Passenger Lists to Legislative Records—Massachusetts State Archive Has Them All

Janis Duffy, Reference Supervisor at the Massachusetts State Archives in Dorchester, MA lead a lively Introduction to Genealogy Workshop on Thursday, September 24, at the Holyoke Public Library. Fifteen participants from all parts of the Pioneer Valley were introduced to the range of materials available to researchers at the Massachusetts State Archives. Ms. Duffy, a life-long genealogist showed the audience how to scour census records, passenger lists, naturalization records, military records, and probate records, as a way of finding elusive family descendants.

A first time visitor to Holyoke, Ms. Duffy did her homework. "I was delighted to find the rich and vibrant history of Holyoke as recorded in the records we have at the State Archives," she related as she shared examples of what she found—the 1848 legislative records that recorded West Springfield's petition to divide Ireland Parish into its own town; and the 1850 incorporation papers for Holyoke to become a town, and then the 1853 Holyoke City papers.

"It is great to know this material exists at a State level, and that we have access to it," said Glenn Sullivan. "Just like the Holyoke History Room, there is a wealth of information available, one just has to seek it out. It is nice to know there is research help available, too."

Databases the archives has available online:

• The Massachusetts Archives Collection 1629-1799 (Felt Collection)
• Passenger Manifests, Port of Boston 1848-1891
• Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1915

The Massachusetts Archives is located at 220 Morrissey Boulevarde, Boston, adjacent to the JFK Library.

Phone: 617-727-2816
Email: archives@sec.state.ma.us
Website: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc

Holyoke: Queen of Industrial Cities

Featured Exhibit at State Library of Massachusetts.

If you are in Boston this fall, be sure to visit the State Library of Massachusetts at the State House on Beacon Hill. There you will see the exhibit “Holyoke: Queen of Industrial Cities,” a joint exhibit of the State Library of Massachusetts and the Holyoke Public Library. The exhibit includes books, maps, documents and photographs from both the Holyoke Public Library History Room & Archive and from the State Library collections.

“This collaborative project was initiated earlier this summer with the idea of developing an exhibit that would travel from East to West across the state, presenting the unique history of Holyoke’s industrial presence at the early part of the twentieth century,” commented Penni Martorell, archivist of the Holyoke History Room. Many photographs from the Milan P. Warner collection show Holyoke’s paper and textile mills. There are maps showing how the city was planned as an industrial center, harnessing waterpower from the Connecticut River by the construction of a dam and then diverting the water into canals that ultimately ran the turbines under the mill buildings.

In addition there are several significant documents from the State Library collection that include early maps of Holyoke and documents from the former Representative Walter DeFilippi legislative papers collection. “The State Library has worked hard to bring the story of Holyoke to life through the display of primary sources, many contemporary to the heyday of the industrial boom in Holyoke,” says Lacy Crews Stoneburner, Preservation Librarian at the State Library.

The exhibit opens at the State Library on September 14, 2009 and will run through January 15, 2010, at which point it will either come to Holyoke, or travel on to another interested library.

The hours of the State Library of Massachusetts are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm and the exhibit is available for viewing during those times. For more information please contact the State Library of Massachusetts at 617-727-2590 or visit http://www.mass.gov/lib; or call the Holyoke Public Library History Room & Archive at 413-552-2842.