City and State Documents

City and State Documents in HOLLIS+

For a small city or town a keyword search on the name may not produce too many records to go through individually.  But usually you will need to limit your search.  Usually shift from Everything to HOLLIS. There are several options.

 In HOLLIS+, choose the option to “Browse HOLLIS By…” and then choose “By author” from the dropdown menu on the left and type in your state or your city (Fall River Mass). Use the proper state abbreviations).  This allows you to browse through the various departments. 

Indexes and Bibliographies

Index of economic material in documents of the states of the United States. [various dates, 1787-1904], by Adelaide R. Hasse. Washington: Carnegie institution of Washington, 1907 (Carnegie Institution of Washington publication 85). 
Find paper copies in HOLLIS by searching: "Index of economic material in documents" (in "")
HathiTrust online version.  Search the phrase (in “”) “Index of economic material in documents of the states of the United States” in Catalog search.
--California - Delaware - Illinois - Kentucky - Maine - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - New Jersey - New York - Ohio - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - Vermont.
--This valuable source covers many topics.

Report on the statistics of labor. Boston. Department of Labor and Industries. Division of Statistics, 1869-1924:
Google Books version
FindIt@Harvard

Indexed in:

Analysis and index of all reports issued by bureaus of labor statistics in the United States prior to November 1, 1892, prepared under the direction of Carroll D. Wright, commissioner of labor, for the use of the U.S. Department of Labor. Special report of the Commissioner of Labor ; 3rd, 1893, 376 pp.
Online Version
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Index of all reports issued by Bureaus of Labor Statistics in the United States, prior to March 1, 1902 / prepared under the direction of Carroll D. Wright ; for the use of the United States Department of Labor. Washington : G.P.O., 1902, 287 p.
Online Version
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Look for specialized subject bibliographies in the HOLLIS Catalog: Search, for example, <"government publications" Chicago bibliography> as a  Subject Keyword search..  The term Bibliography MUST be searched as a Subject keyword: Change Limit to: anywhere to Limit to: subject.

Local Police Departments

Annual report. Boston (Mass). Police Department. 1st- ; 1906- . FindIt@Harvard

Annual report of the Board of Police for the City of Boston, 1884-1906. FindIt@Harvard

Boston Police Department Reports (1885-2005)

Boston Police Strike of 1919

Annual report of the Police Department of the City of New York, Statistical Reports, complaints and arrests, and other sources available at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice

In Hathitrust catalog search you can search keywords: police report, and Limit To: Full view only.  On the left side of the Results page, you can limit to Place of Publication: United States.  Be careful with date limitations.  If you want a report for 1950, the report series may have started in, say, 1923, and 1923 will be the date on the HathiTrust record.

Publications of many police departments can be found in HOLLIS or WorldCat by searching in HOLLIS on Police Periodicals as a Subject keyword search and adding the name of your city/state of interest.

Often local public or university libraries will have research guides for city documents.  Go to local library websites and look for Research Guides or Google, for example: Chicago library guide crime or police

Examples:
New York City Documents
Baltimore
Chicago Research Guide: Primary Sources/Stats
Chicago Government Information: Crime & Police

The overlapping lists in these four websites provide access to local digital collections:

Local Research Guides

Often local public or university libraries will have research guides for city documents.  Go to local library websites and look for Research Guides or Google, for example: Chicago library guide documents and similar searches

Examples:
New York City Documents
Baltimore
Chicago Research Guide: Primary Sources/Stats
Chicago Government Information: Crime & Police

In Hathitrust catalog search you can search keywords: police report, and Limit To: Full view only.  On the left side of the Results page, you can limit to Place of Publication: United States.  Be careful with date limitations.  If you want a report for 1950, the report series may have started in, say, 1923, and 1923 will be the date on the HathiTrust record.

City documents not at Harvard can be requested via Interlibrary Loan. Often the best source is the local state or city library catalog.  Finding city documents not at Harvard can be complicated, so ask me if this comes up. 

Documents of the City of Boston

Oscar Handlin offers a valuable overview of Boston documents on pp. p. 297-362 in:
Boston’s immigrants, 1790-1880 : a study in acculturation. Rev. and enl. ed., 50th anniversary ed. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1991, xvii, 382 p.
HOLLIS Record 1991 ed.
HOLLIS Record 1979 rev. ed.
HOLLIS Record  1959 rev. ed.

Documents of the City of Boston
HathiTrust Version 1836 1837,1850,1845, 1853-1922
HOLLIS Record 1838-1899

And also use the index
Boston City documents – Index 1834-1886
HathiTrust Version

A HOLLIS+ search on "Documents of the City of Boston" yields much additional material, as does a HathiTrust catalog search on Author: Boston and Keyword: Documents.

Public documents of Massachusetts

State Library of Massachusetts has a vast collection of digitized documents in its DSpace collection.

Public documents of Massachusetts. Boston : Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1858- 
Google Books version
HathiTrust Version 1835, 1845, 1857, 1863-1918
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Documents are arranged by number (examples):

  • Board of Charity 17
  • District Police reports: 32
  • Board of police for Fall River (1895- ) 58
  • Board of police for Boston 49
  • Annual reports concerning prison labor 41
  • Commissioners of Prisons  13

Others are listed in:
Catalogue of annual reports contained in the Massachusetts public documents; also of special reports and papers for 1898-1899. Prepared by the Massachusetts Library Club and issued by the Massachusetts State Library. Boston, A.L.A. Publishing Board, 1901.
Google Books version
FindIt@Harvard

Preceded by:
Documents submitted to the General Court. Boston : s.n., -1857 (Boston : William White, Printer to the State)  (We have 1846-1856)
HOLLIS Record
(General Court is the legislature)

Index and guide to Massachusetts State legislative documents, 1802-1882. Compiled by Francis X. Blouin, Jr. Boston, Massachusetts State Library, 1972, 186 l.
HOLLIS Record

Index to Massachusetts legislative documents, 1883-1899, by Leonard Adams. Amherst, Mass. : University Library, University of Massachusetts, 1994, 214 p.
HOLLIS Record