Most of the records in this collection were created in the nineteenth century. They document planning for the repair and building of schools, splitting the town into separate districts, the hiring and firing of teachers, and the administering of schools within each district. Documents relating to disciplining students include the “Report on Events Leading to Expelling Emey Colburn by the Westborough School Association, 1840” (OS.02), “Adopted By-Laws Concerning Truant Children, 1871” (1.015), and entries from March 14-28, 1887 in School Committee Records, 1862-1892 (1.002).

Official collection name: Historical Records of the Town of Westborough: Schools

Location: Shelving and Oversize

Local identifier: OD.004 (Accession number 2015.02)

Creator: Town of Westborough

Date: 1724-1932

Extent: 3 linear feet (1 banker box + 1 oversize box)

Subject: Schools–Westborough (Mass.)

Finding aid: OD004 – Westborough School Docs

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Historical Records of the Town of Westborough: Schools: Finding Aid

Last Revised: January 8, 2020

Collection Summary

Collection number:   OD.004 (Accession number: 2015.02)

Collection title:          Historical Records of the Town of Westborough: Schools, 1730-1932

Dates:                         1730-1932

Size:                            3 linear feet (1 banker’s box + one oversize box)

Creator/Collector:     The Town of Westborough

Acquisitions info.:     Transferred to the Westborough Public Library from the Town Clerk’s Office, which retains official custody of the collection.

Custodial history:      This artificial collection was among a group of historical records that were transferred from the Town Clerk’s Office vault to the Westborough Public Library during the renovation of Town Hall starting in 2013. The documents in the collection were housed in a wooden box labeled, “Schools” and had been minimally organized by Charles H. Reed. There is no record of ownership or stewardship of the documents before or after this time.

Language(s):              English

Repository:                The Westborough Public Library

Processed by:             Anthony T. Vaver, 2016

Rights and Access

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Physical access restrictions: None, although researchers are encouraged to use any available digital images of the collection.

Publication rights: All town records in the collection are in the public domain. The newspaper clippings and other commercial publications may still fall under copyright.

Organizational History

The first School Committee of Westborough was formed in 1726. Joshua Townsend was hired as the town’s first schoolmaster, and he taught classes in private homes for 12 years. After 1744, classes were held in small outbuildings or sheds, but in 1753 the General Court of Massachusetts fined Westborough for not providing a proper grammar school. In 1765, the town was divided into six school districts, which were then increased to eight in 1789. The schools in each district were small, one-story brick or wooden structures, and students from 5 to 15 years of age were educated under the same roof. The residents in each district were responsible for funding and running their own school, until the separate school districts were dissolved in the early 1900s to create a unified school system.

In 1840, the Westborough School Association was formed to give students educational opportunities beyond what the district schools could offer. The group opened two seminaries, one for girls and one for boys, and the two schools accepted students from surrounding areas beyond Westborough.

The first high school was established in 1854, but since the school was ungraded and irregularly attended, it did not see its first formal graduating class (of three students) until 1872. The Forbes High School was built in 1926 and served as a combined High School and Junior High until 1956.

Scope and Content Note

Most of the records in this collection were created in the nineteenth century. They document planning for the repair and building of schools, splitting the town into separate districts, the hiring and firing of teachers, and the administering of schools within each district. Documents relating to disciplining students include the “Report on Events Leading to Expelling Emey Colburn by the Westborough School Association, 1840” (OS.02), “Adotped By-Laws Concerning Truant Children, 1871” (1.015), and entries from March 14-28, 1887 in School Committee Records, 1862-1892 (1.002).

Charles H. Reed, who collected these school records together, was involved in the building of the Forbes High School. Due to his involvement, records documenting the opening ceremonies for the school—which include four photographs, one of which shows Reed reading an Address to the crowd, and a note that the cornerstone of the building holds documents relating to these ceremonies—form a significant part of the collection.

Note that School Tax Lists also appear in collection 2014.04, Historical Records of the Town of Westborough: Census and Tax Lists, 1756-1879.

Collection Inventory

Series 1: Administrative

Box 1: Folder

1.001   School Committee Records, 1839-1861

1.002   School Committee Records, 1862-1892

1.003   Regulations for the Government of the Public Schools, 1897

1.004   Meeting Minutes of the Westborough School Association, 1840

1.005   School Committee Report, 1839

1.006   School Committee Report, 1840

1.007   School Committee Report, 1841

1.008   School Committee Report, 1842

1.009   School Committee Report, 1843

1.010   School Committee Report, 1844

1.011   School Committee Report, 1845

1.012   School Committee Report, 1846

1.013   School Committee Report, 1869

1.014   Report of the School Committee, 1915

1.015   Adopted By-Laws Concerning Truant Children, 1871

1.016   Lease of the Town House Basement for a School, 1843

1.017   Town Meeting Notes on Building a New School, 1916-1917

1.018   Petition to Build a New School, n.d.

1.019   Petitions to Repair Schoolhouses, 1827-1857

1.020   Court Assessment of Schoolhouse Fire, 1874

1.021   Proposal to Sell Coal for Heating School Houses, 1890

1.022   Invitation and Program for the Dedication of the Westborough High School, 1926

1.023   Teacher Certification, 1835

1.024   Hiring of Hannah Brigham to Run the Westborough Seminary for Young Girls by the Westborough School Association, 1841

1.025   Letter of Recommendation to Teach for A. W. Thayer, 1887

1.026   Application of Anna Ford, ca. 1890

1.027   Recommendation for the Re-election of Teachers, with Salaries, n.d.

1.028   Letter of Intent to Serve As Janitor Again, n.d.

1.029   Grammar School Graduation Program, 1886

1.030   Invitation and Program for the First Graduating Class of the New H.S. (Forbes), 1926

1.031   Request by the State for School Records, 1890

Oversize Box: Folder

OS.01  Incorporation of the Westborough School Association, 1840

OS.02  Report on Events Leading to Expelling Emey Colburn by the Westborough School Association, 1840

OS.03  Hiring of P. S. Eaton to Run a Seminary for Boys by the Westborough School Association, 1840

OS.04  Termination of P. S. Eaton by the Westborough School Association, 1840-1841

Series 2: School Districts

Box 1: Folder

1.032   School District 1: School Tax Certifications, 1833-1861

1.033   School District 1: Meeting Minutes, 1847

1.034   School District 2: Meeting Minutes, 1832

1.035   School District 2: School Tax Certifications, 1847

1.036   School District 3: School Tax Certifications, 1828

1.037   School District 3: Meeting Minutes, 1841

1.038   School District 4: School Tax Certifications, 1807-1861

1.039   School District 4: List of Pupils, 1844

1.040   School District 5: School Tax Certifications, 1841

1.041   School District 6: School Tax Certifications, 1833, 1844

1.042   School District 6: Meeting Warrant, 1853

1.043   School District 6: Meeting Minutes, 1861

1.044   School District 7: Meeting Minutes, 1816, 1834

1.045   School District 7: School Tax Certifications, 1835-1844

1.046   School District 8: School Tax Certifications, 1831-1848

1.047   School District 8: Meeting Minutes and Committee Reports, 1848-1867

1.048   School District 8: Meeting Warrants, 1866-1867

Oversize Box: Folder

OS.05  School District 7: Pupil Register, 1838

OS.06  School District 7: Meeting Warrants, 1838-1844

Series 3: Committees

Box 1: Folder

1.049   Report of the Building Committee, 1805-1806

1.050   Report to Redraw the Line between Districts 4 and 5, 1838

1.051   Report of the Committee on Schools, 1850

1.052   Report of the Committee on the High School, 1853

1.053   Report of the Committee on Repairing School Houses, 1870

1.054   Committee to Select a Location for a New School, 1872

1.055   Report of the Committee on Building a New Schoolhouse, 1872

1.056   Reports of the Committee on Providing Better School Accommodations, 1872-1873

1.057   Report of the Committee on Rebuilding the High Street School House, 1873

1.058   Committee to Repair the Grove Street Schoolhouse, 1873

1.059   Report of the Committee on Additional School Accommodations, 1876

1.060   Report of the Committee to Build a New School House, 1877

1.061   Report of the Committee to Build a New School House, 1883-1884

1.062   Report of the Special Committee on High School Building, 1916

Oversize Box: Folder

OS.07  Reports on Dividing School Money, 1829-1866

OS.08  Report to Divide Town into School Districts, 1836

OS.09  Committee to Assess School Property, 1867

OS.10  Report of the Committee on a Site for a High School, n.d.

Series 4: Finance

Box 1: Folder

1.063               Warrants to Collect School Tax, 1847

1.064               School Tax Assignment for Nonresidents, 1833-1861, n.d.

1.065               Orders Drawn for Schools, 1790

1.066               Orders and Receipts, 1730-1748

1.067               Orders and Receipts, 1752-1756

1.068               Orders and Receipts, 1762-1769

1.069               Orders and Receipts, 1770-1779

1.070               Orders and Receipts, 1780-1783

1.071               Orders and Receipts, 1793-1794

1.072               Orders and Receipts, 1795

1.073               Orders and Receipts, 1796

1.074               Orders and Receipts, 1797

1.075               Orders and Receipts, 1798

1.076               Orders and Receipts, 1799

1.077               Orders and Receipts, 1800

1.078               Orders and Receipts, 1801

1.079               Orders and Receipts, 1802

1.080               Orders and Receipts, 1803

1.081               Orders and Receipts, 1804

1.082               Orders and Receipts, 1805

1.083               Orders and Receipts, 1806

1.084               Orders and Receipts, 1807

1.085               Orders and Receipts, 1808

1.086               Orders and Receipts, 1814-1815

1.087               Orders and Receipts, 1820-1828

1.088               Orders and Receipts, 1830-1831

1.089               Orders and Receipts, 1853-1866

1.089A            School Expenditures and Proposed Budget, 1927

Series 5: Photographs

Box 1: Folder

1.090   Four Photographs Taken at the Corner Stone of the High School, 4/4/1925

Series 6: Published Materials

Box 1: Folder

1.091   Published Regulations and Curriculum Guidelines for Schools, 1878

1.092   Annual Report of the Auditor of Westborough [with List of Graduates, 1872-1910], 1910

1.093   Newspaper Clipping, “To Keep Boys and Girls in Home Town,” 1914

1.094   Articles from The Chronotype on the New High School, 1924-1925

1.095   Newspaper Clipping of Honor Roll during World War, n.d.

1.096   “History of the Site of the New High School” from The Chronotype, by Lillian Luukko, n.d. [after 1924]

1.097   Newspaper Clipping on the History of Textbooks in New England, n.d.

Oversize Box: Folder

OS.11  Abstract of Massachusetts School Returns for 1836, 1837

OS.12  Newspaper Clippings on School Athletics, 1914

OS.13  Chronotype Newspaper Clippings on the Dedication of the High School, 1926

OS.14  Massachusetts Public Schools Statistics, 1930

OS.15  “How Massachusetts’ School System Was Evolved,” Worcester Sunday Telegram, 1932

Series 7: History and Research on Schools

Box 1: Folder

1.098   Drawing of the First Schoolhouse, [1766?]

1.099   History of the Site of the Junior-Senior High School (Forbes) by Fannie Hooker Forbes, 1925

1.100   Research Notes on School History by Charles H. Reed, 1929

1.101   Historical Notes [Charles H. Reed, ca. 1929?]

1.102   Statistical Comparison of Westborough Schools in 1880 and 1930, 1930

Series 8: Original Collection Labels

Box 1: Folder

1.103   Description of Collection Contents from the Original Box

1.104   Original Enclosures for the Collection