Discover Boston's Past at the Massachusetts Historical Society - Founded 1791
The Massachusetts Historical Society was founded in 1791 by Reverend Jeremy Belknap and a small group of Boston men with a clear goal. They wanted to collect and preserve materials related to the history of the United States. At the time, the country was still new. The idea of systematically saving its records was not.
It became the first historical society in the United States devoted to this purpose. Early members gathered manuscripts, books, and artifacts tied to the colonial period and the American Revolution. Over time, the collections expanded to include personal papers, correspondence, diaries, maps, and institutional records. Many of these materials document the political, social, and cultural development of the nation from the eighteenth century onward.
The Society moved through several locations before establishing its current home at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston. The building opened in 1899 and was designed by Edmund March Wheelwright in the Georgian Revival style. It was built to house and protect a growing archive and to provide space for research and scholarship.
Today, the collections include millions of items spanning more than three centuries of American history. These holdings include the papers of prominent individuals, records of organizations, and a wide range of printed and visual materials. The Massachusetts Historical Society continues to function as a research institution, preserving primary sources and making them accessible for the study of the American past.
Matt Lambros Mar 18, 2026 Architecture History Museums
Mar 18, 2026
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