Message-Id: <199909151604.JAA30554@dns.ccit.arizona.edu> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 11:13:25 -0400 From: Peter Nelson <mailto:pnelson@MTHOLYOKE.EDU> Subject: Announcement from the Five College Archives Digital Access Project To: mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
We are pleased to announce the completion of nine digital collections at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as part of the Five College Archives Digital Access Project. This three-year cooperative project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and now in its final year, seeks to digitize and make available on the Web a variety of archival and manuscript materials from the Five Colleges pertaining to the history of women's higher education. More information about the project and the participating institutions is available at http://clio.fivecolleges.edu.The nine new collections now available online, comprising a total of 7,400 items, document the development of women's higher education at the University of Massachusetts (founded in 1863 as Massachusetts Agricultural College). As the only public land grand institution in the Five College consortium -- the rest being private liberal arts colleges, two of them all-female -- its philosophy of education for women differed significantly from that of the other members. Although since its founding, female students were never explicitly denied the opportunity to study at Massachusetts, women did not begin to enroll there until the turn of the century; the first to graduate were in the class of 1905. Only in the administration of President Kenyon L. Butterfield (1906-1924) were facilities and a curriculum especially designed for "women's work," with an early emphasis on training in agricultural and rural home life.
The following collections are available on the Project Web site (http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/umass):
1. Oral Histories, 1976 [111 items] Transcripts of six oral history interviews conducted in 1976 that primarily concern the experience of female students at Massachusetts.
2. President Kenyon L. Butterfield - Selected records related to women's education at Massachusetts, 1906-1924 [269 items]
3. Student Handbooks, 1890-1950 [5,030 items] Handbooks issued annually to all students, containing general information about the College campus and facilities, work opportunities, faculty, clubs and organizations, publications, and social activities.
4. Student Affairs - Records of Dean of Women Helen Curtis, 1902-1993 (bulk 1940-1973) [588 items]
5. Student Affairs - Advisory Council of Women. Records, 1921-1964 [842 items]
6. Student Affairs - Women in Agriculture. Records, 1917-1958 [194 items]
7. Faculty Papers: Hicks, Adeline. Papers, 1917-1987 [87 items] Skinner, Edna L. Papers, 1930-1997 [9 items] (Hicks established the physical education program for women; Skinner was Professor of Home Economics and later Dean)
8. Women's Student Government Association - Handbooks for Women, 1929-1941 [209 items] Similar to the Student Handbooks issued annually to all students at the College, but including specific regulations governing women's residential housing and general personal conduct as well as information about female student clubs and organizations.
9. University Photograph Collections: [37 items] Group 120/2: Hicks, Adeline Group 130: Women Students Group 160: Athletic Department - Modern Dance Program
We invite you to visit the project Web site, browse or search these new collections and see the ways in which they complement other digital collections already available from Mount Holyoke, Smith, Amherst and Hampshire Colleges. Feedback is always welcome.
..................................................................... Peter Nelson mailto:pnelson@mtholyoke.edu Five College Archives Digital Access Project c/o Mount Holyoke College Archives http://clio.fivecolleges.edu South Hadley, MA 01075 (413) 538-3020 ......................................................................