Scope and Content: Early incorporations of religious, charitable, educational, and other non-profit organizations were authorized through charters granted through the passage of special acts by the General Court. Changes to this process began per St 1857, c 56, which directed the articles of association of charitable corporations to be filed in the registry of deeds in the county where the organization was located. Filing of articles of organization and the issue of certificates of charter by the Secretary of the Commonwealth for charitable and other non-profit organizations was established per St 1874, c 375. –St 1901 c 405 required charitable organizations applying for incorporation to have their purposes and personnel investigated for possible illegal activity or unsuitable persons by the Board of State Charities (in 1919 the Dept. of Public Welfare), before they could be issued a certificate of incorporation by the state secretary. St 1954, c 539, s 1 gave these investigatory and filing responsibilities to the newly-established Division of Public Charities in the Attorney General’s Office. See its: Charitable corporation filings ((M-Ar)554).
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by filing date
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Scope and Content: Per St 1851, c 133, corporations were required to submit a certificate to the state secretary, who was to publish and submit to the legislature an annual abstract of all filings; by the 1890s this function was delegated to the secretary’s Corporation Division, later known as the Corporations Division.  The filings, per MGLA c 158, s 37, came to be annual reports providing information as of the last day of the fiscal year of the corporation, including officers of the corporation, financial assets, addresses, and annual meeting date; in earlier years also lists of stockholders with number of shares held. The certificate, provided by the state secretary, is signed by the corporate president or vice-president, attested by the corporate secretary, and sworn to before a notary.
Notes: 590 reels (1929-1970) deaccessioned ca. 1990. Current holdings (45 reels only) transferred from agency, Apr. 2006; additional agency holdings (1930-1975) incomplete
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Scope and Content: Under MGLA c 110B, s 2, any person who adopts and uses a trademark or label may file an application for its registration with the Commonwealth.  The state secretary’s office has held the responsibility for registration since the 19th century.  In the 1930s it was placed within the secretary’s Corporation Division (now known as the Corporations Division).  As part of the registration process, applicants are required to supply the division with facsimiles or copies of labels or trademarks in question.  Volumes in this series include samples of labels, trademarks, stamps, and forms of advertisement affixed to pages in order of registration.
Arrangement: Arranged by registration number
Restrictions: Restricted as fragile. Access by permission of state archivist or curator of Massachusetts Archives only
Notes: Numbers on spines are not consecutive and do not indicate missing volumes
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Scope and Content: Henry Dexter Chadwick, M.D., was the first superintendent of Westfield State Sanatorium (Mass.), 1908-1929; controller of tuberculosis for Detroit, Mich., 1929-1933; Massachusetts commissioner of public health, 1933-1938; president of the National Tuberculosis Association, 1939-1940, and of the Massachusetts Tuberculosis and Health League, 1940s.  He also served Massachusetts as a member of the Special Commission to Study and Investigate Certain Public Health Matters (Resolves 1947, c 73–also known as the Special Commission on Public Health) and the Governor’s Committee to Study State Hospitals (1953) –Series documents Chadwick’s professional career.
Arrangement: Arranged by subject, thereunder chronologically
Notes: Series documents Chadwick’s professional career. Files contain personal and professional letters sent and received while superintendent at Westfield; consultant reports on tuberculosis programs in Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Richmond, Va.; reports produced while a member of two Massachusetts commissions, the Special Commission on Public Health and the Governor’s Committee to Study State Hospitals; official letter of appointment to the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health; lecture notes; publications file; papers relating to presidency of the Massachusetts Tuberculosis League, including a printed history of the history of tuberculosis; programs of a 1938 testimonial dinner in Chadwick’s honor; letters of congratulation on his ninetieth birthday. Transferred to Archives from Department of Public Health (Tuberculosis Control), 1984
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Scope and Content: When the Massachusetts General Hospital was incorporated in 1811 to care for sick and mentally ill persons, a board of visitors of state officials was mandated to inspect the hospital periodically and to select four of its twelve trustees.  Board correspondence consists of letters addressed or forwarded to several governors (i.e. chairs of the board), relating to election of hospital corporation officers and trustees.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Agency history record (CStRLIN)MASVAH0321-A describes the history and functions of the Board of Visitors of the Massachusetts General Hospital
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Scope and Content: The Board to Investigate the Subject of the Unemployed inquired into the subject of the unemployed in Massachusetts and measures for their relief by the Commonwealth and its municipalities.  To administer its investigations and other affairs the board’s secretary conducted a variety of correspondence; outgoing mail is recorded in this series in letterpress form.
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Scope and Content: The Subdivision of Research and Statistics was established in the Division of Aid and Relief (Dept. of Public Welfare) in 1937.  By 1939 it was renamed Bureau of Research and Statistics and by 1940 was an independent unit within the department.  It was renamed successively: Division of Research and Planning (1970), Division of Statistics and Analysis (1971), Office of Research and Planning (mid-1970s), Office of Research and Evaluation (1979), and Office of Research, Evaluation, and Planning (1983)
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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Scope and Content: Series includes letters to the governor referred to the chief of staff as well as incoming and outgoing letters to/from the office itself.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by term
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Scope and Content: The Governor’s Office of Educational Affairs, established by Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1983, was intended to serve during his second administration as an official link to all public and private educational constituencies, and to support gubernatorial commitment to improving the quality of public education and delivery of all educational services.  Series was created to advise the governor on educational issues and to represent the governor to the community.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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Scope and Content: The governor has been chief executive officer of Massachusetts from the chartering of the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629 to 1774 and from 1780 to the present day.  Series consists of correspondence (including but not limited to that addressed to or written by the governor or deputy or lieutenant governor, often involving the government of neighboring jurisdictions) and other public nonjudicial documents created under the provincial charter (1692-1774) and the Commonwealth (from 1780)–and a few related earlier items–not specifically identified with the General Court, the Council, or the governor acting as the Council’s head (i.e., receiving petitions or requests for reimbursement of expenses, or issuing orders, proclamations, or commissions) or otherwise dealing with treaties, truces, or submissions (also to be identified with the Council), or otherwise dealing with legislation, reimbursement of expenses, or vital records (to be identified with the General Court)
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