Books, hard drive, a ledger book detailing the lives of boys at the State Reform School in Westborough from 1856-1857, annual reports, and a book about the history and life at the school. The collection also includes Delinquents in the Making by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck and Crime in the Making by Robert J. Sampson and John H. Laub, both of which used data from the Lyman School to study delinquency and criminality in young people. See also the folder for “Lyman School” in the Local History by Subject collection (LH.001). The Lyman School is also featured in the Westborough Center online exhibit, “Changing Pictures of Childhood: A Comparative History of Child Welfare in Westborough.” See also the The Robert Cleaves Collection of Lyman School Records.
Official collection name: Records of the Lyman School for Boys [State Reform School]
Location: Shelving and unprocessed box in work shelving.
Local identifier: LH.016
Creator: Westborough Public Library
Date: 1847-1959
Extent: .5 linear foot (books, film, hard drive) + one unprocessed box
Subject: Reformatories–Massachusetts–Westborough (Mass.); Lyman School for Boys
Online access:
- Westborough Digital Repository: https://westboroughdigitalrepository.omeka.net/collections/show/10
- Digital Commonwealth: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:pc28bf72d
- Westborough TV (Historical Film on the Lyman School for Boys): http://westboroughtv.org/screening-of-discovered-film-on-lyman-school-for-boys/. Also see a follow-up interview with a former student: http://westboroughtv.org/bob-brown-sits-down-with-a-former-lyman-school-student/.