Boston Public Schools Historical Research: Getting Started
This guide provides resources and strategies for researching the history of the Boston Public School system, individual schools and guidance on finding high school yearbooks.
BPS History
Home - General histories of the Boston Public School system and individual schools
Busing Crisis - The most controversial era for the Boston Public Schools
Official Records - Available from the Boston Public Library or the Boston Public School Department
Schools - Researching specific school names, school buildings and images
Yearbooks - Finding yearbooks for specific schools
Boston Public School History
Welcome to this guide on researching the rich history of the Boston Public Schools. Whether you are looking for your grandfather's yearbook or a serious account of busing in Boston, the Boston Public Library has books, media, government documents, online resources and more to satisfy your curiosity.
This guide will help you to:
- Find general histories on the Boston Public School system
- Find individual school histories
- Find general and in-depth reports on the Busing Crisis in Boston
- Find official government records
- Find the story behind school names and buildings
- Find various sources for BPS high school yearbooks
Researching Individual Schools
Search in the library's catalog under the individual school as author and/or subject:
Author: Boston Latin School (Mass.) (or Boston Trade School for Girls or English High School (Boston Mass.), etc.)
or
Subject: Boston Latin School (Mass.) -- History (or Boston Trade School for Girls or English High School (Boston, Mass.), etc.)
Selected titles of interest may be found under the following tabs.
- Catalogue of the scholars and teachers of the English high school, Boston, Mass., from 1821 to 1890, together with pictures of the head masters and schoolhouses, and an historical sketch of the school byCall Number: LD7501.B7 E4Publication Date: 1890The title says it all.
Her greatness proclaim: the history of the Girls' Latin School Boston, Massachusetts 1878-1976 by Call Number: LD7501.B7 C87 2014ISBN: 9780990656500Publication Date: 2014A history of the first public preparatory high school for girls in America and its ironic demise as a casualty of the women's rights movement.
Tercentenary History of the Boston Public Latin School, 1635-1935 by Call Number: LD7501.B7 L46 1970ISBN: 9780837139500Publication Date: 1970-08-25A comprehensive history issued on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of BLS.
- Boston Globe (1872-1992) via Proquest This link opens in a new windowSearchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on March 4, 1872. Coverage: Morning Edition only.
- Boston Globe (1980-Present) This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text articles for staff-written news items, feature stories, columns, and editorials for the Boston Globe. Coverage: 1980-present
- Boston public schools. The Boston Latin, High and Industrial schools: what they offer pupils from the elementary schools. A guide to the choice of a suitable secondary school byCall Number: 6348.36.1917.No.2Publication Date: 1917
- Course of study: agriculture: Jamaica Plain High School, grades 9-10-11-12 by
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Call Number: S534.M3 B6Publication Date: 1962 - Replacement of the William H. Kent school by
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Call Number: BRA/3578Publication Date: 1965A discussion of replacing the Kent School that includes a description of the school building and the student population.
- Boston Public Library at Digital CommonwealthThe BPL has uploaded over 90,000 images to the Digital Commonwealth. To find images of a particular school, search for the school name in quotes, e.g. "Roxbury Memorial High School". Additional images may be available from the BPL Print Department.
- Boston Public Library Flickr photostreamThe BPL also has uploaded images to the Flickr website. Search for the particular school name in quotes, e.g. "Mechanic Arts High School", in the BPL's photostream. Also available in the BPL's Digital Commonwealth collection. Additional images may be available from the BPL Print Department.
- City of Boston Archives Flickr photostreamEither search the photostream for specific school name in quotes (e.g. "Dorchester High School" or check Albums section for a specific school album. Additional photos may be available at the Archives.
Researching the Boston Public School System
Use the following subject headings to search for general Boston Public Schools histories in the library's catalog:
Public Schools -- Massachusetts -- Boston – History
Public Schools – Massachusetts – Boston
Selected titles of interest may be found under the following tabs.
- Black Sisyphus: Boston schools and the Black community,1790-2000 byCall Number: LA306.B7 U559 2003axPublication Date: 2003
- The culture factory: Boston public schools, 1789-1860 byCall Number: LA306.B7 S34Publication Date: 1973
Death at an Early Age by Call Number: LC2803.B7 K6 1995xISBN: 9780452262928Publication Date: 1985-10-01In this National Book Award-winning book, Kozol unflinchingly exposes the disturbing "destruction of hearts and minds in the Boston public school." A new Epilogue assesses the last 20 years of the educational system.- Schools and schoolboys of old Boston by
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Call Number: F73.25 .B73Publication Date: 1894An historical chronicle of the public schools of Boston from 1636 to 1844, to which is added a series of biographical sketches, with portraits of some of the old schoolboys of Boston. 
The Education of a White Parent by Call Number: LC210.6.M4 N3 2012xISBN: 9781937146122Publication Date: 2012-09-01The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools by Susan Naimark offers insight and hope for making America's public schools work well for all children. Naimark's story begins a decade after white Boston's turbulent resistance to court-ordered school integration.
- Boston Globe (1872-1992) via Proquest This link opens in a new windowSearchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on March 4, 1872. Coverage: Morning Edition only.
- Boston Globe (1980-Present) This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text articles for staff-written news items, feature stories, columns, and editorials for the Boston Globe. Coverage: 1980-present
- Boston TV News Digital Library This link opens in a new windowThis collaboration between the Boston Public Library, Cambridge Community television, Northeast Historic Film and WGBH Educational Foundation aims to bring to life local news stories produced in and about Boston from the early 1960’s to 2000.
Coverage:
Boston Public Library
WHDH film collection (1960- mid-1970s)
Cambridge Community Television (1988 to 1999)
Northeast Historic Film’s WCVB film collection (1970-1979)
WGBH
The Reporters (1970-1973)
Evening Compass (1973-1975)
Ten O’Clock News (1976-1991) - ERIC This link opens in a new windowThe Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, provides access to some 14,000 documents and over 20,000 journal articles from Resources in Education (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). In addition, ERIC provides coverage of conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs. Coverage: 1966-present
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text access to over 850 core scholarly journals covering 44 specialized subject areas. Complete back runs of many titles are available. Coverage: spread out over the last 150 years but no current coverage for last 3-5 years.
- Annals of the Boston Primary school committee from its first establishment in 1818, to its dissolution in 1855 by
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Call Number: LA306.B7 W6 2007xPublication Date: [2007] 1860Facsimile reprint by the Kessinger Publishing's rare reprints of the book originally published in Boston by Geo.C. Rand & Avery in 1860 - Annual report of the superintendent of public schools of the city of Boston by
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Call Number: 6347.30Publication Date: 1881-The 1929 edition includes a chronology covering 1630-1930 beginning on page 91.
The 1939 edition includes a chronology covering 1930-1939 beginning on page 221. - Boston public schools, past and present: with some reflections on their characters and characteristics by
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Call Number: LA306.B7 A5 1923axPublication Date: 1923
- Boston Public Library at Digital CommonwealthThe BPL has uploaded thousands of images to the Digital Commonwealth. To find general images related to the Boston Public Schools, search for the phrase enclosed in quotes, "Boston Public Schools". Additional images may be available from the BPL Print Department.
- Boston Public Library Flickr photostreamThe BPL also has uploaded images to the Flickr website. Search for "Boston Public Schools" in the BPL's photostream. These images are also available in the BPL's Digital Commonwealth collection. Additional images may be available from the BPL Print Department.
- City of Boston Archives Flickr photostreamOver 350 photographs from the Boston Public School Buildings Collection. Additional photos may be available at the Archives.