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CENSUS, DEMOGRAPHICS, ECONOMY, HISTORY and GOVERNMENT
Big Dig: Central Artery/Tunnel
Book of Lists: Boston. Annual print publication of the Boston Business Journal. Local businesses listed under various categories. Table of Contents only online. Pardee: Reference Collection HF 3163 B7 B66
Boston Foundation. Mission " to nurture a sense of community among the people of Greater Boston." Issues reports on schools, housing, jobs, arts, etc.; sponsors forums; and distributes funds. Recent reports include: Culture is Our Common Wealth: An Action Agenda to Enhance Revenues and Resources for Massachusetts Cultural Organizations; The Role and Impact of Colleges and Universities in Greater Boston Today: A New Era of Higher Education-Community Partnerships; Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts.
Boston in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000, Brookings Institution, November 2003.
Boston Indicators Project 2004-2006: "A Time Like No Other: Charting the Course of the Next Revolution." Fourth biennial report. "Greater Boston’s economy strengthened considerably but that the region faces persistent challenges in high costs, labor shortages, and growing income inequality. It also emphasizes Boston’s innovative capacity and its potentially revolutionary role at a time of global economic and climatic change."
Boston (Mass.) -- Population Statistics. Books.
Boston Population Statistics 1638-1900, Boston Public Library, Government Documents.
Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston's Planning and Economic Development Agency.
Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) Research Publications by Subject: "The BRA's Research Division collects and analyzes current, historical, and comparative data on Boston's economy, population, and commerical markets." Recent reports cover economy and jobs, housing, census, industry, land use, schools, and youth.
Boston Regional Office, US Census Bureau.
Boston Statistics, Boston Online. Links to various statistical sites: AIDS, annual precipitation, labor market, property assessments.
City of Boston Municipal Code City of Boston, official Commonwealth (mass.gov) home page; government information, including demographics.
Crime Statistics, Boston Police Department. Monthly: December 2004-July 2006.
Crime Statistics 1980-2000, Massachusetts State Police, Crime Reporting Unit.
Digital Atlas of Boston, Massachusetts and Vicinity: 1990. Compiled by Prof. William A. Bowen, a California State University geography professor, this site provides topical maps based on the 1990 U.S. Census.
Directories and Voting Lists, State Library of Massachusetts. Scroll down to Boston. Historical; holdings only, no online text.
Engines of Economic Growth: The Economic Impact of Boston's Eight Research Universities on the Metropolitan Boston Area "...a detailed report on the economic and social impact in 2000 and 2002 of Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tufts University and University of Massachusetts Boston." Report prepared by Appleseed, a New York economic research firm.
Fire of 1872
This well-designed site includes information on Boston's 19th century history, including Boston city directories online. The main focus is the great fire of 1872.
Homelessness in the City of Boston: Annual Census Report, winter 2005-2006.Lifestyle Market Anayst (2007) . "Boston" pages 90-109. Pardee: Reference Collection HF5415.33 .U6L54
"Marks of our social life: old world nobility and Boston snobbery," James Jackson Jarves. New York Times (June 14, 1880): 2. BU
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), community and regional data, Boston to just beyond interstate I-495. For census information, see MetroBoston DataCommons.
Preventing a Brain Drain: Talent Retention in Greater Boston, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and The Boston Foundation, October 2003. "survey of over 2,100 students from 10 area schools who graduated in 2003 with degrees ranging from the associate's and bachelor's levels to Ph.D.'s...and more than 1,300 alumni who graduated between 5 and 15 years ago..."
Records relating to the early history of Boston...Volume 1 (1876). Registry Department, Boston, MA. Available via the Internet Archive. Additional volumes: 2 (1877)-39 (1909). The earliest records date from 1632 and the latest date to 1822. They record births, marriages, selectmen's minutes, etc.
Reinventing Boston: 1640-2003, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper no.10166. "The three largest cities in colonial America remain at the core of three of America's largest metropolitan areas today. This paper asks how Boston has been able to survive despite repeated periods of crisis and decline. Boston has reinvented itself three times: in the early 19th century as the provider of seafaring human capital for a far flung maritime trading and fishing empire, in the late 19th century as a factory town built on immigrant labor and Brahmin capital, and finally in the late 20th century as a center of the information economy. In all three instances, human capital admittedly of radically different forms provided the secret to Boston's rebirth. The history of Boston suggests that a strong base of skilled workers is a more reliable source of long-run urban health." December 2003.
THINK TANKS
Beacon Hill Institute, Suffolk University, "Grounded in the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets, the Beacon Hill Institute engages in rigorous economic research and conducts educational programs for the purpose of producing and disseminating readable analyses of current public policy issues to voters, taxpayers, opinion leaders and policy makers." Policy Studies.
Boston Foundation, "As Greater Boston’s community foundation, the Boston Foundation devotes its resources to building and sustaining a vital, prosperous city and region, where justice and opportunity are extended to everyone."
Boston Indicators Project, Boston Foundation in partnership with the City of Boston and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
Boston Municipal Research Bureau," uses expert research and independent analysis to ensure that the basics of city government—its tax policies, service delivery and schools—promote a strong business and residential climate." Publications.
Boston Plan for Excellence (improving public schools). See their Composite Learning Index (CLI) to identify Secondary Students at risk.
Boston Private Industry Council, "a business led intermediary organization founded in 1979 that connects the youth and adults of Boston to education and employment opportunities to meet the demands of employers in a changing economy."
Commonwealth Magazine, published by MassINC. For articles about Boston, use search box. Some titles:
Historian Thomas O'Connor on making Boston the Athens of America
Paul Grogan and Alvaro Lima give Boston's inner city the business
Boston tries to keep a token presence in the magazine publishing industryIDEAS Boston, sponsored by MassINC. Annual meeting where "thought-leaders from business, medicine, science, technology, non-profit organizations, education, and the arts. Business executives and scientists, artists and students, young entrepreneurs and seasoned academics - all come together in this brainstorm of new ideas." Thursday, October 4, 2007, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Avenu.
Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research , "a non-partisan think tank advancing the core values of an open society—individual freedom and responsibility, prosperity, and limited, accountable government." Publications.
Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, "strives to improve the governance of Greater Boston by strengthening connections between the region’s scholars, students, and civic leaders." Research Publications.
NEIGHBORHOODS
Boston Calendar, City of Boston home page. Search for events by keyword, category (culture, sports), or neighborhood.
Boston Gas Company Photographs, in John J. Burns Library, Boston College. The browser, Internet Explorer, must be used to retrieve images.
Boston: A City of Neighborhoods, City of Boston, general civic information.
Boston Family History: Neighborhoods and ImmigrantTrail
Boston Neighborhoods, Boston Online, links to community, commercial, cultural, civic information.
Boston Neighborhoods, Boston Redevelopment Authority, comprehensive pages for each of the 20 neighborhoods: Planning Initiatives, Development Projects, Jobs and Community Programs, Maps, Publications, Links
Boston Neighborhoods--Maps, Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Built in Boston: Boston Documents by Neighborhood, in Rotch Library, MIT. Reports relating to the built environment issued by Boston's official agencies. Holdings only; no online texts.
Built in Boston: Boston Landmarks Commission Reports, in Rotch Library, MIT. Holdings only; no online texts.
Built in Boston: Boston Preservation Alliance: AllianceLetter Index, Rotch Library, MIT (Alliance Letter, sometimes called the Boston Preservation AllianceLetter, is available at Mugar NA 108 .B67B667 from vol. 7, 1986+).
Cole Cross Reference Directory- Boston Central. Covering Boston, Brookline and Cambridge, this directory is arranged by address and lists the individuals or businesses at each individual location. The directory also contains U.S. Census tract information. The second volume contains a reverse telephone number lookup. Mugar Reference Desk X F73.24 .C6.
Heart of the City: Connecting People and Neighborhoods, Harvard University. "...an inventory - as comprehensive as possible - of the places, issues, organizations, and sources that relate to Boston's heartland neighborhoods." Issues: blocks and lots, commerce, community life, environment, greenspaces, health, transportation.
Historical Markers, Boston Historical Society. Arranged by neighborhood. Significant person, group, event, building, or place.
Images of America Series: Boston (books)
Neighborhood -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Statistics (Library of Congress subject heading with link to Boston University's online catalog)
United South End Settlements Records (1960-2006). Northeastern University Archives.
University of Massachusetts at Boston: Archives, including collections documenting the history of Dorchester.
NEWSPAPERS AND MEDIA
Boston.Com, Boston Globe's newspaper and information site.
Boston Filmmaking Resources, regional vendors, publications and information, organizations
Boston Globe (1872-1924) Both full page and article digital images in PDF format with searchable full text back to the first issue. Available courtesy of the Boston Public Library and requires a BPL card number. (Massachusetts State Residents can sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard for remote access.)
Boston Magazine. Click on Archives for selected full-text articles back to 2002.
Boston (Mass.) -- Newspapers. For holdings in Boston University Libraries. Current and historical.
Boston Media Makers, informal meetings.
Boston Radio Archives. History and data.
Digital Filmmaking, Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA), Boston University
Film Bureau, City of Boston
Historical Newspaper Collections
LexisNexis Academic Universe. BU Choose Guided Search; News: Sources: Boston Globe, Boston Herald.
Massachusetts Newsstand. BU Online full text: Boston Globe, 1980-present; Boston Herald, 1991-present.
Newslink: Massachusetts Scroll down for business, non-dailies, alternative, specialty, and campus papers.
Obituary Database Boston Herald and Boston Globe full-length obituaries, 1971-74; 1983-2002; maintained by Boston Public Library.
OpenAirBoston. Wireless internet access (under construction).
WEATHER
Weather--Current and Historical Data, National Weather Service.
LIBRARIES
- Boston Architectural College (formerly Center) Library
- Boston Athenaeum Library Catalog
- Boston Historical Society
Library and Museum Catalogs: Books, Manuscripts, Photographs.
Click on Online Catalog. - Boston Library Consortium (BLC) Library Catalogs
- Boston Public Library
- Boston Newspapers in Microfilm
- Obituary Database Boston Herald and Boston Globe full-length obituaries, 1971-74; 1983-2002
- Special Collections by Subject "Boston"
- Fenway Library Consortium
- Harvard University
- Harvard University Library Catalog (HOLLIS)
- Online Archival Search Information System (OASIS), union catalog of archival and manuscript finding aids for Harvard repositories.
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- Northeastern University: Snell Library Archives and Boston History Collection
- State Library of Massachusetts
- University of Massachusetts
at Boston: Archives, including collections documenting the history
of Dorchester
MAPS, ATLASES, and City (streets) Directories
The Boston Atlas, Boston Redevelopment Authority. Includes aerial photographs, historic comparison, land use, wards and precincts, city councilor districts, and zip codes. See below: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
The Boston Census 2000 Language Atlas, Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Boston City (streets) Directories:
online:
1845, 1850, 1855, 1865, 1870, 1872, 1875. (Damrell's Fire, Docema) click on Boston Directories; search by name, address, or business.
1845, 1855, 1865, 1870, 1872, 1875, 1885, 1905, 1925 (Boston Streets: Mapping Directory Data, Tufts University) database and page imagesin print:
1820, 1827, 1832, 1836, 1838-1839, 1841-1846 at The Howard Gotlileb Archival Research Center, Boston Universitiy Archives: Y collection F 73.2 D89.City Directories from 1809 to the present are available at the Boston Public Library (Microtext Department, x2018; Research Library Stacks, x2244). See also, City Plans Index (1850-1895) "Sixty-nine volumes of hand drawn street plans for the City of Boston. These plans focus on the layout, widening, and extending of various streets in Boston neighborhoods. Blueprints are not included in this index." (Special Collections , x4236)
Boston Main Streets Districts, City of Boston home page. (See also News).
Boston maps, Boston Online.
Boston Streets: Mapping Directory Data, Tufts University. Places, people, moments, cowpaths, atlases: 1874, 1898, 1928. Civil War through 20th century.
Digital Atlas of Boston, Massachusetts and Vicinity: 1990. Compiled by Prof. William A. Bowen, a California State University geography professor, this site provides topical maps based on the 1990 U.S. Census.
Historic Maps of Boston, mainly 18th and 19th centuries. Library of Congress.
Historic US Geological Survey Maps of Boston
History of Land Fill in Boston, 1630-1890.
Mapping Boston, from the book of the same title (Mugar GA430 .M36 1999), Future Boston.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Massachusetts, 1867-1950
48 reels. Black and white.
Mugar Microforms HG9778. M37 S45
Reel 4: Boston, 1867, v.l: Downtown; 1885, v.1 Downtown - South End/Sections 1-25C; 1887, v.2 Back Bay - South End/Sections 29-59; 1888, v.3 Roxbury - Jamaica Plain - West Roxbury, parts of Brighton & Brookline/Sections 62-100; 1888, v.4 South Boston-Dorchester - Mattapan/Sections 106-141.Reel 5: Boston, 1895, v.1 Downtown - Chinatown/Sections 1-58; 1897, v.2 Back Bay - South End - North Dorchester/Sections 1-83; 1897, v. 3 Roxbury - Mission Hill - Jamaica Plain (West Roxbury)/Sections 1-112; 1899, v.4 South Boston - North Dorchester/Sections 1-104; 1900, v.5 Charlestown - East Boston/Sections 1-111.
ProQuest's Digital Sanborn Maps are available at M.I.T. and the Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, and Woburn Public Libraries (not the Boston Public Library). There is no remote access; you must go to the library. The maps were digitized from the microform set and are in black and white.
For later years, see MIT Libraries: Maps: Urban Studies: Boston Sanborn Maps
The Boston Atlas. Boston Redevelopment Authority. Scanned maps from various local institutions. In color. Click on "New Java Viewer." On the right, click on "2005 Mass Color Orth..." For the spring 2008 American Studies assignment, click on "Future Boston Map Collection." Choose and click on "The Bromley Atlas [various years]." Click on other maps and years as needed.
To print out maps, click on "Menu" and then "Print to PDF or Picture." The printouts are high-quality. On campus color printer available at the CFA Lab, 855 Commonwealth Ave., Room 203. Phone: 353-4763.
Fire Insurance Atlases. Original maps; print only. Massachusetts State Library (Special Collections) -
"Compiled by private surveyors (such as Bromley, Hopkins, and Sanborn), these maps depict lot lines, building foot prints, and building materials for all parcels within the City of Boston. Boston's first fire insurance map dates from 1867; subsequent maps were published every five years. This collection is a valuable resource for dating individual buildings as well as the topographical development of whole areas. Incomplete atlas collections are held by the Bostonian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Boston Public Library." See also Guide to Researching Boston Buildings.Union List of Sanborn & Other Fire Insurance Maps: Owning Institutions. University of California, Berkeley. Browsable by state.
U. S. Census Bureau, Boston Reference Maps, Census Tracts, Blocks, Streets, etc.
Yahoo!'s Map of Boston, driving directions, street maps.
PERIODICAL INDEXES AND ABSTRACTS
- America: History
and Life, 1964--. BU
Subject index to articles, book reviews, and dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Also available in print for the years 1964 to 1999 at Mugar Reference X Z 1201 F64. - Art Index and Art Index
Retrospective, 1929--. BU
Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. In addition to articles, Art Index indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals. Subjects covered include archaeology, architecture, art history, city planning, crafts, motion pictures, graphic arts, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, museology, and photography. Also available in print at Mugar Reference XZ 5937 F29. -
ARTBibliographiesMODERN, 1969--. BU
Indexes articles, books, exhibition catalogs, and theses on modern art, photography, and design from late 19th century to the present. Also available in print at Mugar Reference X Z 5935 L64 -
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, 1930s--.
BU
Indexes more than 1,000 international periodicals relating to architecture, archeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation. Coverage from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present. - BHA(Bibliography
of the History of Art), 1973--. BU
Getty Information Institute. Indexes books, journals, dissertations, and exhibition catalogs. Covers Western art, all media, from late antiquity to the present. Includes RILA (International Repertory of the Literature of Art, 1975-1989 Mugar Reference XZ 5937 R15M ), and RAA (Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie, 1973-1989; available in print for the years 1910 to 1989 at Mugar Reference XZ 5937 F10). RAA covers late antiquity to the present; excludes Islamic, Far Eastern, and primitive art and archaeology.
- Dissertation
Abstracts, 1861--. BU
Citations to dissertations accepted for doctoral degrees at accredited North American institutions and more than 200 institutions elsewhere; abstracts are available from 1980 to date. Citations to masters' theses from 1962 to date; abstracts available from 1988 to date. Abstracts in print are available from 1938 to date at Mugar Reference XAS 30 F38. For dissertations about Boston published after 1980, search for "Boston*" in the abstract field and narrow by subject field, e.g., art history, sociology. For a list of subjects, click on Browse, then click on a general category. Dissertations published before 1980 are listed without abstracts; search for "Boston" as a keyword but note that you will retrieve many irrelevant citations. Free full-text downloads available for Boston University dissertations published since 1997.
- Index
to 19th-Century American Art Periodicals. BU
Covers nearly all art journals from the 19th century. Over 1,200 citations refer to the arts in Boston: auctions, Boston Art Club, exhibitions, galleries, museum news and collections, publications, etc.
- IngentaConnect,
1988--.
Current, multidisciplinary database with keyword searching and journal browsing.
- JSTOR (Journal Storage)
A full-text collection of back issues (from volume 1 to approximately five years ago) of core scholarly journals. Includes journals in African-American studies, anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture, Asian studies, classics, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, and statistics.
- Bibliographies of New England History: Massachusetts. Mugar Reference X Z1295 .C65 1976.
OTHER INFORMATION
General
Boston Harbor Story: Applying Earth Science to issues of immediate public concern, U.S. Geological Survey, September 2000
Boston Online, see Boston Links grouped by topics
FutureBoston, non-profit organization. Home page and index.
World Religions in Boston, Pluralism Project, Harvard University. Includes resources and bibliography.
Cultural Associations
Boston Architecture and History, Dave Wieneke, iBoston.org.
Boston Historical Society and Museum
Boston History, Boston Online
Boston History & Innovative Collaborative, History, Tourism, and Greater Boston's Development. Combined academic, business, and non-profit organization project. See Boston Breakthroughs:Bio-Technology, Education, Finance, Health Care, Info Technology, Technology, Social
Boston SAND: Seaport Alliance for Neighborhood Design
Boston Street Railway Association (BSRA), list of publications
Historic New England (formerly, SPNEA, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities)
Literary Trail of Greater Boston
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Massachusetts Historical Society
Museums in Boston, Boston Online.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Save America's Treasures: Massachusetts
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
Sightseeing
Boston African American National Historic Site, National Park Service
Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project: The Big Dig
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, National Park Service
Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service
Boston Web Project, iBoston.org
Webcams in Boston and Boston Webcams at Cincystreet.com (must use Internet Explorer).
Transportation
Return to Boston and Its Neighborhoods