Join us to improve Wikipedia's coverage of underrepresented groups in local Boston history. All participants, in-person and remote, welcome!
When: Wednesday October 23rd, 2013, 12:00pm-5:00pm Where: Northeastern University Libraries and Archives, Room 90 in Snell Library Focus: Boston History and Social Justice Snacks? Yes! We will provide refreshments.
This edit-a-thon is part of Open Access to Massachusetts History 2013.

Event Details

Interested in the history of Boston activism? Want to learn some basics of creating new Wikipedia articles, and go on a special behind-the-scenes tour of Northeastern University's Special Collections and Archives? Join us to increase Wikipedia's coverage of people, places, events, and organizations important to Boston history and activism in Boston.

Please either RSVP below, or email the organizer so we know how many to expect.

The library is located on the Northeastern University campus, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

This is near the Ruggles stop on the Orange Line or the Northeastern stop on the Green Line E Branch. More driving and parking directions are available here.

About Us

Since 1998, the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections Department locates, secures, and makes accessible the most important and at-risk historical records of Boston's African American, Chinese, GLBTQ, and Latino communities. The Special Collections at Northeastern preserve the records of Boston-area social justice organizations that serve under-represented communities, such as the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, La Alianza Hispana, Theater Offensive, the Papers of Melnea Cass, the Chinese Progressive Association and more.

Schedule

If possible, create your Wikipedia account ahead of time. If you can't, that's not a problem: we will help you at the Edit-a-thon. On the day of, you will just need to bring a laptop and power supply.

12:00pm - 12:15pm: Check-in and welcome

12:15pm - 1:00pm: Tour of Archives and Special Collections

1:00pm - 1:30pm: Beginner intro to Wikipedia editing

1:30pm - 4:30pm: Edit-a-thon!

4:30-pm - 5:00pm: Wrap-up and thanks

Logistics

Location and directions
Twitter: Hashtag #OAMass13, @ClubSnell or @Snell_Research
WiFi: Use NUWave-guest
What to Bring: Attendees should bring their own laptops and power cords, and will need a photo ID to sign into the library. Just let the front desk staff know you are here for the edit-a-thon.
Contact the organizers: If you have questions ahead of time, contact Amanda Rust. For directions and help finding the building on the day of, call the library's Circulation Desk at (617) 373-8778.

Sign Up and Guest List

Attending

Lee Bracken

Maric Kramer

Participating Remotely

Regrets

Suggested Topics

Suggested new articles, but you are not limited to this list. Developed by the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections.

People

Carmen Pola, Latina activist and civic leader, she directed the Project to Monitor the Code of Discipline at the Massachusetts Advocacy Center, she was liaison to Boston’s Hispanic community during Raymond Flynn's successful mayoral bid in 1983, and she was the first director of Constituent Services under Flynn’s administration and later served as his senior advisor on human needs. View guide to her personal papers.
Phyllis M. Ryan, (1927-1998), social justice and political activist, supported school desegregation, prison reform, welfare reform, the establishment of disability rights, and civil rights organizations, such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). View guide to her personal papers.
Prominent residents of Roxbury, including Rev. Michael Haynes and Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing, who were interviewed through Northeastern University’s Lower Roxbury Black History Project, a collection of oral histories documenting Roxbury during the early to mid-twentieth century. View a list of participants and the guide to the records.
Muriel S. Snowden (1916-1988) and Otto P. Snowden (1914-1995), African American social workers, were the founders and co-directors of Freedom House (Roxbury, Massachusetts), a center for neighborhood improvement and community activism in Roxbury, Massachusetts. View guide to their personal papers.
Elma Lewis, founder and leader of national organizations for African-Americans in the performing and visual arts. View guide to her personal papers
Sara R. Ehrmann (1895-1993), a Boston-area civic leader best known for her regional and national work as an opponent of capital punishment, sparked by the Sacco and Vanzetti case. View guide to her personal papers

Places

Events

Businesses/Organizations

African American

Citywide Educational Coalition played an important role in the desegregation of the Boston Public Schools and advocated for school reform by providing parents with the skills necessary to participate in shaping education policy. View guide to the records.
Lower Roxbury Community Corporation was established in 1966 to provide Lower Roxbury residents a voice in urban renewal projects, foster social services, improve local schooling and education, and encourage local business developments. View guide to the records.
Men of All Colors Together (Boston) engages in educational, political, cultural, and social activities which foster supportive environments to overcome racial and cultural inequalities. View guide to the records.
Roxbury Multi-Service Center, a social service agency, founded in 1963 to offer programs and services designed to empower the residents of Roxbury and North Dorchester to become economically and socially self-sufficient. View guide to the records.

Asian American

The Chinese Progressive Association, a grassroots community organization, was founded in 1977 to provide Chinatown residents a forum for their concerns and a way to communicate their vision for the community to officials of the City of Boston and of the Commonwealth. The Association provides support for workers and immigrants, particularly new Asian immigrants, needing translation services or other support. View guide to the records.

Environmental Justice

Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project: youth-led community organizing to build the power of communities of color and low-income communities in Massachusetts to eradicate environmental racism and classism, create healthy, sustainable communities, and achieve environmental justice.

Feminism

Chartered as the Boston Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1991, Boston Coalition of Black Women, Inc. provides African American women in Boston with a social and political forum, and the resources to become involved in the community through education, social, economic, and civil action. View guide to the records.
Female Liberation: A Radical Feminist Organization was founded in 1968 to create a community that worked for and supported women’s issues in the Boston area. The organization also published The Second Wave magazine. In 1974, Female Liberation disbanded into three groups, The Second Wave Journal, I Am Woman radio show, and a third group that planned to publish an unnamed female liberation newspaper. View guide to the records.
Sister Courage (1974-1978) was a newspaper dedicated to providing a forum where Boston area women could contribute their experiences and ideas while developing feminist theory and strategy. View guide to the records.
The Women's Action Coalition chapter in Boston (1992-1996) was committed to taking direct action on issues related to the rights of women. Members of the organization participated in marches, rallies, and demonstrations supporting abortion rights, breast cancer awareness, lesbian and gay rights, and welfare rights. View guide to the records.
The Women's Coffeehouse (1979-1989) was founded to provide a space for women to enjoy safely cultural activities and to spark discourse about their shared issues and concerns. View guide to the records.
The Women's Educational Center (Cambridge, Mass.), established in 1971, provides women with resources and support needed to overcome conditions of domestic violence, sexual abuse, poverty, discrimination, social isolation, and degradation. View guide to the records.
Women's Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), a multicultural women's organization, increases the number and diversity of women leaders in the Massachusetts labor movement and increase their effectiveness as organizers in their unions and community organizations. View guide to the records.

Hearing Impaired

Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing (1916-2003) provided services to people with hearing impairments, including lip reading classes and advocating for technologies to test and improve hearing. View guide to the records.

Housing

Founded in 1988, Cambridge Eviction Free Zone (EFZ) was a tenant-run community organization that worked for social and economic justice in the areas of housing and voting rights until its disbandment in 2007. View guide to the records.
Committee for Cambridge Rent Control (CCRC) was founded in 2003 by the Cambridge Eviction Free Zone to develop an initiative petition to re–establish rent control in Cambridge, Massachusetts until its disbandment in 2003. View guide to the records.
Established in 1916, Travelers Aid Family Services provides services to increase homelessness prevention efforts and create affordable housing in Boston. View guide to the records.

LGBTQ

The Boston Intercollegiate Lesbian and Gay Alliance (BILGA) was created in 1983 as an umbrella organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student groups in the Boston area. View guide to the records.
The Gay Academic Union of New England (GAU) was founded in 1973 to institutionalize gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender studies and activism at colleges and universities throughout the United States until its disbandment in 1984. View guide to the records.
Gay and Lesbian Labor Activists Network campaigns for lesbian and gay liberation, fights against homophobia in the labor movement, and educates the lesbian and gay community about the importance of organized labor. View guide to the records.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Political Alliance of Massachusetts is a political advocacy organization for gay and lesbian rights. View guide to the records.
The Triangle Theater Company (1979-1996) provided a supportive environment in which gay men and women could work in theater. View guide to the records.

Latino

Founded in 1968, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción is a grassroots organization in Boston’s South End that provides services for youth, families, adults, and the elderly through community organizing, educational, civic, cultural, and peer leadership. View guide to the records.
Established in 1968, La Alianza Hispana, the first Latino organization in Boston, provides education, family counseling, public health, and youth development programs to Boston’s Latino community. View guide to the records.

Prison Reform

Community Resources for Justice provides services to ex–offenders to re–integrate them into society, and reforming the criminal justice system through public policy development. View guide to the records.

Boston History and Social Justice Resources

The Boston Globe Archive
GenderWatch
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Lexis Nexis
JSTOR
Project MUSE
Bay Windows
Bay State Banner
Google News
Google Books
Google Scholar
Boston's Latino Community History, an online archive of 41,250 documents, images, and posters, from the Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción and La Alianza Hispana collections documenting the two organizations’ work in public policy formation, community relations, affordable housing, urban planning and housing rehabilitation, cultural and educational programming, violence prevention, and minority rights.

Wikipedia Help

Results

New articles created

Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing.

Cambridge Eviction Free Zone

Articles expanded or improved

Added references and cleaned up references for Muriel S. Snowden.

Event Photos