About OMHA
The Office of Medical History and Archives is located in the Lamar Soutter Library on the first floor of UMass Chan Medical School. It is open only by appointment. Archivist Kristine Sjostedt can be reached at Kristine.Sjostedt@umassmed.edu or at 508-856-2204.
Mission
The Office of Medical History and Archives (OMHA) of the Lamar Soutter Library was established in 2006 to preserve and document the history of UMass Chan Medical School. Its mission is to collect, preserve, maintain, and make available for scholarly research, materials in all forms documenting the history of UMass Chan. The Medical History and Archives office is also charged with becoming a focus for historical activities, research, and writing that will contribute to a broader understanding of, and interest in, the history of this institution.
The Office is empowered to collect comprehensively all such departmental and institutional records that will contribute to the understanding of the history and development of UMass Chan Medical School, as well as to acquire oral histories, relevant papers, and artifacts of those who were an important part of its history. Such organizations, departments, and individuals include, but are not limited to, the administration of UMass Chan Medical School and its predecessors, the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (UMMC), the faculty, students, alumni and staff of the T. H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, and all affiliated organizations such as Commonwealth Medicine. Pertinent administrative records of University Hospital prior to its joining the Memorial Health Care system also will be sought, as will documents, oral histories, and other record types from relevant state and local officials and citizens.
Because the history of UMass Chan is ongoing, and because future historians of medicine and health care--not to mention future members of the UMass Chan community—will wish to understand the values, concerns, and decisions of their predecessors, collection development for the Archives is an ongoing process. In this way, we can preserve the heritage of the institution for future generations.
The goals of the Office of Medical History and Archives include the following:
- To collect, process, and preserve materials to document the history of UMass Chan Medical School
- To develop an awareness of the Archives among current and former administrators and faculty, students, staff, and alumni
- To develop historical accounts of UMass Chan Medical School utilizing various formats
- To commemorate significant anniversaries at UMass Chan
- To develop History of Medicine and Health Care programs at UMass Chan
- To foster awareness of the history of UMass Chan nationally, statewide, and in Worcester
Collection Development Policy
General Purpose:
The Institutional Archives of UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, was established in 2006 to collect, preserve, maintain, and make available for scholarly research, materials documenting the history of the institution and its place within the larger context of the history of medicine and health care in the region, the state, the nation, and the international community.
To accomplish this mission, the Lamar Soutter Library's Office of Medical History and Archives is empowered to comprehensively collect departmental and institutional records that will contribute to the understanding of the history and development of UMass Chan Medical School, as well as to acquire oral histories, relevant papers and artifacts of those who were, and continue to be, an important part of its community. Such organizations, departments, and individuals include, but are not limited to, the medical school and the UMMS Hospital administrations, faculty, students, alumnae, and staff of the T. H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, UMass Chan affiliates such as Commonwealth Medicine, as well as local and state officials and any other individuals, who have played a significant role in the life of the institution.
Scope of the Collection:
The following are examples of the kinds of documents to be collected:
- Correspondence
- Minutes
- Agendas
- Narrative reports
- Catalogues
- Ephemeral publications
- Scientific and technical reports
- Financial records
- Personnel and student records
- News clippings
- Selected research project materials (staff notebooks, reports, slides, etc.)
- Personal papers of selected administrators, researchers, clinicians, and members of the community
- Scrapbooks
- Architectural plans
- Oral histories
- Tapes, CDs, DVDs, and other AV materials
- Photographs
Such documents may be generated by the central administration of the University of Massachusetts system, UMass Chan, UMMS Hospital, the GSBS, and GSN, and, more selectively, by individual academic and non-academic departments and researchers of significance and from state and local individuals whose papers reflect a relationship to UMass Chan.
Staff
Kristine M. Sjostedt, MLS, is the Archivist at the Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester. She is a graduate of Smith College and earned her Master of Science in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archives Management from Simmons College.
Visiting the Archives
| Location: | The Office of Medical History and Archives is located in the Lamar Soutter Library on the first floor of UMass Chan Medical School. |
| Hours: | Open by appointment Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. |
| Schedule an appointment: | Email: Kristine Sjostedt, Archivist Phone: 508-856-2204 |
| Guidelines: | Researchers who visit the archives must abide by the Guidelines for Using Collections. |
| Directions: | Driving directions to UMass Chan Medical School |
Contact Us
- Kristine M. Sjostedt, MLS – Archivist
- Email: Kristine.Sjostedt@umassmed.edu
- Phone: 508-856-2204