navGeneral Institutions
The Society holds approximately 23,200 items published before 1877 by various kinds of organizations, both national and local in scope. The collection, most of which are pamphlets, consists of institutional reports, proceedings, constitutions, by-laws, historical sketches, membership lists, prospectuses, and promotional literature. The institutions represented range in nature from businesses to voluntary associations, and include banks, churches, insurance houses, social clubs, hospitals for the physically and mentally ill, missionary groups, racetracks, temperance associations, museums, and masonic groups. (Publications such as booksellers' and auction catalogs, canals and railroads, libraries, educational institutions, and learned societies materials are housed in separate collections.)
Access
The general institutions collection is fully cataloged in the General Catalog, with one exception.
Massachusetts institutions that may still have uncataloged material (primarily ephemera after 1840 and publications after 1876) are listed here: Massachusetts state-wide institutions; Massachusetts local institutions; Worcester institutions, Worcester churches. Please consult with the curator of books or readers' services staff to locate all items from this part of the collection.
