Forman, Sylvia Helen, 1944 or 1945-1992
Sylvia Helen Forman Collection
1983-1987
MS 341
1 box
(0.5 linear feet)
Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries
Shortly after receiving her doctorate from the University of California Berkeley in 1972, the anthropologist Sylvia Helen Forman joined the faculty at UMass Amherst. A staunch feminist and activist, Forman was known for her commitment to her students and to the political life at the university, and for her engagement in the community. She died of cancer in 1992, just 48 years old.
The nine papers in this collection were the products of studies by students enrolled in Forman's Anthropology 497 class at UMass Amherst. All are intensive analyses of issues of race, gender, and social justice in local communities, including disability, teenage pregnancy, child care, Cambodian refugees, and attitudes toward community living and community change.
English
The anthropologist Sylvia Helen Forman (1944 or 1945-1994) received her doctorate from the University of California Berkeley in 1972 for her study of law and conflict in rural highland Ecuador and the following year she joined the faculty at UMass Amherst. From early in her career, she stood out as an advocate for her students and was instrumental in building cross-connections among anthropologists in the Five Colleges to expand opportunities for study, and she forged strong connections as well with the developing programs in women's studies.
A feminist and activist, deeply involved in campus politics, Forman was known around the UMass campus for her passion for social justice and her commitment to challenging the image of her field as a white men. In the profession, she was known as one of the founders of the Association for Feminist Anthropology in 1998. When Forman died of lung cancer in 1992, she bequeathed $100,000 of her estate to endow a fund to support a scholarship fund for Third World students wishing to study anthropology at UMass.
The nine papers in this collection were the products of studies by students enrolled in Forman's Anthropology 497 class at UMass Amherst. All are intensive analyses of issues of race, gender, and social justice in local communities, including disability, teenage pregnancy, child care, Cambodian refugees, and attitudes toward community living and community change.
The collection is open for research.
Cite as: Sylvia Forman Collection (MS 341). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Massachusetts (West)
Social justice
UMass (1947- )
UMass students
Women and feminism
Gift of Sylvia Forman, 1989.
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Aug. 2017.
University of Massachusetts Amherst--Students
Anthropology--Massachusetts
Cambodians--Massachusetts
Child care--Massachusetts
Community and college--Massachusetts--Amherst
Teenage pregnancy--Massachusetts--Holyoke
Amherst (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
Deerfield (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
Hadley (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
Holyoke (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
Leverett (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
Pelham (Mass.)--Social conditions--20th century
1
Barnaba, Pier and Tryna Hope
The right of return: perspectives on community living
1985 Aug.
1
Blanchard, Eliza; David Chevalier; and Maritza Guzman
Teenage pregnancy: a needs assessment of young women's perceptions about and access to family planning services and prenatal care in Holyoke
1987 June
1
Deliso, Peter and Michelle Patterson
Crossing lines: a community relations project: Amherst-Hadley-the University of Massachusetts
1984 Aug. 2
1
Fabel, Elizabeth; Lisa Sammet; and Joan White
Community growth: planning for the future of Leverett
1985 Dec.
1
Frick, Gregory D. and Hans A. Helgerson
Knowing Deerfield: A survey of perceptions, information transfer, and citizen involvement in Deerfield, Ma.
1983 June
1
Groves, Alison
Pelham and change: a study in citizen perception with regard to growth in Pelham, Massachusetts
1987
1
Halverson, Sheril and Cheryl Tausky-Hollocher
Availability of child care to lower-income parents in Amherst : A needs assessment
1984 May 31
1
Lopez, Felice and Joyce Conlon
Reaching out: a report in cultural diversity
1987 June 15
1
Schneider, Cathy and Suellen Loyd
An informational study of a select group of Cambodian refugees and their sponsors
1986 Feb.