Free Online Springfield History Resources

Our librarians have compiled a list of digitized resources available for free online to learn about the history of Springfield.

Books and Articles:

Summary – 1774 Letter on the Rebellion in Springfield 
By: Anonymous
Published: 1774
https://wikisummaries.org/letter-on-the-rebellion-in-springfield/

Public Spirit and Mobs: Two sermons delivered in Springfield, Mass., on Sunday, February 23, 1851, after the Thompson Riot
By George F. Simmons
Published: 1851
https://archive.org/details/publicspiritand00simmgoog/page/n1/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater 

Atlas of Springfield city, Massachusetts
By Geo. H. Walker & Co.
Published: 1882
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:5m60tg56x

King’s Handbook of Springfield
By Moses King
Published: 1884
https://archive.org/details/kingshandbookofs00king
or
https://www.loc.gov/item/01011640/ 

History of the “Old High School” on School Street, Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1828 to 1840: With a Personal History of the Teachers : Also, the Names of 265 Pupils, with Their History in Part : with Portraits and a Sketch of the Building
By Charles Wells Chapin
Published: 1890 https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Old_High_School_on_School/gZnOAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Elementary Color
By Milton Bradley
Published: 1895
https://archive.org/details/gri_c00033125012656167

A modern house of learning dedicated to the public interests
By City of Springfield 
Published: 1898
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.ar00049425&view=1up&seq=1

Springfield in the Spanish-American War
By Walter Ward
Published: 1899
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46361
or 
https://archive.org/details/springfieldinspa00wardw/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater

Annual Report of the City Forester, Springfield, Massachusetts
By City Forester
Published: 1899
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_City_Forester_Sprin/BdBIjiPfaH4C?hl=en&gbpv=0

The Puritan in England and New England (Pynchon and Breck of Springfield)
By Ezra Hoyt Byington
Published: 1900
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101076517588&view=1up&seq=11

Warwick : automobiles, motor cycles, bicycles, 1903
By Warwick Cycle & Automobile Company
Published: 1903
https://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll13/id/11377

Insects galls of Springfield, Massachusetts, and vicinity
By Fannie Adelle Stebbins
Published: 1909
https://www.loc.gov/item/agr10000838/

Atlas of the city of Springfield and the town of Longmeadow, Massachusetts
By L.J. Richards & Co.
Published: 1910
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:9k422367h

View book of Springfield, Massachusetts
By City of Springfield. MA
Published: 1910
https://www.loc.gov/item/tmp92001083/

Picturesque Springfield and West Springfield, Massachusetts
By The Hotel Worthy (Springfield, MA)
Published: 1912
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.picturesquesprin00grav/?st=gallery 

Connecticut Valley Historical Society, Springfield, Massachusetts: a maintenance fund of one hundred thousand dollars to be established by members and friends of the Society
By Connecticut Valley Historical Society
Published: 1912
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7723337W/Connecticut_Valley_Historical_Society_Springfield_Massachusetts?edition=key%3A/books/OL6542203M

Progressive Springfield, Massachusetts
By G.S. Graves
Published: 1913
https://www.loc.gov/item/13008106/

Traffic and Operation: Springfield Street Railway Company, Springfield, Massachusetts
By Albert Sutton Richey
Published: 1917
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Traffic_and_Operation/6J0xAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Report of the School Board of the City of Springfield, Massachusetts
By: Springfield (MA) School Board
Published: 1919
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Report_of_the_School_Board_of_the_City_o/zG8zAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

The history of Springfield in Massachusetts, for the young: being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden
By Charles H. Barrows
Published: 1921
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12740578W/The_history_of_Springfield_in_Massachusetts_for_the_young?edition=key%3A/books/OL19371278M

Springfield, 1636-1936
By Springfield’s Three Hundredth Anniversary Committee
Published: 1936
https://archive.org/stream/springfieldoldne00bagg/springfieldoldne00bagg_djvu.txt

The genesis of Springfield : the development of the town
By Harry Andrew Wright
Published: 1936
https://archive.org/details/genesisofspringf00wrig

An Autobiography: The Epic of Springfield College (1995-1970)
By Hal Lynch
Published: 1970
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/7594

“Will You Marry Me?”: Springfield Day Nursery System, Springfield, Massachusetts
By Patricia Cook
Published: 1971
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Will_You_Marry_Me/wcSJXBCrEY4C?hl=en&gbpv=0

The Six-district Plan: Integration of the Springfield, Massachusetts Elementary Schools : a Report
By U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Massachusetts Advisory Committee
Published: 1976
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Six_district_Plan/14BKwZNqDu0C?hl=en&gbpv=0

Black Springfield: A Historical Study 
By: Imani Kazini
Published: 1977
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=cibs

Building on History – Springfield, Massachusetts
by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Published: 2006
https://archive.org/details/MassDEP-Brownfield-Success-Springfield-2006

United States Courthouse, Springfield, Massachusetts
By U.S. General Services Public Buildings Service, Office of the Chief Architect
Published: 2008
https://www.google.com/books/edition/United_States_Courthouse/kPs2AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Black Families of Hampden County, Massachusetts: 1650-1865
By Joseph Carvalho iii
Published: 2011
https://www.academia.edu/14170379/Black_Families_of_Hampden_County_Massachusetts_1650_1865 
or
https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Uncovering-the-Stories-of-Black-Families-in-Springfield-and-Hampden-County-Massachusetts-1650%E2%80%931865-by-Joseph-Carvalho-III.pdf 

The Puerto Rican Community of Western Massachusetts, 1898–1960 
By Joseph Carvalho iii
Published: 2015
https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Puerto-Rican-Community-of-Western-Massachusetts-1898-1960-by-Joseph-Carvalho-III.pdf

Forgotten: Springfield’s Black History is Nowhere In Sight
by Chance Viles and Kristin Palpini (in the Valley Advocate)
Published: 2017
https://valleyadvocate.com/2017/06/05/forgotten-springfield-black-history-nowhere/

John Brown’s Transformation: The Springfield Years, 1846-1849.
By Joseph Carvalho iii
Published: 2020
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA616318683&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=02768313&p=AONE&sw=w&enforceAuth=true&linkSource=delayedAuthFullText&userGroupName=mlin_w_tilton 

Partial books:

Peculiarities of American Cities (Chapter 35, Springfield)
By Capt. Willard Glazier
Published: 1886
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/35575/pg35575-images.html#CHAPTER_XXXV

Life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and some of his descendants (about 80% of book is included)
By Henry Burt, Silas Burt
Published: 1893
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Life_and_times_of_Henry_Burt_of_Springfi/t1THDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Lost Springfield (about 90% of book included)
By Derek Strahan
Published: 2017
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lost_Springfield_Massachusetts/56LHDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22springfield,+ma%22&printsec=frontcover

Compilation of Search Results from various online depositories and archives

Af-Am Point of View Archive (Springfield’s current Black paper with issues going back to 2008)
https://afampointofview.com/pov-archive/

Historical maps of Springfield:
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search?f%5Bsubject_facet_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Springfield+%28Mass.%29–Maps&q=springfield&search_field=all_fields

Baypath College Photographic History
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:7h14b5469

Baypath College digitized yearbook collection
https://archive.org/details/baypathcollege

UMass Amherst 
https://credo.library.umass.edu/search?q=%22springfield,%20massachusetts%22&page=1&facets=

Western New England University Digital Collections
https://cdm17300.contentdm.oclc.org/

Springfield College Archives Digital Collections
https://library.springfield.edu/springfield-college-digital-collections

Springfield Armory History & Culture
https://www.nps.gov/spar/learn/historyculture/index.htm

University of Pennsylvania comprehensive list of free online historical books and records about Springfield, MA
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=Springfield%20%28Mass%2e%29&c=x

Hathi Trust Digital Library
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=springfield%2C+massachusetts&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft (“Springfield, Massachusetts”)

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=springfield%2C+mass&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft (“Springfield, Mass”)

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=springfield%2C+ma&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft (“Springfield, MA”)

ERIC (Institute of Education Sciences)
https://eric.ed.gov/?q=%22springfield%2c+ma%22

Library of Congress 
By Various Authors
Published: various dates
https://www.loc.gov/books/?q=springfield+massachusetts

Internet Archive – historical books and maps
Publication dates range from 1802-2021
https://archive.org/search?query=%22springfield%2C+mass%22+history