The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is December 2024)
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Do you research school records? I’m not talking about yearbooks. Those can be found on the Yearbooks Page. I’m talking about actual school records, such as enrollment, attendance, and grade reports for example. These are interesting source documents because they might record the student’s age, birth date and location, and possibly their parents’ names. All great ways to find this information if you haven’t found them in other documents about your target ancestor. Besides, finding out your grandmother’s grades would be interesting!
The record collection links, listed below, feature school records from the state, and list collections of records that are available for free online.
If you wish to get educated with some basic information regarding what is available and how to navigate your research for school records, you can read these summaries:
- 5 Quick Tips to Get the Most Out of Education Records
- Top 10 Strategies for Finding School Records for Genealogy
- Getting Started With School Records for Genealogy Research
So, what types of records related to schools are maintained and often available?
- School Census
- School Catalogs
- Teacher’s Registers
- Attendance Records
- Report Cards
- Class Logs
- Teacher Rosters
- School Board Meetings/Reports
- Academic Team and Class Photos
- Local Newspaper Articles:
- Graduation Lists
- School Activities
- School Sports
- Student Newspapers
- Alumni Directories and Publications
- Yearbooks
- Yearbook Indexes
And, what types of information can you derive from these school records?
- Name (often includes a middle name which is useful).
- Age
- Physical Characteristics – color/race, disability.
- Birth Date
- Current Residence Address
- Name of Father
- Name of Mother
- Occupations of parents
- Grades
- Classes Taken
- Activities (from Photos)
- Date left school (can help with family residence relocation)
Below is a list of links to free online school record collections for the state;
Note: Some of the links go to sites with not much information and some go to sites with an extensive set of records.
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Massachusetts School Records
- Amherst, Amherst College Address List
- Amherst, Amherst College Addresses of the Alumni of Amherst College
- Amherst, Amherst College Alumni Address List
- Amherst, Amherst College Amherst College Biographical Record of the Graduates and non-Graduates for the Classes of 1822-1962
- Amherst, Amherst College General Catalogue of Amherst College: including the Officers of Government and Instruction, the Alumni, and Honorary Graduates, 1821-1900
- Amherst, Biographical Record of the Alumni and non-graduates of Amherst College (classes ’72-’96), 1871-1896
- Amherst, Biographical Record of the Alumni and non-graduates of Amherst College (classes ’72-’96), 1871-1896: the third Quarter Century
- Amherst, Biographical Record of the Alumni of Amherst College during its First Half Century, 1821-1871
- Andover, History of the Andover Theological Seminary
- Andover, Phillips Academy An Old New England School: a History of Phillips Academy, Andover
- Boston, Institute for the Blind, 1835-1869
- Boston, Boston University General Alumni Catalogue of Boston University, Nineteen Hundred and Eighteen
- Boston, History of the Bowdoin School, 1821-1907
- Boston, Schools and Schoolboys of Old Boston from 1636 to 1844, to which is Added a Series of Biographical Sketches, with Portraits of Some of the Old Schoolboys of Boston
- Bridgewater, History and Alumni Record of the State Normal School, to July, 1876
- Brookline, School Records, 1838-1845
- Cambridge, A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Harvard University, for the Academical Year 1860-61
- Cambridge, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University
- Cambridge, Class of 1900 Institute of Technology: Thirty Years Record, 1900-1930
- Cambridge, Harvard Class Album
- Cambridge, Harvard College and Radcliffe College The Freshman Register of the Class of …
- Cambridge, Harvard College Class of 1907 Secretary’s Fourth Report
- Cambridge, Quinquennial Catalogue of the Law School of Harvard University: Alumni Directory
- Cambridge, The Harvard Class Book, 1902
- Catalog of Officers, Graduates, and non-graduates of Smith College, 1875-1915
- Charlestown, Charlestown High School: Historical Sketches of the School, the Association, and the Cadets, together with Lists of Teachers and Pupils, and Other Matters of Interest
- Clark University, Directory of Alumni, Faculty and Students
- Cummington, Catalogue of the Officers and Students in the Academy at Cummington, Mass., February, 183l
- Dedham, A Record of Education, the Schools and Teachers, 1644-1904
- Dedham, Historical Catalogue of the Dedham High School, Teachers and Students, 1851-1889
- Dedham, The Schools and Teachers of Dedham 1644-1904
- Digital Commonwealth, Miscellaneous School Documents and Photos
- Easton, Report of the School Committee
- Hanover, History of Hanover Academy
- Harvard College Records
- Historical Register of Boston University 4th Decennial Issue, 1869-1901
- Hopkington School Documents and Photos
- Hyde Park, Teachers in the Readville School, 1839-1867
- Ipswich, Middle School District Records, 1803-1869
- List of the Names of All the Students Connected with Amherst College, and those Receiving Honorary Degrees from its Foundation in 1821 to 1902
- Lowell, The Early Irish Catholic Schools, 1835-1852
- Lyman School for Boys, Daily Registers, 1848-1901
- Lynnfield, Minutes of School Board Meetings, 1828-1849
- Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Nautical School Case Histories and Commitment Register of Boys, 1856-1870
- Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Nautical School Case Histories of Boys for the School Ship George M. Bernard, 1864-1872
- Monson, State Primary School Records, 1854-1895
- Monson, State Primary School Case Histories (1864-1895), Boarding out Register (1883-1892), Placement Register (1874-1890)
- North Danvers, Historical Sketch of School District Number Thirteen
- Northampton, Smith College Class Book
- Northfield, Annual Reports of the School Committee
- Salem, Catalogue of the Instructors and Students
- Sharon, School Committee, Reports, 1838-1860
- South Hadley, Quinquennial Catalogue of Officers and Students of Mount Holyoke College, 1837-1895
- Springfield, History of the “Old High School” on School Street, and the “Female Seminary”
- The Harvard freshman Red Book
- The Harvard Index
- The Schools and Teachers of Dedham, 1644-1904
- Wellesley, Wellesley College Class Record, 1915-1940
- Wellesley, General Catalogue of Wellesley College, 1875-1922: a Record of Officers and Students.
- West Roxbury, Tercentenary History of the Roxbury Latin School, 1645-1945
- Williams College, Life Sketches of the Class of 1855
- Williams College, Report of the Class of Fifty-four, 1854-1879
- Williamstown and Williams College
- Worcester, Catalogue of the Worcester High School
- Worcester, College of the Holy Cross A Catalogue of the Graduates of the College of the Holy Cross, 1849-1899
- Worcester, College of the Holy Cross Alumni Directory, 1849-1903
- Worcester, College of the Holy Cross Graduates of the College of the Holy Cross, 1849-1884
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!