The records of the Western Massachusetts locals and district councils of the UBCJA documents the rise of unionization among carpenters in the Connecticut River Valley since the 1880s. This collection represents a merger of separate accessions for the District Councils in Springfield (MS 110), the Pioneer Valley (MS 231), and Holyoke (MS 108), along with post-merger records for Local 108. In general, each has been maintained as a distinct series.
Oral history with the Gagnon family, part of the Franco-American community in Springfield since 1953. Topics include their participation in Franco-American activities at St. Joseph’s Church, their interest in Franco-American studies, and what nationality means to them, as people with roots in America, Canada, and France.
Collection includes statutes and by-laws, minutes, administrative records, correspondence, financial records and receipts, scholarship records, publications, records of programs and events, and artifacts and ephemera.
The interview includes discussions of: Bates College; track; Muskie’s roommate Joe Biernacki; the Navy; Muskie presenting an award to Gautier; Muskie leading a parade in Auburn; the Democratic Party in Maine; differences between Lewiston and Auburn (L/A); “Loiston”; local students at Bates; tension between Bates and L/A; similarities between Bates and a teacher’s college; the percentage of Bates from L/A; the division between men and women at Bates; the Depression affecting everyone; cars on Bates campus then and now; Auburn as being Republican, and Lewiston as being Democrat; the postmaster as a political appointment; the ten point preference in civil service; the changing position of postmaster; 1974 political issues; 5 cent deposit on aluminum cans; teachers’ salaries; the influence of Kiwanis, Exchange, and Rotary in the 1950s; the Bates transition from conservative to liberal and the possible influence of war.
For the most part, this collection is made up of personal letters, photographs, cards, notebooks, and scrapbooks. There are maps of and documents about New Canada. Other non-personal documents: Will of Georgiana Bourgoin, Naturalization papers of Alfred Bourgoin, and a description of the plot of land in New Canada that Nora and Joe Baker bought from Joseph Daigle in 1949.
