Connor Shaw

When an archivist from Harvard asked Connor Shaw for his thoughts during a question-and-answer session at a professional conference, it was a turning point for the UMass Lowell English major.

“The idea that someone I saw as so much more advanced in their career was asking me about something, it made me feel like I made it and that this truly is the right path for me,” Shaw says.

The exchange took place at the New England Archivists Conference in Portland, Maine, during the spring of Shaw’s junior year, after he presented a digital exhibit about Lowell’s Armenian community. Shaw created the exhibit through an Honors College fellowship at the Center for Lowell History, an opportunity that confirmed his desire to pursue archival work as a career. 

“I had no experience in archival work, but it was a field I thought sounded interesting,” says Shaw, who applied for the fellowship as a first-year student. “What may feel like a small opportunity can quickly grow into massive things.”

The fellowship introduced Shaw to handling historical materials, digitizing documents and conducting long-term research. The resulting exhibit, The Armenian Community of Lowell, explores the experiences of four families who fled the Armenian genocide and later made Lowell their home.

Shaw researched, designed and wrote the exhibit, which examines the families’ immigration experiences, challenges and efforts to build a community in the city.

“My English major has taught me how to see the materials at the archives not just for what they are, but how they connect to the world as a whole,” Shaw says. “When it comes to public-facing materials like an exhibit, it needs to be both informative and interesting.”

Shaw’s creative writing concentration has helped him make historical information accessible to a broad audience.

“By learning memoir writing, fiction writing and poetry, I’ve learned how to make things interesting and fun for all involved,” he says.

As a student employee with the Center for Lowell History, part of the UMass Lowell Library, Shaw has also worked on materials donated by UML alum Paul Marion ’76, ’05 and his wife, Rosemary Noon. He is helping to process, arrange and describe the collection of journals, correspondence, photographs and other materials connected to Lowell’s cultural history, as well as create a search tool for researchers and the public. 

Shaw is pursuing minors in German studies and medieval and Renaissance studies. The Fitchburg native had never flown on an airplane before starting college, but has now participated in three study abroad programs: Paris, London and Germany.

The programs introduced Shaw to new people and unfamiliar places. He even made a friend from Uruguay during his time in Germany and has begun planning future trips to visit friends he met abroad.

“I want to find new ways to keep traveling and meeting new people — just trying to expand all of my horizons,” Shaw says.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Shaw plans to pursue a master’s degree in library science with a focus on digitization — a field he sees as essential to preserving historical materials for future generations.

“Photos will eventually degrade, and papers will slowly crumble,” Shaw says. “However, digitization provides a second life to these materials that not only preserves them, but makes it easier for people around the world to access them.”