Special Collections

 

The Special Collections of the Lawrence Public Library is composed of manuscripts, archives, periodicals, newspapers, photographs, artifacts, and ephemera.  The majority of the collections are housed on the 3rd floor of the main library building at 51 Lawrence Street.  The Special Collections reading room for the collections is not yet available, however most material can be requested at the Reference Desk and be used on the second floor.  Special Collections materials do not circulate.  The microfilm readers are available on the 2nd floor.  Research requests can be directed to Louise Sandberg, in person, by mail, email, and phone.  The minimum charge for research is $10 per hour with a $5 minimum.  Genealogical resources: City directories from 1847 to the present (1847-1960 on microfilm) Federal Census for Lawrence, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 (on microfilm) 37 titles of newspapers (on microfilm) Several hundred published family histories Lawrence Street lists from 1886 - present Atlases 1875, 1895, 1896, 1906, 1926 Collections:   Books and serials encompassing these topics: History of the United States with and emphasis on New England, labor, textiles and textile history, Catholicism, and genealogy. Library of the Pacific Mills Remains of a library once used by employees of the mill and given to the LPL. Posters of World War I and II AOH Div. 8 Irish  Library The AOH Div. 8 Irish collection is on permanent loan from the Lawrence chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians to the Lawrence Public Library.  The collection is made up of several thousand titles of books, records, videos, and serials about Ireland and the Irish.  The collection is housed in the lower level of the South Lawrence branch library. Local History Room:   World War II  Boxes of 5x10 inch index cards with newspaper clippings of Lawrence World War II veterans.            Grace Church Newsletters, pamphlets. Civil War Records of the Needham and Lawton chapters of the GAR.    Society of Natural History and Archaeology Records of the local organization from 1886 to1928. Badger & Nash Grocers Account Book for the years 1855 and 1856. Lawrence Public Library Both the records and photographs. Lawrence Opera House, Lawrence City Hall, Entertainments Programs Lawrence Churches Mostly ephemera from a variety of Lawrence churches. John R. Rollins Letters written to Rollins when he was writing his book about the Rollins family Lawrence Bridge Company Account book when it was a toll bridge Lawrence Public Schools Records including School Committee Reports Committee on the Lawrence Common Minutes 1849-1852. Lawrence Police Department Police Log 1865-1868 Textile Strike 1912 A collection of Scrapbooks and 2 small broadsides Lawrence City Mission Annual reports Pemberton Mill Disaster Scrapbooks Lawrence Treasurer Office Account Book 1847-1853 United Textile Workers of America Collective bargaining records Lawrence Family Small collection of letters to and from members of the city’s namesake’s founder Old Residents’ Association Scrapbook Robert Frost Collection Books written by or about the Lawrence poet and a small collection of memorabilia. Images Collections include: Postcards and stereo slides of Greater Lawrence, photographs of Semana Hispana, the NRA parade of 1933, the Jennings family, the God and Country Parade of 1962, flood of 1936, Lawrence Cyclone (1890), before urban renewal (1958), Fr. O’Reilly’s Golden Jubilee Parade, cabinet cards of the Lawrence High School graduating classes of 1897, 1908, and 1909, as well as many miscellaneous images that help to document life in the Merrimack valley.