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Weymouth Historic Collection Finding Aids

Original items in the Historic Collection may only be viewed by appointment. Patrons must review the Special Collections Usage Policy & Procedures, complete a Researcher Application, and present a valid piece of identification before they can be given access to the materials. Please call the Reference Desk at 781-337-1402 for more information or to schedule an appointment. 

A selection of items from these collections have been digitized and are available online through Digital Commonwealth. 

Click on a specific collection below to view a detailed finding aid:

  • Fifield Family Collection
    • The Fifield Family Collection contains correspondence, personal papers, ephemera, photographs, and artifacts created or collected by three generations of Fifield family members. Of note are correspondence concerning 19th century social and human rights movements such as temperance and abolitionism. 
  • Tufts-Smith-Adams Family Collection
    • The Tufts-Smith-Adams Family Collection contains correspondence, personal papers, and some artifacts concerning several generations of the Tufts family. Dr. Cotton Tufts (1732-1815) maintained a medical practice in Weymouth. He was entrusted with sole care of John and Abigail Adams' private affairs during their time abroad between 1780 and 1788, and again handled the local affairs for the couple during Adams' presidency. Two of Dr. Tufts's grandchildren, Quincy (1791-1872) and Susanna (1797-1877), were benefactors of the Tufts Library, which was founded in 1879. 
  • Bates-Weston-Chapman Family Collection
    • The Bates-Weston-Chapman Collection contains correspondence, personal papers, ephemera, and objects concerning the Bates, Weston, and Chapman families. Much of the collection concerns Maria Weston Chapman (1806-1885), a well-known abolitionist from Weymouth who was one of the founders of the Boston Anti-Slavery Bazaar and later became chief assistant to William Lloyd Garrison. 
  • Liberty Bell Collection
    • The Liberty Bell  was a gift book that was organized by Maria Weston Chapman and available at the Boston Anti-Slavery Bazaar from 1839-1858. The collection consists of volumes of the publication. 
  • Pamphlet Collection
    • The Pamphlet Collection contains pamphlets owned by various individuals and collected by Mary Fifield King or donated directly to the Tufts Library. Of particular interest in the collection are the political and anti-slavery pamphlets. The Fifields' involvement in temperance, women's rights, and anti-slavery efforts is well-represented; and the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society and Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society efforts are present. 
  • Fifield Anti-Slavery Book Collection
    • The Fifield Anti-Slavery Book Collections consists of books found in the Fifield cabinets at the Tufts Library relating to the anti-slavery movement. 
  • Almanacs Collection
    • The Almanacs Collections contains a variety of almanacs, two of which belonged to Noah Fifield. In addition to The Farmer's Almanac, there are some temperance and Christian almanacs. 
  • Fifield Music Collection
    • The Fifield Music Collection consists of sheet music and bound volumes of music.  The sheet music, almost all of which is stamped Fifield Collection, was either owned or collected by the Fifield family, in most cases Emily A. Porter Fifield and her daughter Mary Fifield King.
  • Civil War Collection
    • The Civil War Collection consists of five unrelated Civil War items. Two are diaries of Civil War soldiers, one by a survivor of Andersonville Prison named Adoniram E. Vining. 
  • Fogg Library Records and Collections
    • The Fogg Library Records and Collections consist of materials concerning the founding and operation of the Fogg Library as well as some relating to the Fogg Family. John S. Fogg (1817-1892), a boot and shoe manufacturer and banker,  left money for the erection of a building to be used as a library or reading room.  The Fogg Library was built in 1897 on Columbian Square in South Weymouth across from the Fogg Opera House, and dedicated in 1898. 
  • Tufts Library Records
    • The Tufts Library Records includes annual reports, lists of books in the library, and ephemera concerning the Tufts Library.
  • Weymouth Organization Records & Personal Papers

    • This collection brings together a small amount of organization records and personal papers. Among the organizations are the Abigail Adams Historical Society, the Female Evangelical Society of Braintree and Weymouth, the Monday Club of Weymouth, the North Weymouth Improvement Association, and the Weymouth Agricultural and Industrial Society.

  • Fifield Cabinet Books
    • The Fifield Cabinet Books were donated to the library mostly by Emily A. Porter Fifield and her daughter Mary Fifield King. The books cover a variety of subjects including anti-slavery efforts, British and American literature, and schoolbooks/textbooks. 
  • Newspaper Collection
    • The Newspaper Collection includes newspapers owned by individuals represented in other collections held by the Weymouth Public Libraries, such as Cotton Tufts, Noah and Hannah C.B. Fifield, and Maria Weston Chapman. An 1874 issue of the Boston Daily Advertiser describes events relating to the 350th anniversary of Weymouth's founding.