Archives and Special Collections
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Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids

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Collection Overview
Title:Lowell Institute School Alumni Association records
Dates:1905-1996
Location:71/3
Call Number:M30
Volume:4.30 cubic ft. (6 boxes)
Scope and Content Abstract:The Lowell Institute School Alumni Association records offer insight into the structure, functions, and activities of the association and its membership.  The collection also provides demographic information on almost every alumnus of the Lowell Institute School through 1955. The collection includes memoranda, bulletins, correspondence, reports, newsletters, photographs of alumni (1940-55), photographic half-tone plates of yearbook images, and a phonograph-recorded speech by the Lowell Institute School's first director, Charles F. Park (ca. 1936).
Historical Abstract:The Lowell Institute School was founded in 1903 to provide technical training to industrial workers seeking to enhance their skills.  Its Alumni Association was founded in 1905 by members of the Lowell Institute School's first graduating class, the Class of 1905.  The association A adopted its first Constitution in 1906 with the mission of "maintaining and increasing the interest of the graduates in the school...[and] increasing the influence and reputation of the school in the industrial community...."  In an effort to help alumni find employment, the association established an Employment Bureau (ca. 1911).  Although the bureau was eventually phased out, the association maintained job placement information on graduates through the mid-1950s and possibly later.  The association activity waned considerably during the early 1970s; nevertheless, the association's bulletin, the Alumni News, continued to be published until 1996 when the Lowell Institute School moved to Northeastern University.
Arrangement:The collection is organized into in four series: Series I. Administrative Files, Series II. Correspondence Files, Series III. Subject Files, and Series IV. Student Files.
Subjects and Contributors:
  • Park, Charles Francis.

  • Lowell Institute School. Alumni Association.
  • Lowell Institute School Alumni.
  • Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). Lowell Institute School Alumni.
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alumni.

  • Associations--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Technical Institutes--Alumni.
  • Vocational school graduates--Massachusetts--Boston.
Restrictions:Records are closed for 25 years from the date of their creation, unless researchers have written permission from the creating office.
Processor:Finding aid prepared by Karen Abramson, March 1999

Scope and Content Note

The Lowell Institute School Alumni Association (LISAA) Records span the years 1905-96 (bulk 1905-74) and comprise 4.3 cubic feet of material organized into four series: Administrative Files, Correspondence Files, Subject Files, and Student Files.  These records offer insight into the structure, functions, and activities of the association and its membership and provide demographic information on almost every alumnus of the Lowell  Institute School through 1955.  The collection contains memoranda, bulletins, correspondence, reports, newsletters, photographs of alumni (1940-55), photographic half-tone plates of Lowell Institute School yearbook images, and a phonograph-recorded speech by the Lowell Institute School's first director, Charles F. Park (ca. 1936).

Historical Note

The Lowell Institute School was founded in 1903 to provide technical training to industrial workers seeking to enhance their skills.  Its Alumni Association was founded in June 1905 by members of the Lowell Institute School's first graduating class, the Class of 1905.  The first meeting of the association was held in Everett, Mass. at the home of alumnus Oliver Macy and was attended by 14 recent graduates.  During the meeting, a committee of three men (Macy, George Webster, and Ernest Chase) was appointed to draw up a constitution, nominate officers, and recommend a "class tax," or membership fee.  The founding members voted to institute an annual membership fee of 50 cents. With the adoption of its first Constitution in 1906, the association was officially named the Alumni Association of the Lowell Institute School for Industrial Foremen.  Its mission was to "further the well being of the school by maintaining and increasing the interest of the graduates in the school and in each other; by increasing the influence and reputation of the school in the industrial community and by assisting the work of the school in all ways possible." 

The Constitution laid the foundation for the association's administrative structure and functions and stipulated that: all Lowell Institute School graduates were considered members; the offices of President, Vice President, and Secretary were to be elected by ballot at the association's annual meeting and comprise the core of the Executive Committee; the Secretary was to perform the additional duties of Treasurer; and the payment of $10.00 up front constituted Life Membership in the association. Upon graduating from the Lowell Institute School, members of the Class of 1905 gave a banquet honoring Trustee A. Lawrence Lowell and the school faculty for their efforts on behalf of the student body.  This event inaugurated the institution of an annual alumni banquet to which the school's trustees, faculty, and the president of MIT were traditionally invited.

 

In 1908 the association's Executive Committee adopted a school pin, made the office of Secretary a permanent position, and established an Auditing Committee with the purpose of examining all records and accounts of the association.  Over time, the association expanded its committee roster to include a Nominating Committee, Reorganization Committee, Membership Committee, Planning Committee, Publication Committee, Park Memorial Fund Committee, Social Activities Committee, and Student Relations Committee.  Concerned about its dwindling membership during the Great Depression, the association established an Advisory Council in 1936.  The council was composed of members from each graduating class since 1905 and was charged with forging and maintaining contact with all Lowell Institute School graduates and recruiting them to the Alumni Association.

 

The association held annual business meetings attended by its officers and members.  These meetings provided a forum for reviewing committee annual reports, selecting and installing new officers and committee members, discussing old and new business, and socializing with fellow members.  Originally held during the winter (Jan. or Feb.), the annual business meeting was moved to banquet night (May) in 1949.  In the effort to help alumni find employment matching their technical skills and interests, the association established an Employment Bureau (1911 or earlier).  Although the bureau was eventually phased out, the association maintained job placement information on graduates through the mid-1950s and possibly later.

 

After the death of the Lowell Institute School's first director, Charles Park, in 1944, the Charles Francis Park Memorial Fund Committee was founded in his memory.  Composed of long-time association members including A.B. McKechnie '10, F.J. Emery  '17, F.A. Giesel  '27, R.B. Cheney  '17, and B.K. Thorogood '07, the committee was responsible for establishing the Charles Francis Park Memorial Fund.  In addition, the committee instituted the annual award of a Charles Park Silver Medal to the most outstanding graduating student.  Eventually, surplus funds were used to develop the Charles Francis Park Scholarship Fund which provided tuition assistance to eligible alumni seeking further education. The association's activity waned considerably during the early 1970s and all correspondence to/from the Secretary-Treasurer ceased in 1974; nevertheless, the association's bulletin, the Alumni News, continued to be published until 1996 when the Lowell Institute School was transferred to Northeastern University.
Chronology of the Lowell Institute School Alumni Association Treasurer-Secretaries
1905-1907   Ernest Chase
1907-1909Edward Temple
1909-1920?M.C. Mackenzie
1920-1937Francis Emery
1937-1940Herbert Wilson
1940-1955Robert Cheney
1955-1965James Aitken
1961-1962James Crawford
1962-1974B. Joseph Patten
Bibliography

Box 1: Folders 2, 5, 10, 20, 22, 26. Box 2: Folder 71.  
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Series:
1. Administrative Files, 1905-1987 (bulk 1905-1970) 
Volume:0.7 cubic ft.
Arrangement:

Alphabetical then chronological.
Summary:

The series documents the association's administrative structure, functions, and activities from its inception until the early 1970s.  Included are minutes from the association's earliest meetings and a draft of its first Constitution (Box 1, Folders 20, 26).  Subsequent minutes document the activities of the association's various committees, particularly the Executive Committee (Box 1, Folders 10-13).  The series also contains information on the genesis and development of the Charles F. Park Memorial Fund (Box 1, Folders 5-7) and on core activities and events including annual business meetings and class elections (Box 1, Folders 2, 21).  Financial records document the association's income and expenditures, including individual alumni dues payments, over a 35-year period (Box 1, Folders 23-24).  Reports such as the "Condition of the Association" (1936) provide a comprehensive overview of the association's growth and development during its early years (Box 1, Folder 10).
BoxTitleDate
1Advisory Counciln.d., 1936
1Annual Business Meeting1914-1948
1Audit Committee Report1970
1Bulletinsn.d., 1907-1963
1Charles Francis Park Memorial Fund (3 folders)n.d., 1944-1971
1Class Representativesn.d., 1944-1947
 Committees 
1Assignments1961-1962
1Executive (2 folders)n.d., 1907-1974
1Membership1961-1962
1Planning1969
1Publication1917
1Reorganization1910-1911
1Social Activities1963
1Student Relations1970
1Constitutionn.d., 1906-1927
1Electionsn.d., 1911-1970, 1987
1Employment Bureau1918
1Financial Records (2 folders)1927-1962
1Membership Informationn.d., 1932-1938, 1960-1964
1Minutes and Notes1905-1912
1Officers1919-1970
1Secretary's Reports1908-1967
1Statisticsn.d., 1935-1940
1Treasurer's Reports1908-1967
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Series:
2. Correspondence Files, ca. 1907-1974
Volume:0.7 cubic ft.
Arrangement:

Alphabetically by correspondent, then chronologically.
Summary:

Primarily, the series documents correspondence between the association's Secretary-Treasurers and alumni regarding dues payments, social events, requests for school pins, rings, and the Alumni Record, elections, and address and membership updates.  Letters from alumni, particularly those approaching their 50th reunion, provide detailed curricula vitae from the time of their graduation from the Lowell Institute School.  In "Sketch of Massachusetts Reformatory" (1910), alumnus A.F. Cary documents his experience working in a men's reformatory (Box 1, Folder 40). Correspondence between the association's Employment Bureau and industrial firms throughout the country address job opportunities for Lowell Institute School alumni (Box 1, Folders 37-38).
BoxTitleDate
1Aitken, James M.n.d., 1955-1964
1Cantwell, Lawrence E.1966
1Chase, Ernest H.n.d.
1Cheney, Robert B.n.d., 1942-1955
1Crawford, James1960-1963
1Emery, Francis J.1920-1937
1Employment Bureau (A-Z)1911-1920
1Lutz, Robert F.ca. 1965
1Mackenzie, M.C. (A-Z) (2 folders)n.d., 1909-1918
1, 2Patten, B. Joseph (2 folders)1961-1974
2Temple, Edward H.1907?-1909
2Wilson, Herbert1939-1940
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Series:
3. Subject Files, 1905-1996
Volume:1.5 cubic ft.
Arrangement:

Alphabetical then chronological.
Summary:

"Report on the Alumni" (1936) documents the historical development of the LISAA and provides statistics on alumni's course of study, occupation, and salary from the years 1905-1935; also included are extensive comments from alumni regarding their experiences at the Lowell Institute School (Box 2, Folder 71). The series contains ample material on the association's annual banquet (Box 2, Folders 59-61), including a phonograph recording of the Lowell Institute School's director, Charles F. Park, addressing alumni at a banquet ca. 1936 (Box 4, Folder 107). Also included are speeches recruiting second-year students to the association (Box 2, Folder 65), copies of the Alumni News from 1957-96 (Box 2, Folders 56-57), photographic negatives from 1949-52  (Boxes 2-3, Folders 73-77) that match corresponding student head shots in Series IV (Box 3, Folders 92-95), and obituaries of various alumni, including Brackett Thorogood (Class of 1907), who wrote the association's first Constitution (Box 2, Folder 54). Of note are three issues of the Alumni Record, 1918-39 (Box 2, Folder 58), which publish graduating students (by name, address, course of study, and occupation), current and previous class officers, all graduates since 1905, and the LISAA Constitution. The master copy of the 1939 edition includes a type-written list of graduates from 1939-50.
BoxTitleDate
Alumni 
2Geographic Distribution1964
2Obituaries1920, 1951-1971
2Surveys1935, ca. 1969
2Alumni News (2 folders)1957-1996
2Alumni Record1918, 1920, 1939
2Annual Banquet (3 folders)1905-1972
2Douglass, Raymond D.: Biographical Sketches1954, 1965
2Employment Opportunities1972-1973
2"Guide to Photographic Files"n.d.
2"History and Alumni"n.d., 1940-1045
2Letterheadn.d.
2Lost Addressesca. 1944
2Lowell, A. Lawrencen.d., 1912
 Park, Charles F. 
2Correspondence and Obituary Notices1940-1944
4Recorded Speechca. 1936, ca. 1942
2Paerkinson, Royal: "Employee Magazine: Guide for Reporters from the Editor"n.d.
 Photographic Plates 
4Building #33n.d.
4Lowell Institute School Class Officers (3 folders)1925-1927
4Emblemn.d.
4Faculty (3 folders)n.d., ca. 1917
2"Report on the Alumni"1936
2Social Events1941-1965
2, 3Student Head Shots: Negatives1949-1952
3Students' Handbook: Draft1965
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Series:
4. Student Files, 1905-1969
Volume:1.3 cubic ft.
Arrangement:

Alphabetical then chronological.
Summary:

In addition to brief biographies, clippings, and resumes of various alumni (Box 3, Folder 79), the series includes class lists, including those of 50th reunion alumni (Box 3, Folders 80-81),  student file cards, and student records.  Student file cards are arranged chronologically by class (Boxes 5-6) and list each alumnus by class, age, marital status, address, occupation, business name and address, membership in engineering societies, and desired work; narrative information on educational and occupational experience is provided on the back.  Student records generated by the association's informal job placement service, bulk 1940-55, contain similar information on alumni, with the addition of 1 x 1 inch head shots attached to each form (Box 3, Folders 82-98). Student records are restricted for 75 years from the date of their creation.
BoxTitleDate
3Alumni Profilesn.d., 1965-1972
3Class Lists (2 folders)1905-1969
5-6Student File Cards1903-1920
3Student Recordsn.d., 1932-1955
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