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Local History By Subject – LH.001

Photocopies, newspaper clippings, documents, pamphlets, booklets, periodicals. A miscellaneous collection of information and primary sources relating to Westborough local history, organized by subject.

Official collection name: Local History By Subject

Location: Filing cabinet; Map case (A5).

Local identifier: LH.001

Creator: Westborough Public Library

Date: Undetermined

Extent: 3 filing cabinet drawers

Subject: Local history–Westborough (Mass.); Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs

Online Access:

The Listening Ear – LH.044

Scrapbooks. Newspaper clippings, brochures, correspondence, photographs, and newsletters documenting the activities of The Listening Ear, a help phone line for people in need.

Official collection name: The Listening Ear Records, 1967-1978

Location: Shelving

Local identifier: LH.044

Creator: The Listening Ear

Date: 1967-1978

Extent: 2 binders

Subject: Hotlines (Counseling)

Lyman School Citizen Advisory Committee – LH.019

Binder. Meeting minutes, memoranda, and reports resulting in recommendations for the redevelopment of the Lyman School property.

Official collection name: Lyman School Citizen Advisory Committee Records, 1988

Location: Shelving

Local identifier: LH.019

Creator: Lyman School Citizen Advisory Committee

Date: 1988

Extent: One binder

Subject: City planning–Westborough (Mass.)

Lyman School for Boys [State Reform School] Records – LH.016

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:

Robert Cleaves Collection of Lyman School Records – LH.070

The Robert Cleaves Collection of Lyman School Records covers the early years of the State Reform School for Boys and the Lyman School for Boys. Most notably, the collection includes meeting minutes of the school’s Board of Trustees beginning with its very first meeting in 1847 up until 1860 and a collection of photographs showing the boys engaging in a number of activities between 1905 and 1912. Records from this collection is featured in the Westborough Center online exhibit, “Changing Pictures of Childhood: A Comparative History of Child Welfare in Westborough.” See also Records of the Lyman School for Boys [State Reform School].

Official collection name: The Robert Cleaves Collection of Lyman School Records

Location: Shelving

Local identifier: LH.070

Creator: Robert Cleaves

Date: 1847-1946

Extent: 1 linear foot (2 boxes + Map Case folder)

Subject: Reformatories–Massachusetts–Westborough (Mass.); Lyman School for Boys

Online access:

Finding aid: LH070 – Robert Cleaves Collection of Lyman School Records