| Creator | Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston |
| Title | Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston records |
| Dates | 1838-1964 |
| Identification | CC 11 |
| Quantity | 1.5 linear feet (3 manuscript containers) |
| Collection Abstract | The records of the Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston (1838-1964), formerly the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston annual reports of the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston from 1870-1915 and of its later incarnation, the Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston from 1924-1964. This collection also includes other publications by the Overseers of the Poor in the City of Boston and an 1838 report on pauper statistics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1837. |
| Historical Abstract | The Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston was established in 1691, incorporated in 1772, and reorganized in 1864, at which time they became directly accountable to the city. In the annual report of 1871 to the City Council, it was stated that four board members would be elected by the City Council each year to the unpaid twelve person board, to serve for a term of three years. In addition to the expenditure of public funds appropriated by the City Council for charitable purposes, the Overseers administered private charitable trust funds in accordance with their provisions. As of 1880, the objective of the agency was to "Grant partial relief, in small supplies of food fuel, medicines, or rarely money, at their own homes, to those who in their opinion require it, provided such persons have a settlement in Boston. Another goal of the agency was to prevent the demoralization of the poor through indiscriminate almsgiving by centralizing the efforts of private charitable organizations and by conducting home visits of potential recipients. In 1967, the Boston Welfare Department was abolished when the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare took over the responsibilities of all city and town public welfare boards within the Commonwealth. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston, CC 11, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 1996.009
Processed by Nora J. Bloom, March 1996
Supervised by Joan Gearin
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Aliza Allen Leventhal, January 2013
The Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston was established in 1691, incorporated in 1772, and reorganized in 1864, at which time they became directly accountable to the city. In the annual report of 1871 to the City Council, it was stated that four board members would be elected by the City Council each year to the unpaid twelve person board, to serve for a term of three years. In addition to the expenditure of public funds appropriated by the City Council for charitable purposes, the Overseers administered private charitable trust funds in accordance with their provisions.
As of 1880, the objective of the agency was to "Grant partial relief, in small supplies of food fuel, medicines, or rarely money, at their own homes, to those who in their opinion require it, provided such persons have a settlement in Boston; also [to] relieve the expenses of towns in which such persons have settlements, until the town takes charge of the case."(1) Under the direction of the Overseers, a Temporary Home (1862) gave temporary shelter and food to needy women and children in return for housework, and the Wayfarers' Lodge (1879) gave the same assistance to able-bodied male paupers in return for sawing wood. Another goal of the agency was to prevent the demoralization of the poor through indiscriminate almsgiving by centralizing the efforts of private charitable organizations and by conducting home visits of potential recipients. Each family applying for aid was visited by an agent of the board who would make a report of past and present history, character, capacity to work, ability of relatives to support, etc., and register their names on the books of the board.(2)
In 1914, in accordance with the Massachusetts Acts of 1913, the OPB established a program for Mothers' Aid, a predecessor to Aid to Dependent Children. In 1921, the Overseers of the Poor of Boston was renamed the Overseers of the Public Welfare in the City of Boston. The agency's continuing objective, "to relieve and aid all poor and indigent persons residing in Boston," had the new proviso "that they are not being aided in institutions."(3) During the Great Depression, from 1930 to 1933, the agency began to receive some federal government funding, began a temporary Unemployment Emergency Relief Fund, and established a program for Old Age Assistance. In addition, the organization had expanded into several branch offices and had begun to issue licenses for collecting funds on public streets.
In the annual report of 1944, the agency which the Overseers of the Public Welfare of Boston board members administered was reclassified as the Department of Public Welfare for the City of Boston. By the year 1964, the organization was known simply as the Boston Welfare Department. The Board of Overseers, whose members were now appointed by the mayor, directed the distribution of funds under five assistance programs: Old Age Assistance, Medical Assistance for the Aged, Aid to Dependent Children, Disability Assistance and General Relief, operated the Temporary Home for Women and Children and provided lodging and meals for homeless men. The financing for these programs included funding from city, state and federal appropriations and totaled over fifty-three million dollars. In addition, the board was still responsible for the distribution of nineteen private charitable trust funds left to their care over the years.
In 1967, the Boston Welfare Department was abolished when the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare took over the responsibilities of all city and town public welfare boards within the Commonwealth.(4)
The records of the Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston (1838-1964), formerly the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston, constitute annual reports of the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston from 1870-1915 and of its later incarnation, the Overseers of the Public Welfare of the City of Boston from 1924-1964. This collection also includes other publications by the Overseers of the Poor in the City of Boston and an 1838 report on pauper statistics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1837.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
The annual reports, 1870-1915 and 1924-1964, contain lists of current and previous members, annual highlights, annual expenditures, receipts and payments, data on trust funds, statistics on public assistance and information on contemporary legal actions concerning public assistance.
Box 1
Box 2
Box 3
This series consist of five documents:
Deeds of Trust of David Sears to the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston, Trustees and Actuaries of the Fifty Associates Charity, and the Searstan Charter-House documents David Sears’ endowments to these charities which were directed by the Overseers. Though this publication is undated, the latest date in the text is 1856. A letter from David Sears, dated 1865, is tipped in at the front of this book.
Act of 1864, Ordinances, Rules and Regulations, as to the Overseers of the Poor, Charity Building and Temporary Home (1869) is a reprint from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Acts of 1864, containing the act under which the Overseers was reorganized, and documents related to property managed by the Overseers.
Report of the David Sears Charity, A Fund held in Trust by the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston with Accompanying Documents (1875)describes the Overseers use of the David Sears endowment.
The Report on “Outdoor Relief,”, by a Committee of the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston (1888)discusses problems associated with non-institutional public assistance in Brooklyn, New York.
Rules for the Visitors of the Overseers of the Poor of Boston (1897)is a handbook created for Overseers employees who were called “visitors”, who conducted home visits to collect information on and make evaluations of aid recipients.
Box 3
This series contains one report published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entitled Abstract of the Returns of the Overseers of the Poor in Massachusetts for 1837 (1838). This was the first report on pauper statistics in Massachusetts compiled by the Overseers of the Poor in Massachusetts cities and towns.
