Massachusetts Archives

Pursuant to MGLA c 9, ss 2-2A, the Massachusetts Archives, under the direction of the state archivist on behalf of the state secretary, is responsible for securing, preserving, and managing for the public good, those noncurrent records of the Commonwealth determined to possess archival value by the Records Conservation Board. To meet this responsibility the Archives reviews and appraises records held by state agencies; acquires, weeds, arranges, describes, and processes records accepted by the Archives; conserves and preserves records held in the Archives; makes available for reference use records held in the Archives; administers various provisions of records law pertaining to records held in the Archives; administers the activities of the Archives Advisory Commission; and carries out surveys and other projects pursuant to its mission.

In addition the state archivist performs several ex officio responsibilities including representing the state secretary on the Records Conservation Board, the Archives Advisory Commission, the Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, and the Board of Trustees of the State Library; serving as the state coordinator for the grants program of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; and overseeing the records management program that operates under the authority of the supervisor of public records.

While an Archives Division as such was not established within the secretary's office until 1897, the secretary's responsibility for managing the archives and records of the Commonwealth, grounded in the Constitution of 1780 (C 2, S 4, Art 2), dates back even further to colonial and Revolutionary War periods.

The Massachusetts Archives was first established as a separate unit within the secretary's office under St 1897, c 351, which designated the third clerk of the office as chief of the Archives Division. Further clarification was not made until St 1962, c 18, which mandated the chief of the Archives Division be a qualified archivist, to hold the office of Archivist of the Commonwealth. The division, now generally known as the Massachusetts Archives, has developed around that position.

The 1962 legislation also broadened the scope of records the Archives should encompass by specifying that the archivist was to be responsible for the noncurrent records of the Commonwealth. Up until this time, and even into the 1970s, collections in the Archives had consisted primarily of colonial and Revolutionary War records and the legislative collection.

In March of 1986 the Archives moved from the State House to a new facility at Columbia Point in Dorchester.

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145429427