The Boltwood Project

It began with coffee.

In 1969, a professor and six students sat down at a café on Boltwood Walk in downtown Amherst and made a plan to show up for people society had shut away. More than fifty years and 11,000 students later, Boltwood is still showing up.

Black and white photograph of Amherst town common and its buildings, with the Holyoke Range beyond, around 1869

Five decades of showing up

The largest and longest continuously running community engagement program at UMass Amherst.

  1. 1969

    A conversation on Boltwood Walk

    Merle Willmann, a professor of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning who specialized in recreation, met with a small group of students at the Boltwood Walk Coffee Shop to talk about the world. He challenged them to visit Belchertown State School every week as companions to its residents. The six students named their project after the café, planned a ten-week schedule built on one-on-one companionship, and began.

    Downtown Amherst storefronts
  2. 1970s

    Growing into a program

    Before long, ten Boltwood groups were visiting Belchertown each week, each with its own paid student supervisor. The structure those first students built, small groups led by experienced peers, is still how Boltwood works today.

  3. 1992

    Beyond the institution

    Belchertown State School closed at the end of 1992, after two decades of court-ordered reform. As people moved into community homes and programs, Boltwood followed, placing students with partners across Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties: day programs, group homes, community centers and schools.

    Amherst Town Common in summer
  4. 2001

    Forty-two majors, fourteen programs

    In its 32nd year, Boltwood had 115 student volunteers from 42 majors, 14 student supervisors and 2 student coordinators, visiting 14 programs in Amherst, Northampton, Hadley and Turners Falls. That year a partnership began with the newly opened Berkshire Hills Music Academy in South Hadley. It still meets every week, on Tuesdays.

  5. 2012

    A new home at CESL

    Professor Willmann kept directing Boltwood for fifteen years after he retired from teaching. In May 2012 he handed it to UMass Civic Engagement & Service-Learning, which brought its students into CESL’s credit-bearing courses and kept every community partnership going.

    Aerial view of UMass Amherst
  6. 2025

    From friendship to advocacy

    Working with MassFamilies, Boltwood students took on their first legislative campaign, in support of S.1325, a bill to strengthen the direct care workforce. They made an infographic, a petition and a template letter to legislators, and gathered more than 100 signatures at a single campus event.

  7. Today

    The next generation

    More than 100 students a semester, 14 community sites and a commitment to disability rights. Members grow into site supervisors and co-coordinators, and help the next group find its footing.

    Boltwood members at orientation, Fall 2026

Sources: History of UMass CESL · UMass News · Belchertown State School. Original accounts: UMass CESL · the Boltwood archive

Merle Willmann, 1934–2021

Our founder believed an education should produce good in the world.

Merle Willmann joined the UMass Amherst faculty in 1963 and taught recreation and park management, planning and design for 34 years, the last fifteen as assistant head of his department. Before that he had been a competitive swimmer, a Red Cross swimming instructor for people with disabilities and a U.S. Army veteran.

He called directing the Boltwood Project one of his fondest memories. Under his leadership more than 11,000 students, from virtually every major at UMass, enrolled in Boltwood, and the university honored him with the Chancellor’s Outstanding Community Service Award.

Professor Willmann died at his home in South Deerfield in January 2021, at 86. Every Boltwood group that meets this week carries his idea forward.

Boltwood in the news

Coverage of Boltwood, its students and its partners over the years.

What we hold on to

Three values have guided Boltwood groups since the first visit in 1969.

  1. 01

    Belonging

    Make space for each person to take part, exactly as they are.

  2. 02

    Reciprocity

    Build friendships that enrich everyone involved. Everyone gives, and everyone gains.

  3. 03

    Learning

    Turn shared experiences into reflection, growth and advocacy for full inclusion.

Help us build the archive

Thousands of people have been part of Boltwood since 1969. We are gathering their stories, photos and memories into an oral history of the program.

  • Oral histories with past members and community participants
  • Old photos, newsletters and seminar programs
  • Spotlights on our sites and the people who make them
  • Short educational videos on disability rights and inclusion

Share your Boltwood story

Were you part of Boltwood, as a participant, family member, partner or student? We would love to hear from you.