David R. Spence Scrapbook
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)--Speeches, addresses, etc.
description: A scrapbook created by David R. Spence, Chicopee teacher, historian, and lecturer. The scrapbook contains materials related to Spence's activities in the early part of the 20th century, including poetry, letters from organizations he was involved in, and numerous newspaper articles advertising his lectures. The scrapbook also contains several loose-leaf pages with lecture notes and drafts of articles.
creator: David R. Spence Digitized by Kate Ouimette, CPL Archivist
language: English

David Spence Appearance on WWLP News, 1959
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Television Broadcasting---Springfield (Mass.)
description: A pale pink souvenir folder holding a black and white image of two men sitting near a low table, being filmed by a large camera labelled "WWLP." The photo is captioned "David R. Spence on left, with Television man, Thomas M. Colton 1959" and was provided by Western Massachusetts Electric Company.
date: 1959
format: Photographic print

Chicopee High School Alumni Association, Twenty-first Triennial Reunion 1926
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A cream-colored bifold program for the 21st Triennial Reunion of the Chicopee High School alumni, held in 1926. The left side lists the Alumni Association officers, and the right side has a very brief schedule of events.
date: 1926
format: Pamphlet

"The Message of the Chicopee"
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A typewritten reproduction of a poem titled "The Message of the Chicopee," originally printed in the 1925 Class Day issue of The Spectator by class poet Vina Spence. The paper has been cut into 4 segments in order to fit inside an envelope (also pictured). The envelope contains an additional note referring to a different item in the collection.
date: Original 1925; reproduction undated
format: Document

Chicopee High School Graduation Exercises, Class of 1925
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A cream-colored bifold program for the 1925 graduation from Chicopee High School. The front lists the date, time, and location; the inside lists the actual programme of events, as well as the lyrics for The Star Spangled Banner; the back lists the graduating students and memebrs of the Pro Merito Society.
date: 1925
format: Document

Under Cover, a Melodrama in Four Acts
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.); College and School Drama
description: A cream-colored bifold program for the Chicopee High School Class of 1924's presentation of "Under Cover: A Melodrama in Four Acts," performed April 25, 1924 in the high school auditorium. The play was created by R.C. Megrue, and directed by Mr William T. Simpson, with music by Melodious Quintet. The inside lists a synopsis of scenes, and the characters in order of appearance. There is a note that the furniture was provided by The Playhouse Theatre. The back lists everyone involved in the production aside from the actors.
date: 1924
format: Document

Chicopee High School Program of Studies, 1923-1924
subject: Curriculum Planning--Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A multi-paged booklet detailing the different curriculums a student could follow at Chicopee High School, with requirements for each one. There are several pencilled-in notes throughout, as well as a small tear in the last leaf.
date: 1923
format: Document

Chicopee High School Graduation Ticket, 1925
subject: Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: An off-white card reading "You are cordially invited to attend the Graduation Exercises of the Class of 1925 in the Auditorium of the High School on Thursday evening, June twenty-fifth nineteen hundred and twenty-five at 8 o'clock; please present at the door before 7.55 o'clock."
date: 1925
format: Document

Chicopee High School Class Day Pamphlet, 1924
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: An off-white tri-fold pamphlet regarding Class Day for Chicopee High School, held in the school auditorium on June 7th, 1924 at 3 o'clock. The outside portions provide the when-and-where details, and the inside sections provide a very brief history of Chicopee and a program of events for the day. Events seem to be a series of short plays or vignettes.
date: 1924
format: Document

Chicopee High School Class Day Program, 1925
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: An off-white sewn booklet regarding class day for Chicopee High School, 1925. The front reads "Class Day 1925, 'esse quam videri'." The inside pages provide a date and location (high school auditorium, June 6th 1925) and a program of events, which includes a number of musical presentations and essays. Also included are the words to the class song, and a list of students of the class of 1925.
date: 1925
format: Document

Chicopee Junior High School Graduation Exercises Program, 1921
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)
description: An off-white bifold program for the graduation exercises of the Chicopee Junior High School, class of 1921. The front provides the time and location (June 29, 1921 at the high school auditorium), and the inside provides the program of events, which includes several recitals and/or presentations. The back has the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner."
date: 1921
format: Document

Recital Program, 1919
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Music--Instruction and study
description: A cream-colored bifold program for a recital. The front reads "Recital by Pupils of Margaret E. Donnelly, Wednesday, July second nineteen hundred and nineteen, at eight o'clock at the Masonic Temple, 105 East Street; Program admits." The inside lists the cast members and their roles.
date: 1919
format: Document

Chicopee High Alumni Association Reunion, 1941
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)--Alumni and alumnae
description: A cream-colored bifold program for the 1941 reunion of the Chicopee High School's Alumni Association. The front reads " Twenty-sixth triennial reunion, Alumni Association, Chicopee High School, Saturday, June 21st, 1941, Seventy-fifth Anniversary." The inside lists the lyrics for a song titled "All Together Again," as well as a program of events. The program features several pieces from alumni ranging from the class of 1888 through the class of 1942. The back of the program contains lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne At School."
date: 1941
format: Document

"The Spectator," June 18, 1926
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A bifold newsletter in red font on off-white paper. "The Spectator" was the bi-weekly newspaper of Chicopee High School; this issue is from June 18, 1926 (Volume VII, Num. 14). The item has several small holes in it. This "Class Day" issue features several articles, and ads from local sponsors.
date: 1926
format: Document

"Early Chicopee," David Spence
subject: Industries--Chicopee (Mass.)
description: A typewritten set of notes, possibly in preparation of a talk, about the early industries in Chicopee, by David Spence. There are some corrections in pencil, and some damage that looks like burn damage in the upper left corner. On the third page the text cuts off abruptly, suggesting it wasn't finished or was a very rough draft.
date: Undated
format: Document

"An Old Deed to Chicopee"
subject: Deeds--Chicopee (Mass.); Colonization--Chicopee (Mass.)
description: A set of copies of an article titled "An Old Deed to Chicopee," with an image of the set of "signatures attached to old Chicopee deed." The three pages appear to be copies of the same article in different configurations. The article begins with a description of the purported deed between William Pynchon, Wenepawin, Misquis, Secousk, Jancompowin, and Nippumsuit for the land that would become Chicopee; and proceeds to reproduce the language of the deed in its entirety. It is notable that the deed reasserted the fishing rights of the Indigenous people "at the usuall wares [weirs] that now are in use." The article is not dated; the deed it reproduces is from 1641.
date: Undated
format: Document

Duryea Automobiles Founding Story
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Stevens-Duryea Company
description: A typewritten story/article about the purported founding of Stevens-Duryea Automobile Company in Chicopee Falls, MA, related by David Spence. The second page is typed on the back of a "suggested letter to be sent out to prospects" interested in buying a 1960 Studebaker Lark.
date: Undated, circa 1960
format: Document

The Old Cemetery at Chicopee Falls
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Cemeteries--History, local
description: A printed booklet with dark yellow covers, titled The Old Cemetery at Chicopee Falls. Published in a limited volume in 1973 for the Trustees of the Chicopee Falls Cemetery Association, it was printed by the Pond-Ekberg Company in Springfield, MA. At 8 pages long, it is a very brief history of the East Street Cemetery.
date: 1973
format: Document

David Spence Meats and Groceries 1906 Calendar
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)
description: A wall calendar with small tearaway pages mounted on dark gray board, with an image labeled "The Gassner House at Old Skip." The image has been taped on, but seems to be original and reattached (rather than unrelated and added on). The calendar is from David Spence Meats and Groceries, Cochran Street, Chicopee Falls MA, and is dated 1906.
date: 1906
format: Document

The City of Chicopee: A Brief Sketch
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)
description: Four typewritten pages recounting anecdotes about Chicopee history, including some about Gad Horton; the first murder trial in Chicopee; and Frank Korkosz, who went on to be the Curator of the Museum of Natural History in Springfield. The final page is numbered "12" and they all show signs of having been stapled multiple times, so there may have been more pages originally.
date: No date
format: Document

Some Day
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)
description: A poem by David Spence titled "Some Day," printed on an off-white card and dated February 4, 1933.
date: 1933
format: Document

The Spectator, June 11 1925
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A bifold copy of The Spectator, the Chicopee High newsletter. Volume 6, number 15, June 11, 1925; this is the Class Day issue. Printed in blue ink on white paper, it features several brief articles as well as advertisements.
date: 1925
format: Document

Cochran Street Sleigh
subject: Chicopee (Mass)
description: A small black and white snapshot of a horse-drawn sleigh with five passengers. The back is hand-labeled: "Front seat - David Spence + *Elizabeth Spence - grand-parents of Vina Spence Hughes. Back seat - Robert J. Spence + Vera Adams Spence - aunt + uncle of Vina. Baby in front seat - Marjorie Spence (Vina's first cousin) daughter of Robert Spence. White horse - Bess - belongs to David Spence [.] meat market + grocery store - belongs to David Spence - also 2 tenement house at left. Picture taken on Cochran St., Chicopee Falls, Mass. about 1911 [.] *Elizabeth Campbell Spence[.]" Print has been repaired with cellophane tape.
date: circa 1911
format: Photograph

Dalton Cottage, Bridgeton ME
subject: Bridgeton (Me.)--Fishing
description: A small black and white snapshot of three people standing in front of a house and holding a very full line of fish. The back is hand labeled: "Left to right[;] Alice Meeher Spence[;] David R. Spence[;] Agnes Campbell Dalton (first cousin of David)[;] At Dalton Cottage[,] Bridgeton, Maine[;] Circa 1919[.]" A sheet is hung between the subjects and the house, and two ladders lean against the wall in the right side of the image. The word "over" is written on the front right margin in pencil.
date: circa 1919
format: Photograph

Chicopee Savings Bank Card
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)--Banks and banking--History
description: A quarter-folded card with a colorful bird on the front made of feathers. The interior of the card details the history of the Chicopee Savings Bank on the ocassion of the 100th anniversary (March 6th, 1954).
date: 1954
format: Document

"A Legend of Mt Tom"
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Mount Tom (Mass.); Springfield (Mass.)--Colonization; King Philip's War, 1675-1676--Fiction
description: A 19-leaf booklet, hand-bound with (possibly brass) pronged fasteners (removed for digitization. The booklet is a typed poem, with annotations and corrections in pencil and in ink, as well as one small insert with a note. The covers are the same paper as the inner leaves, and the title is hand-written in ink. The back cover is blank, but a brief note written in ink on the last page dates the poem to June 30, 1905. While the poem refers to a real moment during King Philip's War (the siege of Springfield, MA, in 1675, everything else mentioned is a fictionalized narrative and utilizes racialized tropes and language. [Interestingly, it references a colonist named Patience Worth; while there is no record of her being real, in the 1910s there was a sensation surrounding a woman who claimed to be in contact with a (deceased) Patience Worth via a ouija board, through which Patience dictated novels and poetry.] *Processing note: the insides of both covers are deliberately blank; we refrained from scanning the blank reverse of inner pages to reduce the file size.
date: 1905
format: Document

Lifetime Pass
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Chicopee High School (Chicopee, Mass.)
description: A gold card with black type reading: Life Pass[;] This is to certify that David R. Spence by official vote of the Chicopee School Committee is entitled to admission along with one guest at all home games of Chicopee High School Varsity Teams. [signed by] Henry B. Fay[,] Principal, Chicopee High School[;] John L. Fitzpatrick[,] Superintendant." The card is laminated, and undated.
date: undated
format: Document

"Springfield in 1837, and the Varied Attractions of Chicopee" Article
subject: Chicopee (Mass.); Springfield (Mass.)
description: A newspaper clipping fixed to a larger sheet of paper, on which are brackets encircling the latter 2/3 of the article with a note saying "Chicopee." The clipping is very yellowed, and though the publishing newspaper is not identified, research suggests it was clipped from the Springfield Republican's August 31st, 1903 issue.
date: 1903
format: Document

"The Campbell Clan"
subject: Chicopee (Mass.)
description: A genealogy labeled "The Campbell Clan," which includes David R. and Vina Spence. The document has hand-painted plaid decorations in the letterhead, and the paper is in such brittle condition that it was fractured along the folds. The second page features annotation, and the two typed pages are accompanied by a handwritten page.
date: undated
format: Document