvA8gOJZm.99

Original report on the event: http://www.unesco-ci.org/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6149/cat/1026/title/reports-from-first-flight-across-the-south-atlantic-ocean-in-1922

The Alvorada Diaria, at left, has been digitized and is available for viewing at http://www.lib.umassd.edu/paa/portuguese-american-digital-newspaper-collections

-Sonia Pacheco, Archives Librarian for the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American Archives

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Evidence of Historic Native American Habitation at Cedar Dell Pond

October is Massachusetts Archaeology Month, and for this reason we highlight a UMass Dartmouth connection to an historic archaeological investigation that took place on campus grounds in the 1970s. Current students and staff may not be aware that the land surrounding Cedar Dell Pond, on the Eastern side of the campus outside of Ring Road, was a site used by Native Americans as long ago as 9,000-8,000 B.C.  Soon after construction began on the campus in the 1960s, Native American artifacts were exposed near Cedar Dell Pond, unearthed by bulldozers removing trees and vegetation.   Unfortunately, the initial finds were not identified or preserved, but several years later, in 1977, an archaeological investigation began, supervised  by Debra Frank of UMass Amherst.  The project was continued in 1978 and 1979, with the addition of another director, Kathleen Bragdon of Brown University, and the assistance of a small group of Southeastern Massachusetts University students.  A number of chipped stone artifacts (projectiles- or arrow heads) were uncovered and found to date, possibly, as far back as 9,000 BC.  A formal preliminary report by Bragdon and Frank is available for consultation in the Archives and Special Collections (F74.D25 B72 1978).  Additionally, an article was published in the Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Volume 44, no. 2 (October, 1983), which is available online through Bridgewater State University’s Maxwell Library at  http://library.bridgew.edu/exhibits/BMAS/browse.html

Artifacts, final reports and field notes are preserved by the Office of the Massachusetts Historical Commission in Boston (project 19BR218).

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SMU Club Football Started in 1985

URC083001The SMU, or Southeastern Massachusetts University* Board of Trustees voted on February 28, 1985 to approve a proposal to develop for the first time, a Club Football Program at the university.  The New England Club Football Conference operated outside of the NCAA and included, at that time, teams from Merrimack College, MIT, Roger Williams College, UMass Boston, Stonehill College, Bentley College, Providence College, Worcester State College, and Assumption College.  URC083004The proposal was put forward to SMU President John Brazil in January of that year by the Dean of Students, Celestino Macedo, on behalf of the SMU student body, who originally initiated the idea.   In December of 1984, SMU Student Senate had voted unanimously to establish Club Football as a student organization funded by student fees; and by January 1985 they had gathered over 2,600 signatures on a petition in support of the proposal.

URC083002With approval gained, ads went out in and in April 1985 the university hired a coaching staff.  Coach Paul Harrison, who had enjoyed great success as an assistant coach of the Middleboro High School from 1970-1983 and defensive coordinator for the Dennis-Yarmouth High school football program from 1983-1984, was hired as head coach, with assistants Steve Popielarz, Charles Connell, Vin Mello and Ray Cabral.

Their first game was against Providence College, which they won 14-12.  The Corsairs went on to have a winning season – six wins and two losses.  Their third game, against Roger Williams, was cancelled due to Hurricane Gloria.  It was rescheduled for the end of the season, but ended up negating their chances to play in the National playoffs because of the schedule conflict.  They did, however, defeat Roger Williams, and shared the conference title with Providence College.  The Homecoming game was October 19 against MIT, one of their two losses.  At this year’s homecoming festivities, the Athletics Department and Corsairs Hall of Fame is hosting a reunion of the 1985 team, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the football program at UMD/SMU.

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The Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections preserve a series of memoranda from SMU President John Brazil’s records, from 1985, with details about the proposal and early formation of the football program.   The archives also maintain a souvenir program from the 1985 season, as well as several other souvenir programs, which contains a wealth of information.  For questions, contact archivist Judy Farrar at jfarrar@umassd.edu.

* Southeastern Massachusetts University is the former institutional name for UMass Dartmouth, which was used from 1969-1991.

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