Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections: Introducing the Boston Globe Library Collection

As new members of the consortium, the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections will be introducing you to different components of our collections, which are comprised of records of Boston’s social justice and organizing history in African American, Latinx, LGBTQA, Asian American, and other communities. As well as community newspapers such as the Boston Phoenix, East Boston Community News, Sampan, and the subject of the blog: the Boston Globe.

In the basement of Snell Library at the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections resides the Boston Globe Library Collection. 4,376 boxes comprised of over a million photographs, over five million negatives of unprinted photographs, and 119 years of newspaper clippings from the Globe, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix and other area and national newspapers. Today, this vast collection of visual and textual resources is open to all researchers, whose interests may range widely, from Red Sox scores and legislative debates to Melnea Cass’s relentless pursuit of racial and economic justice. 

Boston Globe Truck

The collection of the Boston Globe Library is broken down into four parts: Newspaper Clippings, Microfilm, Print Photographs, and Negative Photographs. While researchers can research within each part individually, all the components of the collection can complement the different approaches to a research question. For instance, those interested in the history of school desegregation can use the print photographs to study how the first day of busing was covered visually in the Boston Globe, the negative photographs to see all of the shots the photographers took, including the ones that were published, and use the newspaper clippings to research the range of reporting on the Boston Public Schools, desegregation, and the Boston School Committee.

The range of materials in the Boston Globe Library Collection greatly extends the Archives and Special Collections’ existing Boston-focused social justice and community collections. Researching with our Special Collections and the Boston Globe Library collection in tandem will enrich any telling of the history of Boston.

In a series of upcoming posts we’ll share the many ways that research and rich experiential learning can be accomplished using the Boston Globe Library Collection. To find out more in the meantime, visit the finding aid here.

If you have any questions or would like to begin researching in the Boston Globe Library Collection please contact us at archives@northeastern.edu or 617-373-2351.