Eartha Continues Her Efforts

While attending University of Massachusetts Boston, raising a family of three children (Claudia and Tom were born in the United States), working part time and, by the way, recovering from a fractured spine, Eartha set about developing the mechanism to capture Lawrence's history. She worked at what was then the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum (MVTM - later the Museum of American Textile History) as a weaving demonstrator on historic looms. After receiving her Bachelors Degree, she earned a degree in Library Science from Simmons College. With that in hand, she went back to work at MVTM. It soon became clear, however, that there was another story to tell about Lawrence that was not conveyed in that museum. MVTM's mission, according to the Director at that time, did not focus on the immigrant laborers, thus it declined the YWCA records. She then sought other options, including meeting with the Massachusetts State Archivist, who recommended that she organize a new history archives focusing on the special contribution of Lawrence to a broad array of American concerns, including immigration, ethnic interaction, labor and technology.