City of Boston Archives

Mission Statement:

The Office of City Clerk Archives and Records Management Division (the "City Archives") develops and implements citywide policy and procedures for the systematic management and disposition of all the municipal government records of Boston.

As per statute, chapter 68, section 6 of the Acts of the Commonwealth of 1988 these records include those of "any city department, agency, board, office, commission or public corporation."

The City Archives preserves Boston's municipal archival records by means of facilities, programs and procedures for physical accommodation, security, environmental control and document conservation. The City Archives makes Boston's municipal archival records accessible to the public by means of document finding aids, reference procedures and the promotion of public use, and ensures ready access to essential evidence that documents the rights of citizens, the actions of municipal officials and Boston's historical municipal experience.

The City Archives is a public trust, which plays a key role in fostering effective and responsible government through management of the lifecycle of records and through sustained access to historically valuable municipal records. These records enable people to inspect what Boston municipal government has done, allow officials and agencies to review their actions, and help citizens hold government accountable. These records are rich and varied sources of information used to answer questions about the past of the City, the nation and society.

  • Messed with the Wrong City (200)

    City Archivists Preserve Boston Marathon Memorial

    Notes and well-wishes have come from every corner of the globe after the events of the Boston Marathon, but many of these messages are not weather-resistant. The more fragile keepsakes have been moved to the city archives in West Roxbury where they can be viewed, while items such as running shoes, stuffed animals, and baseball hats will remain in Copley Square for some time. 

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  • Hyde Park Seal (75)

    Celebrating Hyde Park: Documents and Images from the City of Boston Archives

    In 1912, the Town of Hyde Park shed its independent identity and became a part of the City of Boston. Only forty-four years earlier, a group of men known as the Twenty Associates, had founded the Town of Hyde Park.  Led by Alpheus P. Blake, the Twenty Associates, purchased 100 acres of land on the Neponset River from Dorchester, Milton and Dedham to build their town. These images and documents from the City of Boston Archives document Hyde Park’s rich culture and community in both its years as an independent town and its time as a beloved Boston neighborhood.

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  • Reward Poster (75)

    Jesse Harding Pomeroy: Massachusetts' Youngest Killer

    On the evening of July 18, 1874, two South Boston workmen uncovered the body of 10 year old Katherine Mary Curran in a Broadway Street basement.  Two days later, fourteen year old Jesse Harding Pomeroy, already imprisoned and awaiting trial for the murder of four year old Horace Millen, confessed to Curran’s death. When Pomeroy was convicted of the murder of Katie Curran and Horace Millen, he became Massachusetts’ youngest killer.  

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  • Fire Exhibit (200)

    Fighting Fire: The Establishment of Boston's Modern Fire Department

    First established in 1678 as a group of volunteer fire companies, the Boston Fire Department reorganized in 1837. The reorganization marked the beginning of Boston's modern Fire Department.  One hundred and seventy-five years later, we're commemorating the advent of our city's Fire Department with documents and images chronicling the 1837 events that led to its establishment.

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Announcements

  • Vital Records

    To obtain birth, marriage and death records for the City of Boston and the annexed cities and towns of Brighton, Charlestown, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roxbury and West Roxbury contact the Registry Division.

  • Merged Boston Public High Schools

    Certain high schools no longer operating have merged into open Boston Public Schools. Transcripts from merged schools can be obtained from the open schools into which these former schools have merged.

    List of Merged, Closed or Renamed Boston Public High Schools

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