Massachusetts Archives


The Massachusetts Archives is the state archive of Massachusetts. It "serves the Commonwealth and its citizens by preserving and making accessible the records documenting government action and by assisting government agencies in managing their permanent records." The archives occupies quarters on the Columbia Point peninsula in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus. For fiscal year 2010 the state budgeted $389,815 to the archives. The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth bears responsibility for its administration.
In addition to "the official records created by Massachusetts state government," the archives "counts among its treasures the state’s own copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, the... 1629 charter , and Revolutionary and Civil War records. It also has numerous documents signed by the likes of George Washington, John Adams, and John Hancock, as well as treaties made with Native American tribes, and slave and witchcraft records. There are also many artifacts, including Paul Revere’s engraving plate of the Boston Massacre, and military accouterment from the Civil War to World War I."

Commonwealth Museum

The Archives operates the Commonwealth Museum to educate and display some of its collections of important documents about state and national history. The main permanent exhibit is entitled "The Massachusetts Experiment in Democracy: 1620–Today", and traces the Massachusetts experience through the Colonial, Revolutionary, Federal, and 19th century reform periods. The sub-theme, “Tracing our Roots,” tells the story of four representative Massachusetts families of Native American, English, African-American and Irish heritage. The museum also features changing exhibits of state history from its collections. Admission is free.

History

19th century

"The proposal for the general arrangement of these papers into volumes was laid before the Massachusetts Historical Society, at their meeting, December 31, 1835. On a motion made by Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., a committee of that body was appointed to petition the Legislature for this object; which resulted in the course of the ensuing session in the passage of a Resolution to that effect, and appropriating means to defray the expense. In pursuance of this Act of the Legislature, the Rev. Joseph B. Felt, a gentleman possessing eminent qualifications for the service, was employed for the execution of the labor."
In 1836 Felt "was commissioned, by Governor Everett, to arrange the State Archives of Massachusetts.... The amount of work required was truly fearful. The papers were in what seemed inextricable confusion; a vast amount of documents, in the utmost disorder, suffered to accumulate through two centuiies before men's eyes were opened to discern their importance. There was extreme difficulty in deciphering many of them; and but few had distinctive or intelligible endorsements. A careful examination of every sentence, and a discriminating minute scrutiny of their import and bearings, were necessary to arrange them where they belonged; and a comprehensive system of classification had to be organized.... With a brief interruption, it constituted the regular occupation of about ten years of his laborious life. Before its completion, he was sent to England, commissioned by the State Government for the purpose, to look for duplicates of Colonial and Provincial Records and other public papers, of which the originals had been lost.... In 1846, the work was accomplished. The papers were divided into appropriate departments; properly classified, according to subjects and dates, carefully and skillfully attached to blank leaves; durably and handsomely bound; titled, with distinct letters and figures; and conspicuously numbered. A General Index was prepared. The shelves of the State Department, present the grand result, in two hundred and forty-one large and thick volumes."
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Some scholars disliked Felt's arrangement. Justin Winsor complained in the 1880s: "In our State House... are tier upon tier of volumes, labelled 'Massachusetts Archives,' so arranged, indeed, in an attempted classification, that it is irksome and unsatisfactory to consult them. They are rich, however, to the patient inquirer in the evidences of Boston's power and significance in our colonial history."
Some of the manuscript materials were transcribed in the 1850s. "The records of the government from its first institution in England down to the overthrow of the charter are almost a history in themselves. The student is no longer required to decipher the ancient writing, for in 1853-54 the records were copied and printed under the editorial care of Dr. N. B. Shurtleff."

20th century

"The Massachusetts Archives used to be located at the State House. But after the state’s oldest document — the 1629 Charter of Massachusetts Bay — was stolen in 1984, the decision was made to build a new archives near the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum at Columbia Point in Dorchester.". The new building opened in 1985. "The 100,000-square-foot building... was designed to resemble the early forts on the surrounding shoreline."

21st century

"The state appropriated $390,000 for the archives , a 29 percent reduction from the year before.... John Warner, the head archivist, makes $66,634 a year. The archives budget appears to be one of the lowest in the country."

Holdings

As of 2010, the archives' voluminous holdings range throughout the history of Massachusetts: