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Archival Resources

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The following is a partial list of the resources available in the Lawrence History Center collections. Please contact Amita Kiley, LHC collections manager & research coordinator, amita@lawrencehistory.org or 978-686-9230, with questions.
 

Schools Subject Boxes
The Schools subject boxes are filled with reports, programs, booklets, flyers, diaries and personal writings, ephemera such as tickets or invitations to events, and more relating to schools and education in Lawrence from 1847 to present day.

Here are links to detailed inventories of the individual subject boxes:

Lawrence Public Schools – School Committee 
(Agendas, Meetings, Minutes, Members, Rules and Regulations, etc.)
https://lawrencehistory.org/node/35178
https://lawrencehistory.org/node/35186
https://lawrencehistory.org/node/35187

Lawrence High School Class through the years:

Issues of The Lawrencian (LHS newspaper)  

Parochial, Private, Charter, Greater Lawrence Technical High School, Northern Essex Community College, and other school subject box inventories:  Coming Soon!

Lawrence School Registers
These school registers were required by the state of Massachusetts. They include some or all of the following:

  • Teacher's Name
  • Teacher's Education Level
  • Total Classroom Enrollment
  • Student Names
  • Student Date of Enrollment
  • Student Date of Birth
  • Student Age at Time of Enrollment
  • Student Place of Birth
  • Student Residence
  • Parent's Name(s)
  • Parent's Occupation
  • Miscellaneous Remarks
  • Student's Daily Attendance Record
  • Grade of Student

Photographs:

  • Hundreds of non-digitized photographs of school buildings, classrooms, teachers, students, principals, and personnel described HERE.
  • View over 175 digital images HERE.

Oral Histories
Oral histories are stories that living individuals tell about themselves or other people or events.  We have nearly 150 Oral Histories in which schools are talked about HERE.

Textbooks used in the schools
Nearly 600 textbooks used in the Lawrence Public Schools (including a few examples of those used in Parochial Schools) may be found HERE. 

Also – a Master’s Degree thesis titled, “A Proposed Revision of the Speech Course at the Lawrence High School, Lawrence, MA,” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Speech at Emerson College in 1968 by Duayne S. Habib. Before receiving her Master’s degree, the donor had a B.S. in Education, Elementary, Lowell State Teachers College, 1961). The donor was a lifelong teacher in Lawrence.  

Collections Relating to Schools and Education 
Collections are defined as documents or material of any kind that have accumulated as part of the normal activity of an organization, business or individual and been kept as a unit.

  • Sylvia Mejia Collection - Plaques, certificates, trophies and awards for Sylvia Mejia, the first bi-lingual (English-Spanish) teacher in Lawrence, MA (finding aid coming soon); oral history: https://lawrencehistory.org/node/2647
     
  • Noonan Family Collection, 1868-1998 - The Noonan sisters were lifelong Lawrence residents and Lawrence teachers. When the sisters began their career, women were not allowed to be teachers if they were married, therefore the Noonan sisters remained single and lived together in Lawrence for their entire lives. 
     
  • Alice Winifred O’Connor Papers, 1846?-2000? -  Alice O'Connor (1886-1968) was an immigration worker in Boston, Massachusetts. Between 1918 and 1962 she worked as the executive secretary, social worker, executive official, and finally board member for the Massachusetts Department of Education's Division of Immigration and Americanization. She sought to ensure that all immigrants to Massachusetts were treated without prejudice and were given the opportunity to gain an education, earn a living, and become citizens of the United States. 
     
  • Lawrence History Center Scrapbook Collection, (1885-1990) (Series 8 focuses on Education) 
     
  • Lawrence Public Schools Superintendent James F. Scully Collection, 1988-1998
     
  • Greater Lawrence Education Collaborative Collection - Material pertaining to Greater Lawrence Education Collaborative including the LINK newspaper, correspondence (letters of support, e-mail, letters from parents), research for development of questions for the Academic Bowl, photographs, and VHS videos; finding aid coming soon! 
     
  • Newspaper Clippings (partial list, 1918-2013) on various schools
    See spreadsheet for school, date of article, summary of what article is about, and names of students and teachers in articles HERE.

partial_newspaper_listing_lawrence_schools_spreadsheet.pdf