Massachusetts black historical records survey files, 1936-1942.

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Massachusetts black historical records survey files, 1936-1942.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/82797981

The Historical Records Survey was established in Massachusetts in 1936 under the direction of the federal government's Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1939, under federal mandate requiring state sponsorship of the survey, the state secretary shared direction of it with the WPA, now renamed Work Projects Administration. In Massachusetts the Historical Records Survey also undertook a survey of black historical records in the state. The project focused on locating and describing relevant materials, including those dealing with abolitionism, in the Boston Public Library and to a lesser extent in other repositories, including the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Harvard College Library, the State Library, and the New Bedford Free Public Library. Survey files were developed with the intention of publishing guides to the records; however, lack of funding and the onset of World War II led to the the termination of the survey in 1942 with no publication having been issued. This series contains information gathered by field workers and recorded on survey forms, lists and inventories created from the data, and some administrative files relating to the survey.

5.37 cubic ft. (4 record center cartons, 1 doc. box, and 2 boxes)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Archives

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8289420

Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Archives

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

United States. Works Progress Administration

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67b4x1k (corporateBody)

Organizational History President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935 as a part of his New Deal to curtail the Depression's effects on the United States. The WPA attempted to provide the unemployed with jobs that allowed individuals to preserve skills or talents. The Federal Writers' Project (FWP), one branch of the WPA, provided work for over 6,600 unemployed writers, journalists, edit...

Boston Public Library

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b09vvw (corporateBody)

Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z934cb (corporateBody)

St 1832, c 166 authorized county commissioners in Massachusetts to grant liquor licenses to innholders and retailers. St 1852, c 322 (revised by St 1855, c 215) established state-wide prohibition, forbidding the sale of all liquor except for medicinal, chemical, or mechanical purposes. This was changed by St 1868, c 141, passed in April of that year, which authorized county commissioners (in Suffolk County specially-elected license commissioners) to issue licenses for the sale of liquor in their...

Historical Records Survey (U.S.)

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The Historical Records Survey (HRS) had its origins in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration. In 1935 it came under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and eventually was designated as an independent program under Federal Project No. One. The projects, ideally suited for white collar workers, employed individuals to survey, classify and collect historical records. One program of the HRS was to document American portr...

United States. Work Projects Administration

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66x31vr (corporateBody)

The Works Progress Administration was involved in various projects including the compilation of sources on American territories. The card catalogs for these were prepared at the Library of Congress and are now in the National Archives. From the description of Classified Alaska Bibliography, 1942. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 42927718 Works Progress Administration (later called Work Projects Administration) began operations in San Joaquin County, Calif., July 1935. County a...