Boston History Resource Guide: Documents and Archives

Created by Lynn Nelson, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Kansas, this site provides links to selected documents from the fifteenth century to contemporary times. Includes links to Boston and/or Massachusetts historical documents, including accounts of the Boston Massacre, John Winthrop speeches, the Mass Bay Charter, a Ralph Waldo Emerson speech, and more.

"Atlascope is a tool for exploring historic urban maps in metropolitan Boston and telling stories about how places have changed over time. A project of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library."

Contains digitized U.S. documents in law and history. Links to early (1700's) Boston town records, Colonial Society Publications, and legal documents pertaining to Boston.

The collection includes "over 13,000 partial and fully digitized items from the Boston Athenæum's collections of rare books, prints, photographs, maps, archives,"

A Boston College digital collection of over 400 images from the Boston Gas Company Records. Photographs date from 1882 to 1972 and show various Boston neighborhoods at the turn of the century. Content is searchable or may be browsed by subject.

Digitized collection from Boston College libraries. 19th century Boston newspapers, including The Pilot. Full text is searchable.

"The Boston Phoenix is a magazine published in United States focused on General Interest. This collection contains microfilm published between 1973 and 2013. Requested to be made openly accessible by the copyright owner Northeastern University."

Holdings include microform copies of New England Federal census records; a collection of colonial US and Massachusetts newspapers from the 1700s; and a full-length obituary database from the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald from the 1970s. The BPL also houses a comprehensive collection of Boston City Ordinances, Boston Redevelopment Authority documents, Early American Imprints, and selected Boston city records.

Includes information on the Constitutional Convention and the Continental Congress, provided by the American Memory site at the Library of Congress. It contains statutes and documents, Congressional journals, Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, the Congressional Globe, and much more. Includes extensive documents and Congressional debates pertaining to Boston.

Holdings include city census summaries from select years in the 1800s; tax records from 1822 -1895 and 1945 to 1973; voter registration records 1857-1920; selected series for Boston and annexed towns 1802-1911; business registrations 1907-1993; deeds 1825-1911; voter registration lists 1857-1940; minutes and documents from the City Council 1822-1987; School Committee minutes and records 1845-1996; inspectional services records 1871-1980; and selected mayoral documents.

"Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources on American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction." A University of Michigan project, the MoA digital library currently contains 9,500 books and 50,000 journal articles, published in the 19th century. A corresponding site is Cornell University's Making of America, which focuses on major serials of the period. Both websites cover historic issues in Boston.

"The Massachusetts Archives holds the official records created by Massachusetts state government. Holdings are organized by agency and date from 1629 to the present," including vital records, state and federal census records, colonial and revolutionary documents, and probate and military records.

The Suffolk University Archives, located at 120 Tremont Street, includes collections, such as the John Joseph Moakley Oral History Project, Congressman John Joseph Moakely Papers, Records of Suffolk University, and Suffolk University Oral History Project. In addition, some bibliographies and finding aids are provided online. When using the University Archives, specific policies must be followed. Please read the Archive's "Policies and Procedures."

Suffolk's digital archive hosts more than 3000 photographs, interviews, and documents.

See Northeast Region for local records.

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) is the online catalog of NARA's holdings in Washington, DC, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries. With ARC, the researcher may perform a keyword, image and location search. Advanced functions allow the researcher to search by organization, person, or topic.

This National Historic Landmark building has an unusually ornate design. The building, formally known as the “New” Old South Church, is the third location of the congregation, which was began in 1669. The building was completed in 1875. Famous people related to Old South Church include: the first minister, Rev. Thomas Thacher and Samuel Sewall, a judge who publicly recanted the error of his rulings as one of the Salem witch trial judges. Includes links to History of the Old South Church
by Hamilton Hill, Volume I and Volume II.

Holdings include Massachusetts city and town directories and voting lists from 1789; publications of Massachusetts state agencies; numerous maps and atlases for Massachusetts communities; index to Massachusetts newspapers (ca 1878-1937); and many current Massachusetts newspapers.

Digital Collections @ Suffolk is an online repository that showcases, shares, and preserves works produced by members of the Suffolk University community. The repository includes research, scholarship, creative works, and content from the University’s archives and special collections.