Boston Public Schools Historical Research: Official Records
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
School Department Records
Student records are not available from the Boston Public Library. Students should apply to the School Department for transcripts of their student records. The official records that the library can supply include:
- Annual Reports of the School Department of the City of Boston. These reports are made by the School Department to the School Committee. They discuss the previous school year in general and for each school in the system. Tables of statistics for the system and for individual schools are included. Some years include lists of graduates for each school.
- Manuals of the Public Schools of the City of Boston. The manuals are basically employee directories for the Boston Public School system. Staff are listed by Administrative Office and then by school. A good source on who taught where when and staffing levels.
- Proceedings of the Boston Public School Committee. These are the official minutes of the meetings of the committee. They discuss policy, funding, personnel appointments, opening, closing and merging of schools, etc.
Boston Public Library Resources
The Boston Public Library has a large collection of records of the School Department. The links below will take you to digitized collections of annual reports, manuals and proceedings. You also can search the catalog for non-digitized items by searching:
Author: Boston Public Schools
Author: Boston (Mass.), School Committee
Or you can search by individual schools, departments within the Boston Public Schools (e.g. Department of School Buildings) or individual superintendents or headmasters.
- Annual Report of the School Commitee of the City of Boston
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School Department reports to the School Committee from 1847-1976/77. - Manuals of the Public Schools of the City of Boston
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Basically, employee directories for the school system from 1867-1965. - Proceedings of the School Committee of the City of Boston
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Official minutes of the meetings of the Boston School Committee from 1869-1972.
- School document by
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Call Number: L1 .S2600An annual collection of documents from the School Department from 1857-1933, including reports on expenditures, course of study for high schools, salaries, lists of teachers, etc.
City of Boston Archives
The City of Boston Archives has an extensive collection of School Department records. These range from the Committee on Superintending the School for Mutual Instructions records from 1821-1823 to Charlestown High School records (including graduation programs and yearbooks) covering 1852-2005.
Finding aids to select collections are listed below. Otherwise, you can search the Archives online catalog or browse the collections related to the Boston Public Schools.
- Guide to the Committee for Superintending the School for Mutual Instruction recordsThis collection includes correspondence, reports, and records of the Committee.
- Guide to the Department of School Health Services subject filesThis collection includes files covering departmental budgets, school nurses and physicians, immunizations and other medical issues. Records are redacted as necessary and those exempt from the public records law have been removed.
- Guide to the Photographs of School BuildingsThis collection is comprised of mostly exterior photographs of Boston Public School Buildings. A significantly smaller number of interior photographs are included.
- Guide to the School History CollectionThis is a collection created by the School Committee Administration Library staff using pamphlets and books about individual Boston Public Schools and about individuals after whom schools were named. It includes published books as well as works created by students and faculty.