UMass Lowell History Department

Welcome to our Archives Spring Intern Summer series! In the spring semester, we welcomed a handful of undergraduate students from UML's Intro to Archives class to help us do some processing at the Center for Lowell History. Three students worked with the International Institute (II) of Lowell collection, a large collection documenting the work of the Lowell branch of II, which has helped immigrants settle into the city since 1918. Each student picked a story from the archive that interested them and did a write-up to be shared on social media.

Today's pick is from Henry K., who was able to consult with his own family to translate this letter that was written in Ukrainian. Henry writes:

This letter was written in 1950 by Iwan Szmatko. Szamtko was a Ukrainian man who was a Holocaust survivor and was in a refugee camp in Germany. Szmatko was stateless and had no family, meaning he had nowhere he could go back to. So, he wrote this letter, addressed to a friend in America. He describes how the conditions in the camp aren’t very good, and how he wants to move to America. A chunk of this letter is him making a case for why he should be allowed to immigrate, saying he is a hard worker and how he wouldn’t be a burden when he arrived.

From Thursday, July 9, through Sunday, July 12, UMass Amherst will be hosting the "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" conference.

Prof. dann Broyld will be one of the keynote speakers!

Marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this conference assembles scholars and graduate students who will present papers that examine the cultures,
events, and experiences of the American Revolutionary War across the liminal borders (regional and proto-national) of British North America.

Go here to register for the conference: https://slaverynorth.com/rrr-conference/ !

Conferences - Slavery North Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution Slavery North Academic Conference On the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, join Slavery North for a conference that rethinks the cultures, events, and experiences of the A...

Dr. Jane Sancinito was interviewed for public radio this summer. She was interviewed about the history of the alphabet for GBH Boston’s Curiosity Desk, which aired on June 4. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/live/rYCSZ4Ugzm0?si=Q2LtnlDN24d8_39i

Dr. Sancinito's research answers the question asked at timestamp 2:48:00 to 2:53:00.

Boston Public Radio, The Curiosity Desk, & The Culture Show Live Thursday, June 4, 2026 Today on Boston Public Radio: Political analyst Chuck Todd, and Kay...

Join Prof. Bob Forrant and others in Lowell for an upcoming reading of Frederick Douglass's historic speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?"! Douglass, one of the leading abolitionists and fighters for racial equality during the nineteenth century, gave this speech at Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852.

The reading will take place on Thursday, June 11, starting at 6 p.m., in the Luna Theater at the Lowell Community Charter Public School. Light refreshments will follow.

Scan the QR code in the flyer to reserve FREE TICKETS!

For any questions, please contact Prof. Forrant via email at [email protected].

Congratulations to the History students who graduated on Saturday!

Chandaranee Khoeun, Owen Fryns, and Samuel Almeida are three of our History Department and Commonwealth Honors College graduates this year. Congratulations!

In April, Prof. Christoph Strobel published a new book: "Settler Colonial Culture and Thought in the Northeastern United States" https://www.routledge.com/Settler-Colonial-Culture-and-Thought-in-the-Northeastern-United-States/Strobel/p/book/9781032640518

This monograph provides the first comprehensive work that examines the intellectual impact of New English narratives about Indigenous peoples, colonization, and the cultural influence they had in the northeastern United States.

Last night, we celebrated the upcoming graduation of NINETEEN of our students!

Samuel Almeida
Molly Braley
Morgan Burns
Ingryd Dantas
Ben Doyen
Tanner Hume
Daranee Khoeun
James Lake
Alex Lee
Ullysses Logan
Courtney Markham
Peter McCallion
David Nguyen
Christopher Pelletier
Jack Petersen
Jacob Schiller
Michael Shank
Richard Silvio
Nicholas Solt

Three students spoke during the party to reflect on their experiences studying history at UML: Jack Petersen, Daranee Khoeun, and Samuel Almeida.

There was pizza from Broadway Pizza and cake!

Congratulations, students!