Here are some tips for getting the most from your visit
- Contact the facility to verify hours and rules for usage.
- If they have a website, prepare for your visit by using it to
familiarize yourself with their holdings.
- Bring identification with you (and your membership card to
genealogical societies). You might be asked for them.
- Some of these repositories are open free to the public while others
charge a day fee.
American
Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury
Street
Worcester, MA 0609-1634
(508) 755-5221
www.americanantiquarian.org/
Founded in 1812, this private library holds books, pamphlets,
broadsides, manuscripts, prints, maps, directories, and newspapers. It
also is the repository for the largest single collection of printed
source material relating to the history, literature, and culture of the
United States prior to 1876. The primary purpose of this institution is
to accommodate academic scholars in their research. Therefore, it is
necessary to obtain permission to use the facility. Before you visit, be
sure to consult their online catalog and usage policies, as it is
essential to know in advance what you are seeking and determine if the
Society has the materials. Prospective researchers must fill out a form
describing their project and meet with a staff member who will assist
the researcher in finding the appropriate materials.
American Jewish
Historical Society Library
160 Herrick
Road
Newton Centre, MA 02459;
(617) 559-8880
www.ajhs.org/
If you are researching your Jewish heritage, you will want to consult
the hundreds of family histories and extensive manuscript collections
kept at this library. This facility also has a wealth of historical
information on Jewish communities, synagogues, and communal groups. The
library’s special collections include:
Records of the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society of Boston, with arrival
records, arranged alphabetically, for immigrants landing in Boston or
Providence, Rhode Island between 1882 and 1929, and incomplete
chronological lists of ship arrivals and passenger lists between 1904
and 1953.
Fully indexed Mayor’s Court papers (pre-1860), naturalization papers
(pre-1860), and insolvent debtors’ papers (pre-1860). Their collection
of incorporation papers of New York City (1848-1920) covers all Jewish
or Jewish-related organizations incorporated in New York City during
this time frame.
American Jewish Committee, Office of War Records, 1918-1921. These
records include questionnaires filled out by World War I soldiers
detailing their military careers and other biographical information.
Berkshire Athenaeum
Local
History and Genealogy Department
1 Wendell Ave.
Pittsfield, Ma
01201-6385
(413) 499-9486
www.berkshire.net/PittsfieldLibrary/index.html
This department has local histories for all of the Berkshire towns,
Massachusetts vital records to 1905, periodicals, manuscripts, and
special collections. Of particular interest to genealogists are the
Cooke and Berkshire collections, both of which contain many valuable
resources for Berkshire County researchers. The Cooke Collection was a
Works Progress Administration project, compiled by Rollin Hillyer Cooke
in the 1930s. This collection contains newspaper notices, Revolutionary
War soldier and pension records, Shaker death records, church records,
town records, and more. The Berkshire Collection includes town records,
tax records, cemetery records, church records, vital records, and more.
You may search the holdings of their special collections by surname in
their online library catalog.
The Jonathan Bourne Historical Center
30 Keene St.
Bourne,
MA 02532
(508) 759-6928
The Jonathan Bourne Historical Center is home to the Bourne Archives,
the Bourne Historical Society and the Bourne Historical Commission. The
Bourne Archives has town histories, records, and material relating to
the Cape Cod Canal.
Connecticut
Valley Historical Museum
Research
Library and Archives
194 State Street
Springfield, MA 01103
(413)
263-6800, ex. 230
www.quadrangle.org/CVHM.htm
According to their website, their collection includes “30,000 books,
40,000 photographs, 36,500 microforms and 2,500,000 manuscripts and
documents.” The Springfield Families Database is one of their major
collections, in which the compilers began with the 15,000 Springfield
residents enumerated in the 1880 U.S. Census and then supplemented the
census information with local and statewide vital records, biographical
compendia, and cemetery inscriptions to fill out the individual entries.
Haverhill
Public Library
99 Main St.
Haverhill, MA 01830
(978)
373-1586
www.haverhillpl.org/
The Special Collections Department of this library has microfilm of
Massachusetts vital records from 1841to 1900, records for the
Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution, Essex County probate
records (1671-1857), and much more. Two collections of note are the
Haverhill History Collection (over 17,000 photographs of the town of
Haverhill, city documents, city directories, cemetery books, two hundred
volumes of newspaper clippings, and more) and the nine thousand-volume
Pecker Genealogical Collection.
Massachusetts Military Division History Research and Museum
44
Salisbury Street
Worcester, MA 01609
(508) 797-0334
According to http://www.bostonfamilyhistory.com/, their holdings
include early militia records (1776-1820); Massachusetts militia period (1820-1840);
pre-Civil War period (1840-1860); Civil War (1861-1865); Reconstruction
period after Civil War (1866-1897); Spanish American War/Philippines
Insurrection (1898-1917); World War I period (1917-1919), including
World War I State Guard records; and National Guard records (1920-1940).
National Archives,
Northeast Region
100 Dan Fox Drive
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413)
445-6885
Among the many holdings of this facility are passenger arrival
records for the ports of New York (1820-1957); Boston (1820-1943); New
Bedford, Massachusetts (1902-1942); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1880-1882);
Portland, Maine (1893-1943); miscellaneous Atlantic, Gulf and Great
Lakes ports (1820-1873); and St. Albans, Vermont (Canadian border
crossings, 1895-1954). Use the general website for the National
Archives for information on using the materials in their collection.
New Bedford Public Library
613 Pleasant St.
New
Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 991-6275, ext. 15
www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/SERVICES/LIBRARY/library2.htm
This public library has microfilm of newspapers, passenger lists to
the port of New Bedford, city directories, periodicals, and many volumes
of local history. New Bedford was an important whaling town in
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the library acknowledges
this history by featuring a searchable online database containing a
comprehensive index to the men that went on the whaling voyages and the
ships that they sailed on from 1810 to 1860. The information in the
database is a direct word for word transcription of crew lists, shipping
papers, and contracts for the voyages. You may search by crewman name,
ship name, remarks, departure date, port of registry, and whaling
ground. You can also find information on individual crewmen, when
searching by residence, rank, even hair and skin color! The staff at the
library is very helpful and has created guides to many of their
collections to make your research easier.
Newburyport
Free Library
Newburyport Archival Center
94 State St.
Newburyport,
MA 01950
(978) 465-4428
www.newburyportpl.org/Default.htm
This research facility focuses on Newbury and Newburyport families.
They have a good collection of local history publications and indexes.
Old
Colony Historical Society
66 Church
Green
Taunton, MA 02780
(508) 822-1622
www.oldcolonyhistoricalsociety.org/
If you are looking for an ancestor in southeastern Massachusetts
before 1850 then this is one place you must visit! Local city
directories, newspapers, manuscripts, and maps are just some of the
strengths of this library.
Peabody
Institute Library
Danvers Archival Center
15
Sylvan Street
Danvers, MA 01923
(978) 774-0554
www.noblenet.org/danvers/
According to its website, the Danvers Archival Center “was the first
of its kind to bring together such a large collection of public and
private records of a single community for purposes of preservation and
accessibility to researchers.” The center also claims to house “the most
extensive collection if materials relating to a single municipality in
New England.” Their collections include the local history holdings of
the Danvers Historical Society, the library, churches and town
organizations, and town records. They also keep printed and manuscript
collections on the history of Danvers, Salem Village, and the Witchcraft
trials.
Phillips
Library Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem,
MA 01970
(979) 745-1876
www.pem.org/phillips.html
This library has a goldmine of information for researchers with
ancestors in Essex County. Their website lists some of their holdings
such as “…all the Essex County court records from 1636 to 1820,
including the court records from the 1692 witchcraft trials. More than a
linear mile of manuscript materials include journals, diaries, account
books, farm business records, and correspondence, a vast collection of
old newspapers printed in Essex County, as well as business and personal
records of many historic figures in Essex County.” They even accept
general email queries at reference@pem.org.
Worcester Public Library
3 Salem Square
Worcester, MA 01608
(508) 799-1655
www.worcpublib.org/
This library contains a large collection of local history material on
the Worcester area including yearbooks, histories of churches and
businesses, city directories, and newspapers. It also has extensive
general genealogical resources such as census documents and passenger
lists. Their website includes links to online resources that family
historians will find useful.
Nearly all public libraries in Massachusetts have local history
collections. You might be missing an opportunity to conduct research in
your ancestors’ hometown if you don’t contact those facilities first.
Not only do they usually have clipping files and even archives, public
libraries are great resources for reference materials and Internet
resources that you might overlook. Private libraries and local
historical societies also collect useful material. Before you rush to
large institutions to research those Massachusetts family members,
examine the resources where they originally settled. You might be
surprised at what you discover.