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| The Massachusetts General Court, the state's legislative branch, first met in Boston on October 19, 1629. Persons often express interest in tracing the background of particular members of the General Court, or in tracing members who have represented a particular city, town or area through time. This document serves as a research guide to pertinent resources at the State Library. |
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| Researching Current Legislators |
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Information on current legislators may be found in print and electronic format. For information on print resources see Section II, part B. Name(s) Known found below. Electronic resources include the following:
- Profiles of current legislators, including photographs and short biographies, see the General Court of the Commonwealth, the section titled "Legislators." Also includes Committee lists under Committee Listing heading.
- Lists of the current session's legislators.
- Search a database to find out who is your elected official, located at the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site under My Election Information.
- An alternative database for searching, including by Committee, is AOL's government guide. It repeats the information from the General Court's web site but allows for more searching options.
- The Governor and Lt. Governor maintain their own web site. See the Office of the Governor of Massachusetts.
- State Agencies' Executive Branch and Constitutional Officers
- Search for your representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Find United States Senators by State.
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| Reasearching When a Member's Name is Known or Not Known - and - |
| Tracing Members Who Represented Particular Cities, Towns or Districts |
The process of finding a legislator by date is relatively easy in comparison to the process of finding members by city, town or district, especially over a period of time. The legislative district boundaries and city and town boundaries have changed throughout the state's history making this a tricky process. For example, the General Court was larger with the House consisting of over 200 members (i.e. over 200 districts) until 1979, whereas today there are 160 members. Also at present the legislative districts are re-examined every ten years to reflect new federal census population counts.
For assistance or more information, please contact a reference librarian at the State Library.
A. Name(s) Not Known:
If you do not have a name of a legislator - for instance, when you are trying to locate those who held a seat over a period of 50 years - you will need to start with a date or dates.
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The Vertical File of Legislators. In general these folders cover 1692 - 1707, 1715 to present.
Arranged chronologically, these photocopies list either, or both, House and Senate members for each session. The earlier members are broken down by county, the later ones by district. The photocopies in this file are taken from the following primary sources listed immediately below (in this section). This resource is located in the Special Collections Department.
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The Manual for the use of the General Court for... (previously titled The Rules and Orders...). Boston: William White.
- Senate holdings: 1810, 13-14, 16, 22, 30-31, 36-37, 40, 43, 44, 46, 47, 49-54
- House holdings: 1802, 05-06, 09, 11-15, 18, 24-28, 30-35, 39, 41-42, 44-45, 46-48, 49-51, 52-54
- Merged holdings: 1856-57, 1858 to present (1922 missing)
This publication lists the makeup of the General Court and includes procedural rules for the Court, as well as facts and figures about Massachusetts. Lists cities and towns with their legislative district and Representative and Senator. Call Number 500 M3 R863 xxxx (year).
- Two other primary resources organized by date are the Journal of the House of Representatives... (title varies; Boston: Eagle Graphics, Legislative Printers), covering 1715-1775, 1856-1857, and 1864 to date in print (intervening years in manuscript form in our Special Collections Department) and the Journal of the Senate (Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts), covering 1868 to date.
The Journals contain a brief overview of floor action, votes on floor amendments and recorded votes on bills. However, not all bills have a recorded vote. There is no comprehensive member name index. Journals do not contain transcripts of floor debate. The Journals have a list of members for each session and may contain election information (# of votes per candidate). Both resources are located in the Reference Collection, the older materials in Special Collections.
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Referred to as the "Massachusetts Register" by Special Collections staff at the State Library, this resource is actually comprised of:
- Mein and Fleeming's Massachusetts Register, 1767
- Mills and Hicks's British and American Register (New England), 1774
- Fleet's Register and Pocket Almanack, 1779-1800
- The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar..., 1801-1847
- The Massachusetts State Record and Year Book of General Information, 1847-51
- The Massachusetts Register and Business Directory... 1852-1859, 62, 67, 69, 72, 74 and 1878.
These are early almanacs and lists of officials by community. These materials are located in Special Collections. Call Number 317.3 M31 M41 xxxx (year).
- Maps of Legislative Districts - Verbal descriptions may be found in the Acts & Resolves around the time of each census (every 10 years) but not necessarily the year of the census. For example, 1990s redistricting was not passed until 1993. Actual maps are not available for all sessions. Please search our Library catalog using keywords such as "redistricting and maps".
B. Name(s) Known:
At times one knows the name of a legislator but not when he or she served in the General Court. The best sources of information are listed below.
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The State Library's Legislative Biographical File. The File is actually two files, one in the Reference area and the other in the Special Collections Department. Both should be accessed. These are alphabetical card files of all members of the General Court and Constitutional offices, i.e. state-wide offices established in state's Constitution, from colonial times to the present. References are also occasionally made to items stored as Manuscript 151, located in Special Collections.
The file contains basic biographical information such as years of service, political party (when available), education, occupation, birth and death dates, and other relevant information. Other information sources may be listed on the card.
- Public Officers of the Commonwealth. Boston: General Court.
This resource is commonly called the Bird Book, (1908-present) (1913, 1914, 1941, 1942 missing) and contains pictures of all Representatives and Senators. Call Number 500 M3 L442 xxxx (year)
- Journals of the House and Senate covering 1715-1775, 1856-1857, and 1864 to date in print. Intervening years are in manuscript form in our Special Collections Department; Senate, 1868 to date.
There is no comprehensive member name index. The Journals include a list of members for each session and may contain election information (# of votes per candidate). They also contain a brief overview of floor action, votes on floor amendments and recorded votes on bills. However, not all bills have a recorded vote. Journals do not contain transcripts of floor debate. Both resources are located in the Reference Collection, the older materials in Special Collections.
- The Massachusetts Political Almanac. Boston: Almanac Research Services.
The Library has 1974, 1979-present. This resource lists the members of the House and Senate for specific legislative sessions and includes biographical information and photographs. Call Number JK 3168.M39 xxxx (year).
- Massachusetts legislators and other elected officials. Boston: Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
Holdings: 1959/60, 1967/68, 1971/72-1973/74, 1977/78-1985/86, 1989/90-1999/00. Call Number JK 3168 A8 xxxx (year). Check Library Catalog to see if we have received later years.
- Cornelius Dalton et al. Leading the Way: A History of the Massachusetts General Court 1629-1980.[Boston]: Office of the Massachusetts Secretary of State, 1984.
Contains biographies of Senate Presidents and House Speakers similar to the State Library's Legislative Biographical File. Call Number 353.3M3 L42 1984
- John A. Schutz.Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691-1780: A Biographical Dictionary. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.
This book has biographical information on Massachusetts legislators from 1691-1780. Call Number JK 83.M4 S38 1997
- Governors:
See the Library's chronological and alphabetical lists in our Government Information section. The alphabetical listings include some biographical annotation.
See also the Interactive State House's Governors of Massachusetts. Includes biographical annotations and photos of painted portraits at the State House.
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Legislators' papers
All legislators are asked to deposit their papers with the Library when they leave office. The resulting manuscript collections provide insight into the issues of the time and the day-to-day workings of legislative offices. Typically included in the collections are correspondence, research materials, working papers, etc.
Collections often focus on significant pieces of legislation and issues of particular concern to a legislator, e.g. Rep. Mark Roosevelt's papers relating to education reform or Sen. Carol Amick's material on low-level radioactive waste. All collections are kept in the Library's Special Collections Department, where detailed finding aids are available to facilitate their use. Manuscript collections are accessible through the Library's catalog and are cross-referenced in the Legislative Biographical File; finding aids are reproduced in the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States.
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Published materials The Library collects titles authored by members as well as materials written about members.
- Indexes:
In the case of members serving from 1889-ca. 1920, there is an index to newspaper articles in the State. Known as the Zimmer Index, this resource (created by the State Library) selectively indexed newspapers for political and state-related news. Additional information may be found here by surname.
For members serving from 1962-1982, there is an index to Boston area newspapers at the State Library. Compiled by Library staff, this selective index features references to political and state-related news.
Newspaper coverage of members from 1983-present is indexed in the commercially prepared Boston Globe Index available at the State Library. The years 1991 to date are on CD-ROM, and a web-based database is available; it is possible to do a keyword search on a member's name.
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Other Massachusetts newspapers, such as The Republican (formerly titled the Springfield News), are available for specific time frames, through web-based databases. These may be accessed in-house or through the web using your State Library library card.
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| Reasearching Members Who are Women/Minorities |
The library maintains separate lists of members who are female as well as lists of Black members. These lists supply names and dates of service and may be searched for in the Library's catalog. An example is: Black legislators in the Massachusetts General Court : 1867-present. Boston: State Library of Massachusetts, 1994. Call Number 027.5M3 B5 1994.
Another location for resources is the Reference Department's files on the General Court - Black Members, and the General Court - Women Members. See also our web page titled Women in the Massachusetts Legislature.
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| Finding Photos of Legislators |
There is a variety of resources in the State Library that may be checked for pictures of individual legislators.
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Profiles of current legislators, including photographs and short biographies, see the General Court of the Commonwealth, the section titled "Legislators."
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See also the Interactive State House's Governors of Massachusetts. Includes biographical annotations and photos of painted portraits at the State House.
- A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators Brockton: A.M. Bridgman.
1893-1917 (1912, 1913, 1915 missing): Pictures of the General Court by Committee. Call Number 500 M3 L44 xxxx (year)
- Public Officers of the Commonwealth. Boston: General Court.
This resource is commonly called the Bird Book, (1908-present) (1913, 1914, 1941, 1942 missing) and contains pictures of all Representatives and Senators. Call Number 500 M3 L442 xxxx (year)
- Massachusetts legislators and other elected officials. Boston: Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
Holdings: 1959/60, 1967/68, 1971/72-1973/74, 1977/78-1985/86, 1989/90-1999/00. Call Number JK 3168 A8 xxxx (year). Check Library Catalog to see if we have received later years.
- The Massachusetts Political Almanac. Boston: Almanac Research Services.
The Library has 1974, 1979-present. This resource lists the members of the House and Senate for specific legislative sessions and includes biographical information and photographs. Call Number JK 3168.M39 xxxx (year).
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Newspaper photos (see the three indexes mentioned above).
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The Library's online catalog contains records for each of its photographs; the catalog should be checked using the legislator's name.
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The Burrill File is a collection of materials concerning Massachusetts history and politics and contains photographs, news clippings, pamphlets, etc. on selected legislators. A guide to its content is available in the Reference and Special Collections Departments.
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The Library has a collection of photo albums (Photograph 361) containing pictures of legislators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (dates span, roughly, 1860-1910). A name index to the collection, An Index of Photographs of Legislators, is available in the Reference and Special Collections Departments. These photographs are listed in the Legislative Biographical File (mentioned above).
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Videotapes: The State Library has videotapes of selected House debates from November 1987-present and selected Senate debates from 1996-present. These are located in the Special Collections Department.
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| Updated May 2003 |
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