The State Reform School was founded in 1847 and opened in 1848 at Westborough for the instruction, discipline, employment, and reform of male juvenile offenders in Massachusetts. It was renamed the Lyman School for Boys in 1884 and closed in 1972. Beginning in 1901 inmate case files were created as a central source of information on each inmate's personal history before, during, and after his stay at the school. Files may contain the following items/information: legal documents (warrant for commitment, probationary release warrant, honorable discharge letter), State Board of Charity case history (family history, date and place of birth, religion, address, complaint, disposal, date, and reporter), case history (inmate case no., place and place of birth, sentence, reason and authority for commitment, physical description, family history, religion, arrest history, personal habits, school history), parole investigation of home, mittimus, court records, school documents including reports and history card (name, offense, religion, institutional residence cottage, date of majority, birth date, date of commitment, manual training, credits and balances of merits, whippings and other other punishments, releases, escapes, address of family, dates of visits, remarks), record of interviews, intelligence tests, letters from subsequent institutions, photograph, medical history, personal documents including letters from family, and subsequent correspondence concerning inmate after his stay.
