Massachusetts Archives and Libraries: Difference between revisions

{{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Allen County Public Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|American Antiquarian Society}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Berkshire Athenaeum}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Boston Massachusetts Family History Center}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Boston Public Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Dedham Historical Society Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Harvard University Houghton Library}} {{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Haverhill Public Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Jones Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Massachusetts Historical Society}}{{·}}}} {{AutoLink|Massachusetts State Archives}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|National Archives at Boston}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|New England Historic Genealogical Society}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|New York Public Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Onondaga Historical Association Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Peabody Essex Museum}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Pittsfield Federal Records Center}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Plymouth Public Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Springfield History Library and Archives}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|State Library of Massachusetts}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|University of Massachusetts Amherst Library}}{{·}}}} {{Nowrap|{{AutoLink|Vermont Historical Society}}}}

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[[Image:WorcesterMA AntiquarianSociety 2.jpg|thumb|right|280px|American Antiquarian Society in Worcester]]

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:The AAS is best known for its U.S. newspaper collection of over 18,000 bound volumes 1704-1820, history, genealogy, Bibles, maps, biography, directories, Native Americans, women, canals, railroads, photos, manuscripts.<ref name="DB59">Dollarhide and Bremer, 59.</ref>

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:Connecticut, Maine, '''Massachusetts''', New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont documents, photos, and maps of 80 federal agencies, War of 1812, fortifications, coastal facilities, World War II research at Harvard and MIT, federal bankruptcy courts, First Circuit Court of Appeals, Navy, Coast Guard, westward expansion, ethnology, genealogy, Revolutionary War, Civil War, captured German records, territorial papers, censuses, passenger arrival records for Boston and New England, Canadian border crossings.<ref name="DB124">William Dollarhide and Ronald A. Bremer. ''America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers'' (Bountiful, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1998), 124. {{WorldCat|39493985}}. {{FHL|728550|item|disp=FHL Ref Book 973 J54d}}.</ref><br><br>

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:Best overall collection for New England vital records and probates, and excellent collection for Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. The manuscript collection for members only has diaries, letters, account books, business papers, church and town records, sermons, maps, wills, deeds, unpublished town and family genealogies, photos, and papers of the region's best genealogists since 1850.<ref name="DB55759">Dollarhide and Bremer, 5, 57, and 59.</ref><br><br>

:Excellent historical materials, original town records, newspapers and genealogies. This collection does '''not''' repeat the New England Historic Genealogical Society collection.<ref name="DB57">Dollarhide and Bremer, 57.</ref><br><br>

:Government records, censuses, military records, land records, naturalizations, divorces, probate, name changes, and adoptions. Only 18 of the 328 volumes of the excellent ''Massachusetts Archives Collection'', aka Felt Collection, of 1629-1799 history are indexed online. The Archives' [http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcsrch/SearchWelcome.html online searchable collections] include:  

:*[http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcsrch/RevolutionarySearchContects.html The Massachusetts Archives Collection Database (1629-1799)] serves as a searchable, descriptive index and catalog for documents of eighteen volumes of the Massachusetts Archives Collection.  

:*[https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/ Digital Commonwealth], Explore digitized photographs, maps, postcards, manuscripts, books and artifacts from libraries, museums and archives across Massachusetts.<br><br>

:Published books, periodicals, state and town histories, government publications, city directories, maps, tax records, newspapers and indexes.<ref name="DB57" />

:Best genealogical respository in western Massachusetts, including newspapers, books, and family histories. Now includes the former '''''Pittsfield Federal Records Center''''''s 71,000 microfilms of censuses, Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrants, service records 1784-1901, Mexican War, Civil War, World War I, New England naturalizations, 1791-1966, passenger arrivals at Boston, New York, Philadelphia and east coast ports, Canadian border crossings, Indian enrollment cards, Russian Consular records, Barbour Collection for Connecticut, and Vermont vital records index.<ref name="Pitts" /> <ref name="DB59" /> <ref name="DB12425">Dollarhide and Bremer, 124-25.</ref><br><br>

:The largest Family History Center in New England. Can order microfilms from the [[Family History Library]] in Salt Lake City. They have published town and county histories of New England, social histories, vital records, family histories, and major indexes.<ref name="DB59" /><br><br>

:Their collection includes New England newspapers, city directores, town records, county and local histories, and genealogies.<ref name="DB57" /><br><br>

:Great collection of manuscripts including deeds, vital and town records from the 15 towns created from old Dedham (south of Boston).<ref name="DB57" /><br><br>

:Manuscripts and rare books from many nations, but especially New England, Britain and Europe, historical archives of publishing history, political and missionary archives, paintings and artifacts. Largest volume of primary historical documents.<ref name="DB57" /><br><br>

:One of New England's largest collections of original manuscripts, books, genealogical periodicals, and surname folders, local history collection, genealogy databases, Massachusetts vital records to 1910, federal and state censuses, 9,000 New England town and family histories.<ref name="DB59" /> <ref>[http://www.haverhillpl.org/about/local-history/#genealogy-resources Genealogy Resources] in ''Haverhill Public Library'' (accessed 14 November 2013).</ref><br><br>

:The Boltwood Collection includes 20,000 documents, genealogies, family folders, genealogy periodicals, newspapers, and local histories with an emphasis on Amherst and the Pioneer Valley.<ref name="DB59" /> <ref>[http://www.joneslibrary.org/specialcollections/collections/index.html Collections and Finding Aids] in ''Jones Library - Special Collections'' (accessed 14 November 2013).</ref><br><br>

:Essex County books, manuscripts, and government records such as probate records, customs records, and maritime records. Can often help find trans-Atlantic ship logs, and ship images.<br><br>

:Almost all published histories and genealogies of early Massachusetts settlers are here.<ref name="DB59" /><br><br>

:Very large set of biographies, genealogies, and never-published histories, and church, business, fraternal, insurance, and manufacturing records. They also have the ''Massachusetts Archives Collection&nbsp;'' microfilms, Franklin, Hampshire, and Suffolk counties' probate records, especially Connecticut River Valley towns.<ref name="DB59" /><br><br>

:This is the second-largest genealogy collection in the United States<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_County_Public_Library Allen County Public Library] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 28 April 2010).</ref> and the largest genealogy collection in a public library. Its holdings include more than 350,000 printed volumes and 513,000 items on microfilm and microfiche.<ref name="ACPLGC">[http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/ Genealogy Center] in ''Allen County Public Library'' (accessed 28 April 2010).</ref> It has a premier genealogical periodical collection, local histories, genealogies, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, ethnic sources, and Canadians. They have a great eastern seaboard and '''Massachusetts''' collection.<ref>[http://www.genealogycenter.org/docs/default-source/resources/aboutusbrochure.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Genealogy Center Collections] in ''Genealogy Center'' (accessed 27 February 2015).</ref><br><br>

:The Genealogy Division has an outstanding collection of American history at national, state and local levels; international genealogy and heraldry in Roman alphabets; Dorot Jewish collection; manuscripts, photos; New York censuses, directories, vital records, Revolutionary War soldiers, Irish in America, and '''Massachusetts''' records.<ref name="DB81">Dollarhide and Bremer, 81.</ref><br><br>

:10,000 family folders for northeastern families, including many from '''Massachusetts'''.<ref name="DB59" /><br><br>

*Historical Records Survey (Massachusetts). ''Preliminary Edition of Guide to Depositories of Manuscript Collections in Massachusetts'' (Boston, Massachusetts: Historical Records Survey, 1939). {{WorldCat|1832559|item|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}. {{FHL|581769|item|disp=FHL Book 974.4 A2hg}}. This work lists major manuscript collections and their locations.

*Carroll D. Wright, ''Report on the Custody and Condition of the Public Records of Parishes, Towns, and Counties'' (Boston, Massachusetts: Wright and Potter, 1889). {{Worldcat|5321644|item|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}. {{FHL|43513|item|disp=FHL Film 865449 item 2; Fiche 6046869; Book 974.4 A3cr}}. Gives a brief description of the town records that existed in 1889 and which may still be available.<br><br>

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{{Massachusetts|Massachusetts}} {{U.S. Archives and Libraries}} </div>  

[[Category:Massachusetts_Archives_and_Libraries]]