Box by Box

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.

Box by Box: Inventorying the Frederick Salvucci Papers

By Julia Lee and Aleks Renerts

Processing assistants Julia Lee and Aleks Renerts recently went through more than 150 boxes of papers belonging to transportation and infrastructure leader Frederick Salvucci. Salvucci’s contributions to infrastructure are numerous: you can become familiar with the scope of his impact by reading his Wikipedia page and listening to his oral history with Head of Archives and Special Collections and University Archivist Giordana Mecagni. The papers he donated to Northeastern encompass his time at MIT, where he has taught since the late 1970s, and document infrastructure projects students were involved in and that he advised on throughout the world.

With the goal of improving access to these records for researchers, Julia and Aleks went through each box carefully, refoldering materials and assigning descriptive keywords. They have selected a few items from the collection to highlight.

“The Inner Belt” Belt

A black belt with "THE INNER BELT" in white lettering

This commemorative wearable belt is a pun referencing the Inner Belt project. The Inner Belt was a proposed eight-lane highway that would have connected I-93 to I-90 and I-95, stretching from Somerville through Cambridge, across the Boston University Bridge, and through Boston and Roxbury. Plans for the highway would have placed major intersections along its length, disrupting the landscape of many of the neighborhoods of Greater Boston. In the late 1960s and ’70s, construction of the highway was blocked by the actions of a group of city planners, community activists, universities, and politicians, including Salvucci. The defeat of the Inner Belt project marks a significant moment in the history of Boston, transportation in the city, and its history of urban development, as well as setting the tone for Salvucci’s career and focus on the role of community in transportation.

MIT Commencement Exercises

Pink cover labeled "Massachusetts Institute of Technology Commencement Exercises 1994." "Killian Court, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Friday, May 27, 1994, 10:00 AM" In the center of the page is a circular photo of a domed building

Salvucci taught at MIT as a senior lecturer from 1978-1983 and from 1991 to the present. He has taught courses on transportation and urban planning through the Department of Civil Engineering and worked for MIT’s Center for Transportation Studies (now the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics). Salvucci’s students were conscious of his impact in the field. Comments on his teaching from the Spring 1991 term repeatedly emphasized his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for the material. His ability to give students insight into the “real world” of transportation and civil engineering was praised, and my personal favorite comment creates a delightfully succinct picture of the Salvucci classroom experience: “Great war stories with great analysis.”

Document with a variety of images of trains, railroad tracks, wheels, and construction sites. It reads "Tercer Encuentro UPR / MIT, 8-15 de enero de 1997, Tren Urbano, Auspician: UPR, MIT, DTOP, GMAEC, CIIC

Tren Urbano Encuentro Reports

The MIT/UPR Encuentro Reports represent the nine-year partnership between the MIT Transit Lab, the Puerto Rican Transportation Authority, and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). From the 1990s to the 2000s, MIT students, overseen by Salvucci, collaborated with students from UPR to “study and advise on the design, operation, and scheduling of the Tren Urbano rail system.” The encuentro (meeting) reports demonstrate the specific concerns and strategies relevant to the Tren Urbano project and showcase student contributions over several years of consultation. This collaborative project formed the model for future partnerships between MIT and various transit authorities around the world, many of which are also well-represented in Salvucci’s work and papers.

Statement of Strategy, London Transport

Cover of a "Statement of Strategy 1994-1997 London Transport." Cover has a blue background with cartoon images of people waiting under an "Underground" sign and people walking onto a red double decker bus

Boston was not the only city to benefit from Salvucci’s knowledge. Through MIT, he worked with Transport for London (TfL), the government body in charge of most of London’s transportation network, on their Crossrail project. Crossrail, as its name suggests, involved the creation of a new east-west rail line through London with connections to existing major train routes in the UK. Today, it is known as the Elizabeth Line, as Crossrail was the name specific to the construction project. Salvucci’s papers at Northeastern include correspondence and reports from his involvement with TfL that document both Crossrail and the beginnings of London’s Oyster card fare system. I’m personally appreciative of Salvucci’s work in London, as it was the Elizabeth Line that got me to and from Heathrow Airport during a recent trip to the UK.

To learn more about accessing the Frederick Salvucci papers, email the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections at archives@northeastern.edu.

Julia Lee (she/her) is in her first year of the Simmons University Library and Information Science graduate program. She received her BA from Northeastern University with a combined major in English and theatre.

Aleks Renerts (he/him) recently completed a dual MA degree in history and library and information science, with a concentration in archives management, from Simmons University. He received his BA in history from McGill University.

Box by Box: Inventorying the Cambridge Women’s Center Records

Since last fall, the processing team has been focused on inventorying unprocessed collections. Inventories allow staff and researchers to learn more about what’s in a collection, help locate materials of interest, and help staff strategize further processing or digitization work, as resources allow. A previous blog post described inventorying the Stull & Lee records. Currently, processing assistants are inventorying more recent donations to the archives. Over the next few months, we will be featuring collections our staff has found particularly interesting to inventory in their own words.

Cambridge Women’s Center Records

By Aleks Renerts, Processing Assistant

I recently worked on the creation of an inventory for the Cambridge Women’s Center records. The Center was founded after a group of female protestors occupied an underutilized Harvard-owned building on International Women’s Day on March 8, 1971. They demanded affordable housing, child care, and equal access to education. The movement gained local publicity and heightened awareness, and donations in support of the sit-in allowed the group to purchase a property at 46 Pleasant Street in Cambridge, from which the Center still operates.

The Cambridge Women’s Center records offer a picture of how the policies, goals, and actions of the Center have changed over time. Volunteers at the Center established programs to address domestic violence, racism, access to healthcare, housing and job opportunities, sexual abuse, and other issues affecting women. The records include newsletters, flyers, calendars, meeting notes and memos, and planning documents for activities that demonstrate the impact the Center has had on the community, and offer valuable perspective on feminist thought and activism from the 1970s to the present.

An example I found particularly interesting were the documents pertaining to the inclusion of transgender women at the Center. A changing perspective on trans individuals can be read through meeting minutes and updated policies. At its inception, the Center was not open to transgender women who had not “completed” medical transition, fearing that the presence of non-passing trans women might negatively impact other women at the Center. As these beliefs were challenged and discussed over time, the Center adopted a trans-inclusive policy as early as the 2000s, realigning the mission of the Center to be supportive and welcoming to all women regardless of personal histories.

Below is a glimpse at some of the records.

Two scanned pages of a document
A brief history of the Cambridge Women’s Center and its relation to broader feminist mobilization, circa 1980s. It links the founding moment of the Center to social and labor movements from the 19th century to the present, and discusses early initiatives by the Center’s founders.
Two scanned pages of a document
Shift journal, 2005. Women who answered the phone for the Cambridge Women’s Center helpline would take notes here. There are many fascinating entries discussing who called and for what reason, and a general sense of the internal functioning of the Center. Although the majority of callers were recorded as anonymous, there are a few entries that include names. Those names have been redacted to protect privacy.
Two scanned pages of a document
Transgender Committee meeting notes, early 2000s. This summary discusses the evolution of a trans-inclusionary mindset at the Cambridge Women’s Center.

To find out more about accessing the Cambridge Women’s Center records, email the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections at archives@northeastern.edu.

Aleks Renert (he/him) is a graduate student at Simmons University in the dual MA degree program in History and Library and Information Science, with a concentration in Archives Management. His academic background is history, with a focus on the Hispanic world and histories of class, gender, and colonialism. He received his BA in History from McGill University.

Box by Box: Inventorying the Theater Offensive Records

Since last fall, the processing team has been focused on inventorying unprocessed collections. Inventories allow staff and researchers to learn more about what’s in a collection, help locate materials of interest, and help staff strategize further processing or digitization work, as resources allow. A previous blog post described inventorying the Stull & Lee records. Currently, processing assistants are inventorying more recent donations to the archives. Over the next few months, we will be featuring collections our staff has found particularly interesting to inventory in their own words.

Abe Ryebeck surrounded by archival materials and an interested audience
Abe Rybeck (center, blue shirt) discusses the history of the Theater Offensive at a recent NUASC event, June 2024. Photo by Grace Millet.

Theater Offensive Records

By Julia Lee, Processing Assistant

I was excited to inventory the Theater Offensive records after meeting the company’s founder Abe Rybeck at a recent Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections (NUASC) event. Rybeck explained to a group of curious staff and guests the backstory of several Theater Offensive items on display and their connections to the activism he was engaged in during the 1980s. As an undergraduate theater major at Northeastern University, I learned about and participated in the Boston theater scene, so working with these records was particularly special, as they represent the history of a community I have been a part of.

climACTS POP! program
climACTS benefit program cover, 2008. The Theater Offensive records, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections

The Theater Offensive is an LGBTQ+ theater company that has engaged in performance and activism, often simultaneously, since its founding in 1989. The company works to support and uplift LGBTQ+ youth artists, especially BIPOC, in Greater Boston. NUASC has received several donations of records from the Theater Offensive over the years; the particular donation I inventoried includes materials primarily from the 2000s and 2010s and demonstrates the Theater Offensive’s continued efforts to call attention to the LGBTQ+ issues that Rybeck discussed. The intersection of sex positivity and community theater is evident from the name of their yearly benefit to support their programs: climACTS! These benefits make up a significant portion of the donated records, documented through publicity and planning materials.

A person dressed in a cowboy shirt and hat kisses the hands of a person wearing a blue blouse and headband
Noelia Ortiz Cortés (left) and Abe Rybeck in Immaculate Infection, circa 1999-2000. Photo by Craig Bailey. The Theater Offensive records, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections

A small section of materials chronicling the Theater Offensive’s predecessor, the United Fruit Company, even more directly support Rybeck’s accounts of the company’s “guerilla theater” protests in the form of dramatic, often satirical, public performances meant to call attention to societal issues. Even performance art can be clearly represented in material artifacts, whether it is captured in photographs, like the one of Rybeck and Noelia Ortiz Cortés in Immaculate Infection (right) or in items like the Fenway Official Cruiser Membership Card.

The card references the Back Bay Fens, which Rybeck explained was the location of many performances, as gay men often congregated in the area. Rybeck’s explanations of the company’s activism and beliefs are also echoed in the letter and order form addressed to a “fan” of the United Fruit Company. The order form in particular mentions the Hunks of Nicaragua Calendar and Homo Milk Carton, which were both displayed at the recent event and discussed by Rybeck.

Archival materials laid out, including a Hunks of Nicaragua Calendar of a pamphlet about Homo Milk
Hunks of Nicaragua calendar and the Homo Milk Carton from the Theater Offensive records, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections

Overall, I appreciated how the records fit into the arc of the Theater Office as an organization. It contains not just material from the company’s earliest days, but also reflects nearly two decades of the Theater Offensive’s evolution that leads to and shapes their programming and ideals today.

Learn more about how to access the Theater Offensive records by emailing archives@northeastern.edu. You can also browse digitized Theater Offensive content in Northeastern’s Digital Repository Service or check out a previous blog post about Theater Offensive records written by Grace Millet.

Julia Lee (she/her) is in her first year of the Simmons University Library and Information Science graduate program. She received her BA from Northeastern University with a combined major in English and Theatre. Her final Northeastern co-op was as a digital assistant for the Massachusetts State Archives.

Box by Box: Inventorying the Nancy Walker Papers

Since last fall, the processing team has been focused on inventorying unprocessed collections. Inventories allow staff and researchers to learn more about what’s in a collection, help locate materials of interest, and help staff strategize further processing or digitization work, as resources allow. A previous blog post described inventorying the Stull & Lee records. Currently, processing assistants are inventorying more recent donations to the archives. Over the next few months, we will be featuring collections our staff has found particularly interesting to inventory in their own words.

The Nancy Walker Papers

By Samuel Edwards, Processing Assistant

Nancy Walker, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

The Nancy Walker papers, donated to the archives this past year, document the life of lesbian activist and writer/journalist Nancy Walker (1935-1996). Walker was a writer for the Gay Community News, Bay Windows, and the Boston Phoenix, and was a prominent figure in Boston’s LGBTQ+ community from the late 1970s to the ’90s.

Part of what makes this collection fascinating is not just Walker’s own writing, but also her dedication to collecting all manner of LGBTQ+ periodicals and ephemera. Her papers provide a glimpse into the beginning of the gay liberation movement through the eyes of someone who considered herself a political moderate. Her collection is a snapshot of an important time in Boston’s LGBTQ+ history, when the gay rights movement was starting to have real organizing power and institutions like Gay Community News were taking shape.

When I go through the collection, I imagine that I’m Nancy Walker herself, reporting on issues that matter to the gay community that few in the mainstream would cover at that time, and embroiled in a whole mess of loving yet intense intracommunity debate. As someone who has also been involved in LGBTQ+ activism, it strikes me how, in some ways, things have really changed, but in other ways, they haven’t at all!

One item that showcases that complex, interconnected, and exciting social world is the 14th Annual Boston Lesbian & Gay Pride Celebration Calendar of Events, with the iconic Lavender Rhino on the cover. I love these event calendars because it makes it even easier to envision what life was like in this community at the time. It shows many expected social groups and dances, as well as organizations that are still active today, like the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (BAGLY). However, it also showcases some events you may have never considered, like a Lesbian Whale Watch.

14th Annual Boston Lesbian & Gay Pride Celebration Calendar of Events cover and page, 1984. Nancy Walker papers, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

The collection documents more than just Boston history and Walker’s own identities, and some items showcase unexpected LGBTQ+ history. One example is an article from Back/Chat, a newsletter for the Community Homophile Association of Toronto. It was written in 1974 by Lee Paul Anderson, a trans teenager, and describes some of his experiences and frustration with gender roles. This document reflects the history of trans youth prior to contemporary mainstream media attention.

An article from Back/Chat
Back/Chat first page, Volume 4 Number 3, 1974. Nancy Walker papers, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

This collection provides a window not into just Walker’s own life, but what the entire LGBTQ+ scene was like in Boston in the late ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s. You can also get a glimpse of LGBTQ+ Toronto, as Walker lived there before moving to Boston, a fact that highlights how one individual’s life can be a useful avenue into multiple histories.

If you are interested in LGBTQ+ history both in the general and local sense, I highly recommend giving the Nancy Walker papers a look. While you do, I would also recommend listening to Nancy Walker’s interview with the Making Gay History podcast to learn more about her fascinating life.

Contact the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections by emailing them at archives@northeastern.edu to find out more about how to view Nancy Walker’s papers.