Public History
Public History at UMass Amherst
Massachusetts boasts a rich network of museums, archives, historical societies, documentary filmmakers, and historic preservation agencies, as well as one of the top public research universities in the nation. Since 1986, the Public History Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has provided a vital link between the University and the Commonwealth's wide variety of institutions that preserve and communicate history to the public.
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UMass Public History
Introduction
The Pioneer Valley teems with a number and variety of public history museums and organizations, as well as museums devoted to science, technology and art. These are great resources for research, and also potential hosts for internships and other collaborations.
Museums
A collaboration among a variety of museums in and around the Amherst/Northampton area, affiliated with the Five College consortium.
Beneski Museum of Natural History
Located on the Amherst College campus, this museum showcases fossils and mineral collections.
The house where the poet Emily Dickison was born and lived most of her life, the museum is dedicated to displaying the life, family and works of Emily to a wider audience.
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Founded by Eric Carle and his wife Bobbie Morrison, this museum on the grounds of Hampshire College collects a wide array of picture books.
Opened in 1970, this gallery concentrates on the visual arts.
The area preserves the 18th century English settlement and recreates the lives of the early New England settlers.
Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
This art museum at Amherst college holds worldwide collections of art.
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Founded in 1876, this lively college museum focuses on the role of art in education.
This organization collects, preserves, and translates books written in Yiddish to promote the understanding of modern Jewish identity.
Established in 1879, this museum focuses on connecting the academic and broader communities through art.
University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass Amherst
This cutting-edge contemporary museum provides a lively space for artists and the community.
Other museums
This virtual museum provides library resources, educational curricula, and exhibits for teachers, students, and researchers.
As a part of Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, an array of cabinets of curiosities is housed in an early 19th-century Congregational church saved from the town of Prescott which was flooded as part of the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir.
Established by the Skinner Family, this19th century mansion in Holyoke is a vibrant house museum.
This National Historic Landmark in Great Barrington preserves the homesite of the prominent African American scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois.
This preserved Shaker village showcases the life and crafts of Shakers.
A collection of 50,000 objects relating to the history of Northampton.
The Springfield Museums, located in the heart of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, comprises five world-class museums; the Michele & Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts., the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum and the Museum of Springfield History. The Museums Association is proud to be home to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden.
Springfield Armory National Historic Site commemorates the critical role of the nation’s first armory by preserving and interpreting the world's largest historic US military small arms collection, along with historic archives, buildings, and landscapes.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is home to more than three hundred inductees and more than 40,000 square feet of basketball history.
Museum of Our Industrial Heritage
The collection includes tools, machines, taps and dies, and archival materials revealing the social history of the area's industrial heritage. Artifacts come from dozens of companies, representing nearly every Franklin County town, as well as Athol and several other neighboring towns.
A collection of vehicles and equipment used on New England farms and farmhouses from the late 1700s to the early 20th century. Located in a 1782 barn, the museum showcases many items just as they would have been found on the farm.
Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum
The house contains the family’s belongings accumulated and preserved over 300 years.
Dedicated to honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to this international sport and to fostering the appreciation of the historical development of the game by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience.
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum
Contains materials documenting the private life of Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), beginning with his birth and formative years in Vermont, his student days at Amherst College, and his years as a young lawyer in Northampton. Exhibits and manuscripts, written and pictorial, cover his political career from Northampton to Boston to the White House and his post-presidential years as a Northampton resident.
Libraries and Special Collections
This research library provides a wide collection of printed materials from the first contact to 1876.
This organization collects, preserves, and translates books written in Yiddish to promote the understanding of modern Jewish identity.
UMass/ Five college online catalog
The everyday gateway to your research! Click on the Five College Catalog tab.
Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections
Search over 1,500 finding aids from the Five Colleges' archives and manuscripts. Below are links for each archives and collection.
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special collections
Smith College, Mortimer Rare Book Room
Sophia Smith Collection, Women's History Archives at Smith College
Other Organizations
Valley Women’s History Collaborative
Founded in 1997, the VWHC documents contemporary local women's history.
This Master of Science program geared to working professionals offers students the chance to engage with the hands-on study of preserving architecture.
Pioneer Valley History Network
The PVHN serves as an extensive resource for the Western Massachusetts local history organizations and events.
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Since 1962, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has been the designated regional planning body for the Pioneer Valley region, which encompasses 43 cities and towns in the Hampden and Hampshire county areas. PVPC is the primary agency responsible for increasing communication, cooperation, and coordination among all levels of government as well as the private business and civic sectors in order to benefit the Pioneer Valley region and to improve its residents' quality of life.
Massachusetts Historical Commission
The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) was established by the legislature in 1963* to identify, evaluate, and protect important historical and archaeological assets of the Commonwealth.
Preservation Massachusetts (PM) is the statewide non-profit historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving the Commonwealth’s historic and cultural heritage. It was established in 1989 and is supported entirely by members and concerned citizens.
Slightly Further Afield
South, in Hartford, CT (60 minutes)
Connecticut Historical Society
North, to White River Junction, VT (100 minutes)
Brattleboro Museum and Art Center
St. Gaudens National Historic Site (Cornish, NH)
Museums just West, in the Berkshires (60 minutes)
The Mount/Edith Wharton's Home (Lenox)
Arrowhead/Herman Melville's Home
African American Heritage Trail
Museums just East, to Concord, MA (90 minutes)
Orchard House (Louisa May Alcott)
Minute Man National Historical Park
Literary points of interest statewide
