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 59 black and white nitrate negatives in this collection date circa 1915-1920. They consist of 39 informal portraits of unidentified individuals and groups; 17 outdoor scenes (mostly images of Fort Kent, Maine and Clair, New Brunswick); 4 interior/exterior images identified on the negatives as Eagle Lake Camps; and 3 images of a parlor room with musical instruments.
Fr. Maxime E. Sarrault was a native of Cohoes, NY. He attended the Grand Seminaire in Montreal, QC. He was ordained as a priest in 1919. He served for many years as pastor at Sacred Heart, Schenectady's French Roman Catholic Church. That church opened in 1926 but closed in 2005 as part of canonical suppression by the Diocese of Albany. Fr. Sarrault passed away in 1968.
