Oral History Interviews with the Secretaries of the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs 2002-2006 Guide to the Collection This project was funded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust. There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the Charles H. W. Foster interviews (and transcripts).

Table of Contents Collection Summary Collection Description Restrictions on Access Restrictions on Use Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Collection Description

The oral history project arose as part of the Massachusetts Historical Society's collecting and programmatic initiatives in the area of environmental history. As valuable background for the project and as a research collection in its own right, a series of oral history interviews with the former secretaries of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), perhaps the main environmental force in Massachusetts, were conducted between December 2002 and May 2003. The secretaries in chronological order are: Dr. Charles H. W. Foster (1971-1975), Dr. Evelyn F. Murphy (1975-1979), Dr. John A. Bewick (1979-1983), James S. Hoyte, Esq. (1983-1988), John P. DeVillars (1988-1991), Susan F. Tierney (1991-1993), Trudy Coxe (1993-1998), and Robert A. Durand (1999-2003).

The collection includes transcripts of interviews, interviewers' notes for most of the interviews, and general background information for the project. There is also an introduction written by Carolyn Barske, one of the project interviewers. There are two audio storage boxes (stored separately with the MHS audio/visual collections), containing cassette tapes of the oral history interviews. However, there is no tape of the Susan F. Tierney interview.

Interviews are listed below in chronological order of the interviewees' appointments to the position.

Restrictions on Access

There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the Charles H. W. Foster interviews (and transcripts).

Restrictions on Use

The Massachusetts Historical Society does not claim ownership to the Charles H. W. Foster interviews in the Oral History Interviews with the Secretaries of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Enviromental Affairs. The rights to the two interviews with Mr. Foster, including the transcriptions, have been retained by Charles H. W. Foster.

The Massachusetts Historical Society cannot give permission to publish or quote from materials by individuals for whom it does not hold copyright. Access to Mr. Foster's interview or its transcription does not imply permission to quote or publish, all or in part, from its contents. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to contact the Historical Society in writing to request permission to quote or publish these materials. The Historical Society will then forward the formal written request to the appropriate party.

No copies of the recorded interviews or photocopies from the transcriptions may be made without the permission of Mr. Foster or his heirs. If approved, personal use photocopies may not be donated or deposited in other libraries or archives, or made available to other researchers without written permission.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Oral history interviews with the secretaries of the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.