Archives and Special Collections

Archives, Historical Records, Special Collections

Special Collections Featured in ICA Boston Watershed Art Installation

A series of red and black threads hanging from the ceiling with folded papers suspended within. Two chairs also sit within the threads
Chiharu Shiota’s “Home Less Home” exhibit featuring reproductions of materials from the Archives & Special Collections. Photo courtesy of Molly Brown.

Reproductions from the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections are featured as a part of artist Chiharu Shiota’s “Home Less Home” exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston’s Watershed.

The installations will be on display until September 1.

“Home Less Home” creates the shape of a house with many red and black ropes hung from the ceiling. Suspended within the ropes are records of immigration, such as passports and immigration papers. ICA Boston’s iteration of the installation also draws specifically on Boston history, featuring archival records from institutions across the city that speak to the theme of home and the actions around home: finding a home, leaving home, protecting home, and creating a new home.

Northeastern’s archives brought a unique organizational activism component to the exhibit through our Special Collections’ focus on neighborhood social justice movements. Reference staff worked with ICA Boston curators to find records addressing housing activism and advocacy in Boston’s neighborhoods. The exhibit features records from the following collections:

Paper suspended amid red threads reading "Servicios Humanos"
Records from the Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. Photo courtesy of Molly Brown.
Papers suspended within hanging red threads
Records from the Phyllis Ryan papers. Photo courtesy of Molly Brown.

















This installation is Shiota’s first in New England and is featured as part of the Boston Public Art Triennial 2025. Check it out before September 1!

Box By Box: Inventorying the Boston Globe Big Dig Records

The Big Dig, a major infrastructure project that aimed to improve traffic flow, dominated the Boston area throughout its construction for 15 years and led to countless articles and columns in the Boston Globe. Former Globe reporters and editors Tom Palmer and Sean Murphy, who both worked at the newspaper for over 30 years, donated their extensive records to the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections, providing a glimpse into the planning and construction of the Big Dig project. (NUASC holds multiple other collections relating to the Big Dig, as well.)

Aries Peralta, wearing a black jacket, gray baseball cap, and glasses, pulls a box off a shelf in the archives
Aries Peralta works in the Archives and Special Collections. Photo courtesy of Molly Brown

The initial planning of the Big Dig, officially named the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, began in 1982 and actual construction occurred from 1991-2006. The donated records contained articles by both Palmer and Murphy, as well as a third reporter, Charles Sennott.

I find this collection interesting because it is not just a compilation of articles published in the Boston Globe; it consists of the research and reference materials amassed for use in reporting on the issues surrounding the Big Dig. The records reveal the vast context and information a journalist would need to know in order to write cohesive articles, including contracts, technical reports, financial statements, photographs, maps, articles from other news sources, and more.

Below are some selected items to highlight the extent of the collection.

Big Dig Contract Map

Map of Boston with different colored lines representing streets and highways. Various area are labeled with contract numbers


The contracts in progress map is a snapshot of the various contracts happening at one time in downtown Boston and serves as a great visualization of the contracts’ physical locations. It also helps associate the technical contract number with the more publicly known name of any given section of the project, such as the Ted Williams Tunnel identified as contract number C07A1.

The Big Dig Blame Game

Illustrated graphic of a man standing behind a podium, with the neck and tongue of a snake. He is holding a megaphone and is surrounded by a red curtain and creepy clowns driving bumper cars, one of which is holding a shovel. A yellow banner at the top reads "The BIG Dig"


As Massachusetts Governor from 1997-2001, Paul Cellucci was the subject of countless voiced opinions about his tenure and leadership during the Big Dig project. This image of Cellucci as a snake accompanied an article published in a 2000 issue of Boston Magazine that suggested cost overruns were caused by a collective failure of key players, including Cellucci, for not properly managing the project.

A Fifth-Grader’s Opinion on the Big Dig

A piece of notebook paper with a letter written in a child's handwriting: "9/15/97 Dear Globe, I've never seen the big dig but I think it should help Boston. It is horrible traffic in Boston. If the big dig dosn't help it will seem like a wast of 10 billion dollars. Joey LeBlanc Medfield Ma. Dale St. School Grade 5"


Often stuck in traffic with their parents or simply by living in nearby neighborhoods, local students were also affected by the Big Dig project. The Student Newsline section in the Boston Globe presented an opportunity for students to send in their own opinions about the project. Many students offered their own ideas to quickly finish and reduce the costs of the project.

2006 Ceiling Collapse

A gloved hand holds a tape measure to a concrete ceiling, measuring the length of screws sticking down.
A worker stands in a crawlspace above the ceiling of a tunnel, surrounded by concrete and bars.












Reporting on the construction of the Big Dig included documenting tragedies. In 2006, a ceiling panel fell on a car in the Fort Point Channel Tunnel, killing a passenger and injuring the driver. Their family and the public wanted answers as to how the incident could have occurred. As a result, the Boston Globe undertook an in-depth investigation to report and provide answers. These photographs may have been taken to document the other ceiling panels in the rest of the tunnel after the accident occurred.

To learn more about accessing the Boston Globe Big Dig records, email the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections at archives@northeastern.edu.

Aries Peralta (he/him) recently graduated from Simmons University with an MS in Library and Information Science with a concentration in archives management. He received his BA in history from the University of Connecticut.

Issue and Inquiry and Urban Confrontation: Two Radio Programs Covering Urban Issues in Uncertain Times

Two radio program collections available in the Digital Repository Service (DRS) — Issue and Inquiry and Urban Confrontation — document social progress and unrelenting difficulties within American cities in 1970-71. Airing on Northeastern University’s radio station WRBB, the programs were produced the university’s now-defunct Division of Instructional Communication. (Urban Confrontation noted that it ended in 1971 for financial reasons.)

Black and white image of two students sitting in a recording studio. They are wearing headphones and sitting at a table while surrounded by 1960s-era recording equipment
Students working in the WRBB (then WNEU) radio station in 1969. Photo courtesy of Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

Episodes were primarily hosted by Joseph R. Baylor and feature interviewees from across the United States discussing wide-ranging topics. From the threat of nuclear warfare to the farm labor rights movement, from the “longhair” youth subculture to de-facto school segregation, these episodes present a sweeping view of both common anxieties and optimistic ideas about the future of city life.

As a metadata assistant in Digital Production Services, I performed a survey of the episodes and their associated metadata records. This helped me understand how descriptive information should appear in the DRS. For example, I investigated how titles, creators, subjects, and abstracts should be recorded for each episode. Next, I created an editing plan, performed batch edits, and carefully listened to each episode. As I listened, I recorded accurate information about the episodes so it could be updated in the DRS.

I selected two interesting episodes to highlight here, but be sure to check out the full collection for more episodes.

Oil in Santa Barbara: The Pollution Tragedy (Issue and Inquiry, Episode 10)

In this episode from 1970, Al Weingand, Bob Solan, and Dick Smith discuss a Union Oil offshore drilling well explosion that occurred on January 28, 1969, expelling two million gallons of uncontrolled oil into Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California. Topics include the oil’s effect on tourism, local economy, wildlife, fishing, and environmental safety concerns.

Weingand, a Santa Barbara resident and former California legislative member, explains that no other disasters can compare to the devastation of the oil pollution. Smith, a reporter for the Santa Barbara News Press, calls for greater investment in tourist value of beaches, saying that offshore oil well spills are dangerous both environmentally and economically. Solan, another reporter for the News Press, covers the psychological benefits of beautiful surroundings for Santa Barbara residents.

This episode was produced in a time of evolving standards for environmental safety and presents an intimate view of lives affected by oil pollution.

Afro-American Culture: The Black Artist Unchained (Urban Confrontation, Episode 11)
Elma Lewis, a Black woman with dark hair in a bun, stands in front of flowers with a huge smile on her face. Her hands are clasped over her chest.
Elma Lewis candid. Courtesy of the National Center of Afro-American Artists records (M42) at Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

“The business that I am about is resurrecting that dormant conscious pride that Black people have had and should have.” — Elma Lewis (4:57)

In this episode, airing in 1970, arts educator and activist Elma Lewis discusses the intertwined histories of Black labor and Black cultural impact in America. She speaks critically of modern art because she says it lacks a basis in life experience. This, Lewis explains, is why Black contributions to American culture transcend art and extend to labor and life experience, which has formed the basis of American society. Throughout the program, Baylor asks Lewis to respond to common racist comments about Black culture. Despite Baylor’s insistence that Lewis speak to his white audience, she intentionally denies this request. Laughing, she replies, “I don’t answer nonsense. I’m not in the business of answering nonsense.”

For more information on Elma Lewis, explore the DRS. More materials from the Elma Lewis collections (Elma Ina Lewis papers, Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts records) are expected to be available in the DRS in 2026.

I wanted to highlight these two episodes because they made me think deeply about both everyday problems and large socio-political injustices which continue to affect us today. “Oil in Santa Barbara” presents opinions from concerned community members in California. It focuses on their reaction to environmental pollution, showing common anxieties about business success, health, and the beauty of their local natural environment. By contrast, “Afro-American Culture” features distinguished Black arts educator Elma Lewis. She discusses fine arts movements, while also celebrating Black joy and artistry in the face of wide-scale systemic racism.

I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to help make these shows available in the DRS. Both Issue and Inquiry and Urban Confrontation hold potential research value for those interested in viewing snapshots of American life in the early 1970s.

Chelsea McNeil served as a part-time metadata assistant in Digital Production Services.

Library Receives CPA Grant to Digitize “Black Art and Joy in Boston (and Beyond)”

Black and white image of Elma Lewis writing at a desk while wearing a cap and gown
Elma Lewis at the New England Conservatory of Music where she was conferred an honorary degree in 1977

The Northeastern University Library is proud to announce that the Archives and Special Collections has been awarded a City of Boston Community Preservation Act (CPA) grant to fund the project Black Art and Joy in Boston (and Beyond): Elma Lewis and the National Center of Afro-American Artists. This grant of almost $460,000 will support the digitization, cataloging, and publication of primary source materials from four archival collections that document the extraordinary work of Elma Lewis (1921-2004) and the cultural institutions she founded.

Dan Cohen, Vice President for Information Collaboration and Dean of the Northeastern University Library, said, “The University Archives and Special Collections department carefully preserves and protects access to some of the deep history and stories of Boston’s Black community. This project will augment and complement their and the Library’s Digital Production team’s effort to digitize significant portions of the Freedom House’s historical collection. We are thrilled to partner with the City of Boston and the Community Preservation team on this project.”

Lewis was a transformative force who trained a full generation of African American dancers, singers, musicians, actors, and visual artists in Boston. She formed the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in 1950 and established the National Center of Afro-American Artists in 1968, along with its museum in 1969. Her outsized influence on the Black arts movement in Boston, and how her ideas and techniques spread nationally and internationally, represents a crucial chapter in the city’s cultural history.

Black and white image of ballet dance class
A ballet class at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, 1975
A green program for the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts Children's Theatre presentation of FACES (A Play with Music)
A program for a children’s play at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in 1981

This project amplifies the voices of those who were in Lewis’s orbit as teachers, collaborators, or students. It also highlights the influence of Afrocentric organizations on Boston, a necessary element to understanding Black civil rights work in the city and the rich network of organizations and individuals focused on community-building and empowerment.

The digitized collections will shed light on the decades of labor and coalition-building that are foundational to Boston’s existing Black arts infrastructure. By publishing them online, we make this history accessible to Bostonians at any time and for any purpose, while also reaching larger local and national audiences through participation in Digital Commonwealth and the Digital Public Library of America.

The curricular potential of this collection represents one of its most valuable forms of impact. The project will build on the successful Boston Public Schools Desegregation Collection, a collaboratively built collection of scanned archival materials documenting the desegregation of Boston’s public schools, in collaboration with the district itself. That project demonstrated how archival materials can be integrated into K-12 curriculum design, bringing primary source materials directly into classrooms across the city.

An archival box from the Elma Lewis collection, with a selection of photos and papers
A box of archival materials from National Center of Afro-American Artists records and some of its contents

These digital collections will enable Bostonians, including relatives and friends of those who appear in the collections, to access this evidence of their community’s rich cultural history. The materials will be freely available online, searchable, and integrated with our existing digital collections to provide a deeper and richer pool of resources illustrating the activities and accomplishments of Boston’s Black residents and leaders.

As we embark on this preservation effort, we honor not only Elma Lewis’s remarkable legacy but also the ongoing vitality of the Black arts movement in Boston that she helped establish. Through the CPA’s support, we ensure that future generations will have access to these invaluable records of creativity, resilience, and community building.

For more information about the project, please contact Giordana Mecagni at g.mecagni@northeastern.edu or 617-373-8318.

To learn more about what collections from Elma Lewis we hold, visit our research guide Finding Elma Lewis in the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

This blog post was co-written by Giordana Mecagni, Head of Archives and Special Collections, and Molly Brown, Reference and Outreach Archivist.

A Dana Hall School Intern’s View of the Archives

A student sits in front of a computer while holding a white cassette tape
Ava Scharf is a student at Dana Hall who interned at the Northeastern University Archives & Special Collections this month.

For the past two weeks, the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections has had the pleasure of working with Ava Scharf, who is finishing her senior year at Dana Hall School and chose to do her senior internship at the local archive.

During her time with us, Ava has met with archives and library staff, shadowed meetings and reading room interactions, reorganized and tidied the Bromfield Street Educational Foundation’s Prison Newsletter collection after a semester of class uses, and inventoried tapes from the OutWrite conferences. After graduating from Dana Hall, Ava will join Northeastern as a first-year Husky this fall.

Before Ava heads off to enjoy her summer before her first year at Northeastern, she kindly agreed to answer some questions about her time working with us this May.

What surprised you about working in the archives?
How much recent stuff there was. A lot of the stuff here was more recent. It was fun to see the newspaper and the handwritten papers from people who are still alive. I thought that in archives, there would be more books, but being able to see all the handwritten notes and papers that are loose portray more about everyday life than a book does. I felt humbled by trying to read some of the cursive.

What was an item/record in the collections that you liked seeing?
I really enjoyed seeing the Fenway Alliance records. I really thought I would like seeing the board meeting stuff, but I ended up liking seeing the everyday life sort of things. I liked seeing the art project adding door knobs to lampposts they planned.

I really enjoyed looking at the prison newsletters. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I really enjoyed getting my hands on something and seeing what was going on in prison at the time. I really like the Dragon Prayer Book — it was so small and so cute — and the artists’ books, especially the miniature ones.

Honestly, I really liked looking at everything here! Who wouldn’t want to look at mini art books?

How would you explain your time at the archives to family and friends?
A lot of online paperwork. It’s a lot of organizing. It’s kind of similar to being a library page at Dana Hall, which is nice. There’s a lot more specific jobs than I thought there were! Archivists are split into subcategories and there’s a lot of communication and talking between those subcategories that I didn’t know existed. At one level, it was what I expected: you have old papers, and I saw old papers! I would honestly say it is really a mix of history, reading, and organizational skills. And cursive…lots and lots of cursive.

Any advice for new first years (like yourself this fall) who want to use the archives?
Aimlessly wander through the archives’ papers. With the artists’ books, I was less terrified of breaking them after handling one. Getting experience early on and learning how to use the archives and booking an appointment and being here makes it much easier. If you come in and you research something for fun versus when you are stressed and writing a paper, it is going to be helpful. Venture down here at least once so you get a feel for things. And you can’t bring your drinks in here. No coffee! Also, start early: there are so many boxes to go through!