Scope and Content: The Reformatory Prison for Women was opened in Sherborn in 1877.  It was renamed the Reformatory for Women by St 1911, c 181 and because of a redrawn boundary line its fuller designation was changed from the Reformatory for Women at Sherborn to the Reformatory for Women at Framingham by St 1932, c 180, s 24.  Under St 1955, c 770 it received its current name, the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham.
Arrangement: In two subseries: (1) Inmates transferred into reformatory (2) Inmates transferred out of reformatory; Arranged within each subseries chronologically
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Scope and Content: The State Primary School, opened at the State Almshouse at Monson in 1866 and continuing after the almshouse’s closing in 1872 until 1895, provided lodging, instruction, and employment for dependent and neglected children under age sixteen without settlement in the Commonwealth and some juvenile offenders.  Series was created to administer their admission to the institution as follows:
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Files for 1870, 1876-1878, 1883, 1886, 1889-1890, 1892-1894 only; pre-1889 files fragmentary. Box 1: 1870-1890.  Box 2: 1892-1894. Reel GSU 447: 1870-1892.  Reel GSU 448: 1892-1894
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Scope and Content: Massachusetts Resolves 1846, c 117 appointed Commissioners on Idiocy to inquire on: the condition of idiots in the commonwealth and if anything can be done for them. The commission’s report, written by Samuel Gridley Howe of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, led to the establishment by Resolves 1848, c 65 of the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children, located at the Perkins Institution. The school was incorporated as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth (St 1850, c 150), located near Perkins in South Boston, with Howe serving as president until his death in 1876. It was renamed the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded by St 1883, c 239, reflecting the establishment of a separate asylum department for those beyond school age or not capable of being helped by the school’s instruction. Funds for the construction of a new facility in Waltham were provided by Resolves 1888, c 82, and occupation of the new site began in 1890, with the South Boston facility closing in 1892. St 1925, c 293 renamed the institution the Walter E. Fernald State School, in honor of the superintendent of the school, 1887-1924. A 2003 gubernatorial initiative to close the Fernald School (known as the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center since 1993) by 2007 was contested during the subsequent decade, until the institution was shut down permanently in Nov. 2014.
Restrictions: Mental retardation client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c 123B, s 17. For conditions of access consult repository
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Scope and Content: The State Almshouse at Monson provided residence for paupers without settlement in the Commonwealth from 1854 to 1872.  The State Primary School, opened at the almshouse in 1866 and continuing after its closing until 1895, provided lodging, instruction, and employment for dependent and neglected children under age sixteen without settlement in the Commonwealth and some juvenile offenders.  Series consisting of letterpress copies of replies to correspondence to the institutions’ superintendent was maintained to administer them.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Vols. 28-30 transferred to: Correspondence concerning placement applications ((M-Ar)916X)
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Scope and Content: North Reading State Sanatorium provided care and treatment for tuberculosis patients in Massachusetts from 1909 to 1962, being confined to juvenile clientele from 1927.  However, it also opened outpatient services to adults and children.  Case files were kept by sanatorium medical staff to provide a medical history and record of the physical examination resulting in recommendations for outpatients examined.
Arrangement: Arranged by case no./chronologically
Restrictions: Public health hospital/clinic client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c111, s 70. For conditions of access consult repository
Notes: Transferred to Western Massachusetts Hospital ca. 1962, when North Reading State Sanatorium closed.  Transferred to Archives, Aug.-Sept. 1982. Files 690-740 missing. Box 1: 640-1154. Box 2: 1155-1599. Box 3: 1600-2191. Box 4: 2193-2634
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Scope and Content: Massachusetts Resolves 1846, c 117 appointed Commissioners on Idiocy to inquire on: the condition of idiots in the commonwealth and if anything can be done for them. The commission’s report, written by Samuel Gridley Howe of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, led to the establishment by Resolves 1848, c 65 of the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children, located at the Perkins Institution. The school was incorporated as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth (St 1850, c 150), located near Perkins in South Boston, with Howe serving as president until his death in 1876. It was renamed the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded by St 1883, c 239, reflecting the establishment of a separate asylum department for those beyond school age or not capable of being helped by the school’s instruction. Funds for the construction of a new facility in Waltham were provided by Resolves 1888, c 82, and occupation of the new site began in 1890, with the South Boston facility closing in 1892. St 1925, c 293 renamed the institution the Walter E. Fernald State School, in honor of the superintendent of the school, 1887-1924. A 2003 gubernatorial initiative to close the Fernald School (known as the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center since 1993) by 2007 was contested during the subsequent decade, until the institution was shut down permanently in Nov. 2014.
Arrangement: Arranged by client no
Restrictions: Mental retardation client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c 123B, s 17. For conditions of access consult repository
Notes: Scheduled as: Client files
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Scope and Content: The State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton was established in 1855 and opened in 1858.  It was successively renamed Northampton Lunatic Hospital in 1862, Northampton Insane Hospital in 1898, and Northampton State Hospital in 1906.
Arrangement: In two subseries: (1) Female consultation cases (2) Male consultation cases; Arranged within each subseries alphabetically by patient
Restrictions: Mental health client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c 123, s 36. For conditions of access consult repository
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Scope and Content: The State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton was established in 1855 and opened in 1858.  It was successively renamed Northampton Lunatic Hospital in 1862, Northampton Insane Hospital in 1898, and Northampton State Hospital in 1906.
Arrangement: In two subseries: (2) Springfield district and juvenile courts; Arranged alphabetically within each subseries by patient
Restrictions: Mental health client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c 123, s 36. For conditions of access consult repository
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Scope and Content: Under the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity (1879-1886) and the State Board of Lunacy and Charity (1886-1898), the Dept. of Outdoor Poor was responsible for adults in need of state medical or general assistance not committed to state institutions under the board’s jurisdiction and for juvenile wards of the state under three years of age. Series records amounts paid to temporary guardians for foundlings.
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Scope and Content: The Boston Lunatic Hospital was established as a municipal agency in 1839; it was renamed Boston Insane Hospital in 1897.  It was made a Massachusetts state agency under the name Boston State Hospital in 1908 and closed in 1981.
Restrictions: Mental health client information restricted by statutory provision MGLA c 123, s 36. For conditions of access consult repository
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