Records of the Girls' Latin School / Boston Latin Academy Association, Inc., 1883-2022 (inclusive), 1930-1978 (bulk)

The records of the Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association document the functions of the Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association itself, including organizing annual meetings, documenting class reunions, managing scholarships, and urging alumni to donate their material to the collection. Correspondence found throughout the collection documents the strong feelings of the Girls' Latin School alumni towards the school's "temporary" locations, the admittance of male students, and the name change to Boston Latin Academy. Records include graduation and class day programs, photographs and photograph albums, scrapbooks, reunion and anniversary programs, correspondence, financial and gift ledgers, yearbooks, dance cards, alumni obituaries, scholarship applications, meeting minutes, class rings, pins, and sports uniform bloomers.

This collection also documents the history of Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy from its founding in 1878 to the early 2000s. This material reflects the changes in the education of women, not only in the late nineteenth century, but also in the 1970s and beyond after the passage of Title IX; the struggle of the Boston Public School system to house a growing population of students; and the desegregation of the Boston Public School system.

This collection does not contain Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association meeting minutes between 1943 and 1981, or Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy class records between 1976 and 1990, and 1992 through 2019.

Original folder headings were maintained; titles in brackets were created by the archivist. The majority of records were received in folders; loose material was arranged by the archivist. Electronic records were received on one DVD. The DVD was imaged using FTK Imager. Some past issues of the Girls' Latin School / Boston Latin Academy's literary magazine The Jabberwock, as well as newsletters published by the Girls' Latin School / Boston Latin Academy Association are held by the Schlesinger Library; consult HOLLIS, the online catalog.

The Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association's website is being captured periodically as part of Schlesinger Library's web archiving program.

Series I, Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association, Inc., 1901-2022, undated (#1.1-4.9 26.1-26.3, E.1), includes correspondence, memoranda, fliers, financial ledgers, membership lists, meeting minutes, by-laws, scholarship applications and transcripts, and outstanding alumni award recommendations. This series includes a president's book from the 1930s and 1940s, which contains lists of officers, notes to incoming presidents, and the Association's by-laws. This series also includes minutes of the Association's annual meetings and headmaster's reports from 1909 through 1942, as well as minutes and reports from between 1982 through 1995. The financial ledgers found in this series document the dues paid to the Association by class, as well as the donations received.

The correspondence in this series includes letters between alumni and officers of the Association. Topics include Girls' Latin School becoming Boston Latin Academy, the desegregation of the Boston public school system, the location of Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy, fundraising, deceased alumni, and recommendations for the Outstanding Alumni awards. Also found in this series are the applications and transcripts of seniors applying for the various scholarships managed by the Association. These applications include the college choices and intended field of study of the seniors, and the occupation of their parents. This series is arranged alphabetically.

Series II, Girls' Latin School, 1883-2017, undated (#4.10-23.3, 24F+B.1-25F+B.2m, 26.4-28.5, FD.1-FD.2, F+D.1, OD.1, Mem.1-Mem.3, E.2), includes gift and financial ledgers; histories of the school; correspondence; graduation, class day, and drama programs; school songs; class prophecies and wills; postcards; 73 yearbooks; dance cards; class notes; four scrapbooks; obituaries; alumni lists; autograph books; diplomas; and other material related to the Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy.

This series includes material donated by alumni to the Girls' Latin School/Boston Latin Academy Association, which are arranged by class. These folders, titled "Class of," can contain programs, dance cards, autograph books, class prophecies and wills, material related to class reunions, obituaries, correspondence, obituaries, and letters from alumni to Karen Mastrobattista Curran re: donations of material for the Schlesinger Library. Also found throughout this series is material related to the Athenian Club, a literary and debating club, and the Student Teacher Advisory Council (S.T.A.C.), which encouraged students to be more engaged with the staff, and help with such tasks as monitoring fire drills, and supervising in the cafeteria. This series also contains memorabilia related to individual classes, including class rings, a varsity letter patch, pins, a charm bracelet, a beanie, sports uniform bloomers, and transit passes from the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the precursor to the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) in Boston, Massachusetts. Yearbooks donated by alumni can also be found here; some are annotated.

Series III, Photographs, 1892-1985, undated (#PD.1+-PD.30), contains photographs of Girls' Latin School students, alumnae, and buildings. Many images are from the senior "baby day," which was often held on April 1, and featured the senior class dressed as little girls and holding dolls. This series also includes images of volleyball and basketball games. Also found in this series is a photograph album created by the Boston School Committee, which contains photographs from the West Newton Street building. Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online. The photographs are arranged to mirror the series above.